| “ | A plague on both your houses! | „ |
| ~ Mercutio's most famous line |
Mercutio is one of the two tritagonists (alongside Benvolio Montague) of William Shakespeare's play Romeo & Juliet. He is a free-spirited nobleman and Romeo Montague's best friend, whose death at the hands of main antagonist Tybalt sets the tragedy of the play in motion.
Personality[]
Mercutio is wild and free-spirited, given to extravagant shows of good cheer and eager to enjoy all the fun and adventure life has to offer. He loves to entertain his friends with jokes and amusing, often fantastical stories, and has a witty remark ready for any situation, even deadly serious ones. He is also impulsive, giving himself to every whim without considering the consequences.
Beneath his wit and bravado, however, lies a troubled soul; he broods over his thwarted ambition to be a soldier, and is quick to anger, especially when he feels he has been slighted.
Role in the play[]
Mercutio is related to both the Montague and Capulet families, enabling him to freely associate with members of both clans despite their generations-long feud. He entreats Romeo to forget about his unrequited love for a young woman named Rosaline and join him in crashing the Capulets' costume ball. To entertain the depressed Romeo, Mercutio tells him of the magical fairy Queen Mab, who inspires in people dreams of their deepest desires; however, he becomes angry and emotional when describing his own wish to be a soldier, and Romeo has to to calm him down.
That night, Romeo and Mercutio attend the ball, where Romeo meets and falls in love with Lord Capulet's daughter Juliet. Mercutio, meanwhile, acquires an enemy in Juliet's hot-headed cousin Tybalt, who is angry that Montagues have trespassed on his family's home.
The next day, Mercutio meets with Romeo, who has married Juliet, but they are interrupted by Tybalt, who tries to pick a fight with them. When Tybalt mocks them, an enraged Mercutio draws his sword and duels Tybalt, but when Romeo tries to break up the fight, Tybalt uses the distraction to stab Mercutio in the chest.
True to form, Mercutio laughs off his injuries, even as he knows he is dying, quipping, "Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find a grave man!" He then collapses into Romeo's arms and curses both the Montagues and the Capulets, crying out, "A plague on both your houses!" as he dies. Devastated by his friend's death, Romeo kills Tybalt in a blind rage, which sets the rest of the play's events in motion.
Portrayals[]
Mercutio has been portrayed by many actors over the years, including:
- The late John Barrymore - who also portrayed another Shakespearian hero, Prince Hamlet, in the 1933 film adaptation of Hamlet - in the 1936 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet
- The late Orson Welles - who also portrayed Othello in the 1951 film adaptation of the play of the same name and Don Quixote in the 1957 film of the same name - in a 1933 theatrical production
- The late John McEnery - who also portrayed Bartleby in the 1970 film of the same name - in in the 1968 film adaptation
- Harold Perrineau - who also portrayed Augustus Hill in Oz, Link in The Matrix, Michael Dawson in Lost, and Blade in Marvel Anime: Blade - in William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet
 Shakespeare Heroes
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