quotes, notes, timelines & more

Home » Shakespeare's Works » Elements » Characters » Mercutio

Mercutio

Unhappy Fortune! The Plague in the Plays

Read the Note

Shakespeare killed scores of his characters — by sword, by dagger, by poison, by flame, by drowning, by hanging, by murder, by suicide, by accident — men, women, children, all ages, killed by many means, even by a bear. But the deaths of only two of his central characters can be attributed to the plague, and even then, only by proximate cause, not directly by the plague.
… continue reading this note

A Plague and a Scourge

Read the Note

Mercutio’s curse, “A plague o’ both your houses!” is fulfilled, although not literally. Despite the numerous ways scores of characters die in Shakespeare’s plays, no one in this play or any other Shakespeare play dies of the plague. But the plague is the proximate cause of Romeo’s and Juliet’s deaths.  When Friar Lawrence sends Friar John to deliver a letter to Romeo telling him of Juliet’s fake death,
… continue reading this note

O, then I see Queen Mab hath been with you

Read the Quote

Mercutio
O, then I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
She is the fairies’ midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate stone
On the forefinger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomi
Over men’s noses as they lie asleep.

True, I talk of dreams,
Which are the children of an idle brain,
… continue reading this quote

Source:
Act 1
Scene 4
Line 58

Source Type:

Spoken by:
,

Themes:
,

Romeo, my cousin Romeo, Romeo!

Read the Quote

Benvolio
Romeo, my cousin Romeo, Romeo!
Mercutio
He is wise
And, on my life, hath stol’n him home to bed.
Benvolio
He ran this way and leapt this orchard wall.
Call, good Mercutio.

Romeo! Humors! Madman! Passion! Lover!
Appear thou in the likeness of a sigh.
Speak but one rhyme and I am satisfied.
… continue reading this quote

Source:
Act 2
Scene 1
Line 3

Source Type:

Spoken by:
,

I am hurt. A plague o’ both houses!

Read the Quote

Mercutio
I am hurt.
A plague o’ both houses! I am sped.
Is he gone and hath nothing?
Benvolio
What, art thou hurt?
Mercutio
Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch. Marry, ’tis enough.
Where is my page?—Go, villain, fetch a surgeon.
   Page exits.

No, ’tis not so deep as a well,
… continue reading this quote

Source:
Act 3
Scene 1
Line 93

Source Type:

Spoken by:
, , ,

Themes:
, ,

Figures of Speech:

Connected Notes:
A Plague and a Scourge