Scene Analysis
The excerpt I’d chosen from Romeo and Juliette was that of Mercutio’s death. Mercutio is a vital character in the play, and his passing marks one of the most important moments in the play. I chose this segment originally because I thought it was a perfect example of the very real and raw emotions Shakespeare is able to communicate, even within the backdrop of what seems to be a silly love story between children. In my opinion, that is the primary purpose of his death in the play, it effectively reminds the audience that these children live in an adult world in which their childish romances have very real and very frightening consequences.
Watching the play, my opinion was only fortified, as the death of Mercutio was arguably the most powerful moment in the play. The character of Mercutio was given an extremely flamboyant personality, one that absorbed my attention whenever he was on stage. His presence was full of power, charisma, and slight perversion, making his character in this interpretation something of a controversy, but undeniably significant. That is to say, regardless of your opinions on the persona communicated by the actor, you can’t deny that his was a very prominent presence. This makes his death, his cruel and ugly death, a much more powerful moment, if at all possible, than can be communicated in just the text of the play. When reading the lines of Mercutio we do not grasp the large role he plays in the world of the play, it is hard to see what impact he has. It is not until you see him physically die, and until you can’t help but notice how large a void is left by his passing through the lack of his physical presence, that you truly understand the gravity of his death. No more short funny man running around from corner to corner of the stage.
This was not my favorite interpretation of Romeo and Juliette, but I can’t imagine them having done a better death for Mercutio. The raw ugliness of it, the anger and the confusion, they all worked together to expertly contrast the fluffy love the audience had just gotten accustomed too, and in doing so the audience feels the shock of youth as it learns of the cruel world. Shakespeare makes us, for a second, feel like children, and artfully destroys the rosy lovey lens with the death of youthful energy, passion, and misunderstood wisdom personified.
