Romeo and Juliet Essay Revised

Romeo and Juliet Essay

By: Stella Brooks 812

            Teasing is a habit many people have. But sometimes it can become so much more. Mercutio in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet has a recurring habit of joking and instigating trouble. Mercutio is Romeo’s best friend and the unnamed leader of the young Montagues and even though Mercutio jokes and teases Romeo a lot, Romeo still loves him. But on the side of the Capulets, Mercutio’s teasing does exactly the opposite.  Mercutio’s personality is ultimately the reason for his death.

 Act 1 Scene 4 is when we first meet Mercutio. He develops his characteristic as a joker in his infamous Queen Mab speech. “Through lovers brains, and then they dream of love; on courtiers knees, that dream on cur’sies straight; o’er lawyers fingers, who straight dream on fees…” (1.4.75-77) Mercutio is making fun of Romeo for talking about his dreams, creating the fictional Queen Mab and her job as the creature that creates dreams. He’s generating this massive, imaginative story for the fun of joking. He doesn’t realize, however, that while he does this, he makes Romeo’s dream seem not important at all because he’s ignoring it completely and instead turning it into a huge joke. He’s also turning the spotlight on him as well, making Romeo’s story forgotten and instead leaving his fantastical joke in the minds of all the Montagues.

In Act 3 Scene 1 Mercutio and Benvolio run into Tybalt and the other Capulets. Mercutio then begins to show his instigator side by provoking Tybalt, who is easily provoked and is almost always ready and willing to fight. “Consort? What, dost thou make us minstrels? An thou make minstrels of us, look to hear nothing but discords. Here’s my fiddlestick; here’s that shall make you dance.” (3.1.144-147). The “fiddlestick” in this quote is Mercutio’s sword, so Mercutio is intending to make Tybalt dance to keep him out of harm’s way of the sword, meaning they’re going to fight. Mercutio doesn’t realize that if he asks Tybalt to fight, even though he means it as joke, Tybalt is going to take it seriously and fight him to hurt him. Mercutio doesn’t think about the consequences when he provokes people, and that will cost him.

In the end of Act 3 Scene 1, Mercutio and Tybalt have fought and Tybalt has mortally wounded Mercutio. The other Montagues don’t know what happened and when Romeo asks Mercutio if he is okay, Mercutio turns his death into a joke. “No, ‘tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door, but ‘tis enough. ‘Twill serve.”(3.1.194-195). By joking and saying that he is not hurt, Mercutio has made his death a lonely one because, while all his friends are right there surrounding him while he’s dying, he hasn’t told them he’s hurt so they all think he’s joking and don’t know that he’s actually suffering, leading him to a very lonely death. Mercutio seems upset when no one responds to him like he’s dying, almost as if he’s so used to joking that it just unconsciously happens, almost as if he didn’t mean to make his death a joke.

Mercutio is both a joker and an instigator. It’s this part of his personality that leads to his death. He instigates trouble with Tybalt, who kills him, and he jokes to his friends that he’s not dying, leading him to a very lonely death. This relates to the real world because we have many people in this world who like to provoke others and joke around a lot. But even in this world, if you instigate trouble too much, or you joke too much about something, you can get consequences. Not as severely as Mercutio’s, but you could make people incredibly mad at you or even lose a friendship. Many people have personalities like Mercutio. They all just need to know when it is the right time to stop. 

Romeo and Juliet Essay Final

Romeo and Juliet Essay

By: Stella Brooks 812

            Teasing is a habit many people have. But sometimes it can become so much more. Mercutio in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet has a recurring habit of joking and instigating trouble. Mercutio is Romeo’s best friend and the unnamed leader of the young Montagues and even though Mercutio jokes and teases Romeo a lot, Romeo still loves him. But on the side of the Capulets, Mercutio’s teasing does exactly the opposite.  Mercutio’s personality is ultimately the reason for his death.

 Act 1 Scene 4 is when we first meet Mercutio. He develops his characteristic as a joker in his infamous Queen Mab speech. “Through lovers brains, and then they dream of love; on courtiers knees, that dream on cur’sies straight; o’er lawyers fingers, who straight dream on fees…” Mercutio is making fun of Romeo for talking about his dreams, creating the fictional Queen Mab and her job as the creature that creates dreams. He’s generating this massive, imaginative story for the fun of joking. He doesn’t realize, however, that while he does this, he makes Romeo’s dream seem not important at all because he’s ignoring it completely and instead turning it into a huge joke. He’s also turning the spotlight on him as well, making Romeo’s story forgotten and instead leaving his fantastic joke in the minds of all the Montagues.

In Act 3 Scene 1 Mercutio and Benvolio run into Tybalt and the other Capulets. Mercutio then begins to show his instigator side by provoking Tybalt, who is easily provoked and is almost always ready and willing to fight. “Consort? What, dost thou make us minstrels? An thou make minstrels of us, look to hear nothing but discords. Here’s my fiddlestick; here’s that shall make you dance.” The “fiddlestick” in this quote is Mercutio’s sword, so Mercutio is intending to make Tybalt dance to keep him out of harm’s way of the sword, meaning they’re going to fight. Mercutio doesn’t realize that if he asks Tybalt to fight, even though he means it as joke, Tybalt is going to take it seriously and fight him to hurt him. Mercutio doesn’t think about the consequences when he provokes people, and that will cost him.

In the end of Act 3 Scene 1, Mercutio and Tybalt have fought and Tybalt has mortally wounded Mercutio. The other Montagues don’t know what happened and when Romeo asks Mercutio if he is okay, Mercutio turns his death into a joke. “No, ‘tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door, but ‘tis enough. ‘Twill serve.” By joking and saying that he is not hurt, Mercutio has made his death a lonely one because, while all his friends are right there surrounding him while he’s dying, he hasn’t told them he’s hurt so they all think he’s joking and don’t know that he’s actually suffering, leading him to the most lonely death one could have. Mercutio seems upset when no one responds to him like he’s dying, almost as if he’s so used to joking that it just unconsciously happens, almost as if he didn’t mean to make his death a joke.

Mercutio is both a joker and an instigator. It’s this part of his personality that leads to his death. He instigates trouble with Tybalt, who kills him, and he jokes to his friends that he’s not dying, leading him to a very lonely death. This relates to the real world because we have many people in this world who like to provoke others and joke around a lot. But even in this world, if you instigate trouble too much, or you joke too much about something, you can get consequences. Not as severely as Mercutio’s, but you could make people incredibly mad at you or even lose a friendship. Many people have personalities like Mercutio. They all just need to know when it is the right time to stop. 

Dr. Lerch's way of buying antiques is...well...eccentic

            A Manhatten physician, Dr. Robert M. Lerch, likes to collect things. He collects many things from 20^th century Bakelite jewelry, Art Nouveau bronze frogs and dragons, vending machines and amusement park and circus artifacts which include: panoramic photos of circus performers, blueprints for Coney Island rides, shooting gallery targets, fragments of carousel animals, statues of contortionists, a miniature glass coffin, Bakelite clocks, parasol handles, nodding mechanical lovebirds costumed as a bride and groom and even engraved metal hard hats worn by Indonesian oil rig workers. His collecting tastes are very diverse. Nothing stops him. No theme is present in his collecting’s. He does simply what most humans wish to do but never have the nerve to do: he takes what he likes.

            Lerch has been collecting art like this for forty years. He is known throughout the land of antiques as being a very omnivorous buyer. He is now offering them for sale at the Ross Art Group gallery in Manhatten for as much as maybe four or five figures apiece.  The theme for his gallery, he has never known theme in his life so he went with what best described his collection as well as the way he buys antiques, is “craziness, or eccentricity.”

I Finished The Rise of Nine

After reading and finishing the Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore I can fully say that this was a terrific book. It kept you going with different levels of feelings, ranging from tearful sobs to overwhelming joy, and continuous incredible dialogue and the descriptions of the settings were amazingly realistic and easy to picture.  I can definitely say that Pittacus Lore, or whoever he may be, has for sure convinced me to continue reading his books. The Power of Six was a flop, but this book reminded me of why I came to love this series in the first place.

            One incredible moment Mr. Lore generated was the meeting of Four, Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten in the New Mexico desert. It was one of the most delightful scenes I have ever read in a book. It was like having all the characters of your favorite action movies together in one film, like The Avengers. It generated the most immense joy when all five of them were reunited because Four and Nine had been traveling in one group while Seven, Eight and Ten were in another. This was the first time they ever got to meet the other members of the Garde since they were toddlers on the ship over from Lorien. To top it off, this scene was a gigantic fight scene with helicopters with missiles and big black cars with machine guns, so it was extremely satisfying to see them all fighting for the first time together.

            However, this book kept me wondering. You never get to meet or even get to know Number Five. He’s been in zero books, gotten no acknowledgement and is the last member of the Garde to be reunited. Who is he? What is he doing? Why hasn’t Pittacus Lore shown him in any of his other books? What is so special about this character? Could he possibly be Pittacus Lore? The last we know of him is that he is swimming across the Atlantic ocean to who knows where. I am intrigued by the mystery of this character. I want to learn more about him and what his purpose is not only with the other Garde members, but why the author has left him out of the first three books.

            I cannot wait for the next I Am Number Four book to come out. I am on the edge of my seat about who Number Five is and I can’t wait for more battle scenes with all the living members of the Garde and for the final downfall of Setrakus Ra. Great book, Pittacus Lore.

            

The Rise of Nine

I’m currently reading the book The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore. While I am only about one hundred pages into the book, I can already tell I like it. I had some second thoughts when this book came out. I didn’t want to read it at first because, while I loved the first book so much, the second book I never finished because I couldn’t stand it. It annoyed me because I wanted the book to be about Number 4, like the first one was, instead this book alternated between Four’s perspective and a girl named Marina in Spain, who you’ve never heard about. Yes, she is one of the Garde, but you don’t want to listen to her story, you want to know about Four’s story because you know him so well and you love his character.

            So I dropped that book. And I didn’t want to go back to the series because it had seriously disappointed me. Finally, after being persuaded to read this book by a friend, I picked it up. While this book is still told in the perspective of both Four and Marina, it’s better because Marina is now with Six, and Six makes Marina’s story a lot more interesting.

            I have some inferences. I think that even though Six, Marina, Ella and Crayton think they’ve found Number Eight, I don’t think he is actually Eight. My suspicion started when Commander Sharma, who works for Eight allegedly, told them outright that this boy was Eight. If he really is a member of the Garde, he would’ve been quieter about this, like the other members. Not only is outright telling them his true identity, without any concern of any Mogadorians nearby, but also what he has done with the people of India. He has thousands of them working under his thumb because they think he is the god Vishnu. He also has the entire Lord’s Resistance Army against him, fighting to rebel. In my opinion, if he really was Eight, this would’ve been way too exposing for the Garde.