Harold C. Goddard
[Goddard declares that Mercutio, like the Nurse, is an extreme sensualist and heathen. The critic concentrates primarily on Mercutio's crude sexual humor, noting that the character's obscene language underscores the purity of Romeo's passion for Juliet. Goddard then addresses the issue of Mercutio's Queen Mab speech (I. iv. 53-103), which several critics have considered out of character because of the beauty of its language. The critic asserts that the speech is in fact representative of Mercutio's style because compared with the imagination and...
Source: Shakespeare for Students, ©2013 Gale Cengage. All Rights Reserved. Full copyright.
(The entire page is 2564 words.)
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