Discussion Topic
Mood expressed by Benvolio, Mercutio, and Romeo in the scene when Juliet's Nurse arrives in Romeo and Juliet
Summary:
In the scene when Juliet's Nurse arrives in Romeo and Juliet, Benvolio, Mercutio, and Romeo express a playful and teasing mood. They engage in light-hearted banter and jokes, which contrasts with the serious and romantic undertones of the main plot involving Romeo and Juliet.
What mood do Benvolio, Mercutio, and Romeo express in Act 2, Scene 4 of Romeo and Juliet?
The mood in Act 2, Scene 4 can only be
referred to as humorous and playful. This scene portrays the
friendship between Romeo, Benvolio, and Mercutio and is a classic "boys
being boys" scene. The humorous and playful mood is portrayed through
the characters' jokes and witticisms, which can even be seen
as lewd and crass.
Mercutio is especially guilty of lewd witticisms seen in his
sexually implicit puns. For example, when Benvolio and
Mercutio first see Romeo after he had given them the slip at Lord Capulet's
house, Mercutio makes lewd jokes containing puns in connection with his
assumption that Romeo had been with Rosaline. One such joke containing a pun can be seen in the lines, "O flesh, flesh, how art thou fishified!" (36-37). To be "fishified" literally means to be turned into a fish; however, fish also give off...
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an odor. Hence, this pun is also a sexual innuendo.
Mercutio continues to set the playful, humorous "boys being
boys" mood of the scene when he begins to insult the nurse.
One example can be seen when Nurse asks Peter for her fan, and Mercutio
declares, "Good Peter, to hide her face; for her fan's the fairer face of the
two" (98-99).
Hence, we see that all throughout this scene, the characters create a playful
and humorous mood through their jokes and insults, just as boys often do.
In Romeo and Juliet, what mood do Benvolio, Mercutio, and Romeo express in act 2, scene 4 when Juliet's Nurse arrives?
In this light-hearted scene from "Romeo and Juliet," Romeo is no longer melancholy over the loss of Rosaline as he was in Act I. Mercutio cries "A sail, a sail!" (27), joking about the size of the Nurse's clothing that must in part be carried by the servant Peter. Benvolio joins into the jest; "Two, two--a shirt and a smock" (28).When she asks Peter for her fan, Mercutio tells Peter to please give it to her because the fan looks better than her face: "Good Peter, to hide her face; for her fan's the fairer face"(32).
Romeo, too, jests with the loquacious Nurse as he speaks in puns, partly to impress Mercutio and Benvolio as well.
I can tell you; but young Romeo will be older when you have found him than he/ was when you sought him: I am the youngest of that name, for fault of a worse (35-36).
When the Nurse rambles about Paris and "toads" and "rosemary" and "Romeo" both beginning with a letter, Romeo toys with the Nurse, but she responds in good humor and leaves after having complimented him, saying she will "commend" him to her lady.