著者

石原 万里

出版者

英米文化学会

雑誌

英米文化 (ISSN:09173536)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.27, pp.5-18, 1997

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The untimely death of Mercutio, who is one of Shakespeare's original characters, makes me think that he was made to live and die by the dramatist in the process of writing Romeo and Juliet. The aim of this paper is to search for the meaning of the roles of Mercutio to both Romeo and Juliet and the play as a whole. First, Mercutio's lack of information is examined. Although he notices some change in Romeo, he is not informed that Romeo loves Juliet. He understands Romeo loves Rosaline. The more he teases Romeo about Rosaline using sexual metaphor, the more apparent the love of Romeo and Juliet becomes. Second, the relation between Mercutio and Romeo is compared with the relation between Romeo and Juliet. Even though there is no homosexuality between Mercutio and Romeo, Juliet can be regarded as Mercutio's rival because the advent of Juliet changes their male friendship. Finally, the meaning of Mercutio's death in the play is thought in the context of a comedy and a tragedy. The death of Mercutio, who contributes as a comical factor during his life, leads the play to the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. His death is a starting point of the tragedy.