(3.1 99-113) - Original text-
"ROMEO- Courage, man. The hurt cannot be much. MERCUTIO- No, ’tis not so deep as a well nor so wide as a church-door, but ’tis enough, ’twill serve. Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man. I am peppered, I warrant, for this world. A plague o' both your houses! Zounds, a dog, a rat, a mouse, a cat to scratch a man to death! A braggart, a rogue, a villain that fights by the book of arithmetic! Why the devil came you between us? I was hurt under your arm. ROMEO- I thought all for the best. MERCUTIO- Help me into some house, Benvolio, Or I shall faint. A plague o' both your houses! They have made worms' meat of me. I have it, and soundly too. Your houses!" |
Translation-
ROMEO- Be brave, man. You can't be hurt that badly. MERCUTIO- No, it’s not as deep as a well, or as wide as a church door, but it’s enough. It’ll do the job. Find me tomorrow, and I'll be a sad man. I’m done in this world, I believe. May a plague strike both your houses! I can’t believe that a dog, a rat, a mouse, a cat could scratch me to death! That braggart, punk, villain fights like he learned from a book! Why did you come between us? He struck me from under your arm. ROMEO- I thought it was the right thing to do. MERCUTIO- Take me inside some ones house Benvolio, or I’ll pass out. May a plague strike both your families! They’ve turned me into food for worms. I’m done for. Curse your families! |
Meaning- Romeo and Mercutio have been fighting for the role of the hero in the play. What better way to assert Romeo as the main character than to kill his best friend? If Shakespeare really wants Romeo to be the star, he has to be the brightest- and unfortunately for Mercutio, he has to die. But Mercutio doesn't die just so Romeo can look good- in fact it's to make him look bad. Up until this very point, Romeo has been looked at like an innocent young boy- and William knows that. There is no better way to take some ones innocence than to have him be responsible for his best friends death. Now the audience doesn't see Romeo as a little kid with schoolboy crushes, they see him as a grown man with blood on his hands.