In particular William Shakespeare uses him to showcase the theme of tragedy, specifically in the moments leading to his unfortunate death when a passing Mercutio says “A plague o’ both your houses!” This quote implies how this unruly murder was the inevitable result of useless conflict and how both families were responsible for it. Shakespeare further emphasises this by using repetition and having Mercutio reiterate the hateful phrase several times magnifying the tension. The themes of tragedy can also be seen elsewhere including the climactic ending to the scene where Romeo kills Tybalt, and in both scenes plays a vital role to the play, by using the character Mercutio to explore these …show more content…
For one his presence would have prevented Romeo from becoming obliged to kill Tybalt: “And Mercutio slain!” “And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now,” as one of the main motives for Romeo to chase the Capulet was simply to avenge his fellow comrade as the phrase “fire-eyed fury be my conduct now”, signals that Romeo was clearly letting delusion and vengeance cloud his thoughts; which would’ve been unnecessary if Mercutio was still alive. Equally he would’ve also prevented Romeo from getting banished and allowing the star cross’d lovers to potentially live together to make a difference between the endless family