As Shakespeare once said, "It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves." This statement tells us that fate is what we make of it, that we control it with our own actions. In his tragic play Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare illustrates the clash between fate and free will through a character by the name of Mercutio. Mercutio is a comic character, depicts Philia, and he helps to advance the plot.
Throughout the play, Mercutio is there to bring laughter to the reader or viewer. He says very inappropriate and raunchy things. On the way to the Capulet party, Mercutio tells the lovesick Romeo, "If love be rough with you, be rough with love; / Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down" (1.4.27-28). He is, no doubt referring to some sort of sexual release. After the party, Mercutio tries to make Romeo come out of hiding by talking about a girl whom Romeo loves, Rosaline. He talks about her "fine foot, straight leg, and quivering thigh and the demesnes that there adjacent lie" (1.1.20-21). Surely the Globe Theater groundlings loved these intimate references as well as his subsequent jokes about "medlar" fruit and "poppering pear[s]" (2.1.35, 39). The comic intensity increases when the nurse comes to arrange the clandestine wedding. Mercutio and Romeo make fun of her size, by saying "A sail, a sail!" (2.4.100). Then, Mercutio lifts up the nurse's dress and takes a peek. He then talks about her being an "old hare hoar" (2.4.130), which means a smelly meat pie or a prostitute. As he leaves he says, "farewell, ancient lady" (2.4.141). The comic genius of Mercutio's character is definitely brought to life in the Franco Zepherelli film version of the play.
During the story Mercutio also helps the plot advance at a chaotic pace. In Act I, Mercutio delivers the "Queen Mab" speech, and this monologue reflects the movement of the entire play. It begins whimsically with descriptions of Mab's coach and naughty nocturnal activities, and then becomes violent and angry and bitter.
