Act 2 Scene 1 - Mercutio’s Language and Purpose

Find at least three examples from the text and use them to fill in your character tracker

about Mercutio.

① “I conjure only but to raise up him” shows Meructio’s attitude toward friendship with
Romeo. Mercutio is not sincere when it comes to love while he is adding significance toward

genuine friendship. This makes contrast within Mercutio’s attitude between friendship and

love. It is usual to confront Mercutio’s sexual puns. However, this quotation literally shows

his effort to change Romeo’s mind.

② “Romeo, that she were, O, that she were An open et caetera, thou a poperin pear!”
Mercutio is making an obscene double entrendre through this line. The “medlar tree” is a tree

whose fruit was considered to look like a vulva or an anus. The “pop’rin pear” can be

interpreted into popperins, which has similar pronunciation with ‘pop her in.” This shows

Mercutio’s characteristic of showing off by giving sexual puns.

③ “I conjure thee by Rosaline’s bright eyes, By her high forehead and her scarlet lip, By her
fine foot, straight leg, and quivering thigh, And the demesnes that there adjacent lie” shows

the close relationship between Romeo and Mercutio. It is difficult to describe someone who

his or her friends like in such sexual ways. He is even very confident with saying like this.

This means he might have made sexual puns about Rosaline quite a few times and he keeps

doing this because Romeo hasn’t really been upset about this.