Mercutio's Speech

Act 1, scene 4 includes a very long speech by Mercutio about love. The theme of love is very apparent in Romio and Juliet and in Mercutio's speech, he talks about the bawdy love. Bawdy love is more sexual and involves less feeling than true love. The whole speech he talks about a girl that will tempt men and lead them on so that they cannot stop thinking about her, and then she will drop them and show how her feelings were false. We know that Mercutio talks of this woman or type of love with negative connotation because he uses words like "gnat, worm, old grub, and hag" to describe her. Mercutio uses many conceits to describe her as well. Another conceit he uses is describing her love as a plague. It is something that is very addictive and easy to catch; however, it is very bad and is harmful to the body. He compares her to an "agate stone." He also talks about her as a comparison to Cinderella. He says her "chariot is an empty hazelnut" and her "time out o' mind the fairies' coachmakers." These are all related to the story of Cinderella. Mercutio also talks about the type of people this woman messes with. He says lawyers, ladies, and soldiers. These are people of all kinds-- lawyers and soldiers especially are highly regarded positions. Alliteration is also used in his last lines when the last words of each line is, "bodes, backs, and bear."