Open Prompt #2 REVISED

2002. Morally ambiguous characters -- characters whose behavior discourages readers from identifying them as purely evil or purely good -- are at the heart of many works of literature. Choose a novel or play in which a morally ambiguous character plays a pivotal role. Then write an essay in which you explain how the character can be viewed as morally ambiguous and why his or her moral ambiguity is significant to the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio demonstrates great moral ambiguity in the contrast between his words and actions. From the beginning, Mercutio appears somewhat harsh as he vocalizes a great cynicism regarding Romeo’s passion for Juliet, but ultimately his sacrifice of his own life out of love for Romeo reveals him to be far more complex than a mere cynic.

Mercutio witnesses the birth of Romeo’s love for Juliet and immediately cautions Romeo from pursuing it any further if he wants to avoid inciting great conflict between their two already feuding families, the Capulets and the Montagues. Mercutio’s efforts to convince Romeo to give up on this romantic venture seem harsh and cynical, causing readers to perceive him as somewhat unfeeling, but other readers may believe that Mercutio is doing Romeo a favor by telling him the harsh truth that this marriage would never work out.

For example, when Romeo says that he had a dream in Act 1, Scene 4, Mercutio interrupts him with the Queen Mab speech. He appeals to Romeo’s romantic nature by telling him that dreams are planted in the brains of people by a fairy called Queen Mab and are not to be trusted. Romeo stops Mercutio in the middle of this speech so he cannot further discourage him. On the surface, Mercutio appears to be a selfish friend to Romeo by imposing his own cynical views of love upon Romeo against his will. Some members of the audience may even believe his cautionary tales may be motivated by a selfish desire to prevent his friend from pursing a happy marriage to Juliet, but with further dissection readers may come to see that Mercutio is more likely acting out of concern for Romeo’s emotional and physical well-being by  warning him against pursuing a hopeless cause.  

By the final act, Mercutio has the audience well-convinced that he is fully set against impassioned behavior, but to everyone’s surprise, it is Mercutio who takes Romeo’s place when challenged to a duel by Tybalt. Despite all his speeches against the danger of giving in to one’s passions, Mercutio allows his own feelings to drive him to violence, ultimately ending with his death. This pivotal scene can be interpreted many ways, depending on if one views his decision to duel Tybalt as an impulsive action made out of anger at Romeo’s cowardice or out of sacrificial love for his friend. Either way, it reveals the truth of Mercutio’s words that disaster is born of passion, making Mercutio a multi-layered character whose actions contradict his own words.

While considered a minor character, Mercutio’s witty but cutting criticism of Romeo’s passion to obscures the line between cynicism and wisdom and this ambiguity causes the audience to question whether his motivation lies in pessimism or true concern for his friend. Shakespeare goes even a step further by revealing Mercutio’s own inability to resist the impulses of passion, using his unexpected death to pose the question of whether any of us are truly impervious to the passion of the moment.