Sunday, October 5, 2014

Does Mercutio really believe in Queen Mab in Romeo and Juliet?

I don't think it is suggested that Mercutio actually
believes in Queen Mab in this monologue that comes in Act I scene 4. He is deliberately
using fanciful description, including puns and mockery and the allusion to Queen Mab to
point towards the way in which dreams are not significant. The way that he describes her
clearly places her in the realm of fantasy, and it is unlikely that such a character as
Mercutio would actually beleive in such a real figure. Note how he describes Queen
Mab:



She is
the fairies' midwife, and she comes


In shape no bigger than
an agate stone


On teh forfinger of an
alderman,


Drawn with a team of little
atomies


Over men's noses as they lie
asleep...



Mercutio is
alluding to common myths and beliefs that people had about Queen Mab, which of course
helps him to communicate his main message to Romeo: that dreams should not be confused
with reality, and that dreams, at the end of the day, are really "nothing" and but
"children of an idle brain." Thus I think it is clear that Mercutio does not believe in
Queen Mab.

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