MERCUTIO:
Where the devil should this Romeo be?
Came he not home tonight?

• Mercutio is frustrated because he’s been waiting for Romeo and doesn’t know where he is. He is using “devil” as an expression of irritation.
• Language Device: Hyperbole (exaggeration for effect) – “Where the devil should this Romeo be?” emphasizes Mercutio’s impatience.

BENVOLIO:
Not to his father’s. I spoke with his man.

• Benvolio responds that Romeo didn’t go home to his father’s house. He spoke to Romeo’s servant who confirmed this.
• Language Device: Informal dialogue that shows the close friendship and trust between Benvolio and Mercutio.

MERCUTIO:
Why, that same pale hard-hearted wench, that Rosaline,
Torments him so that he will sure run mad.

• Mercutio makes fun of Romeo, blaming Rosaline, the woman he’s in love with (though she doesn’t return his feelings), for causing Romeo’s sadness.
• Language Device: Metaphor – “pale hard-hearted wench” is a harsh description of Rosaline, emphasizing Mercutio’s mocking tone.

BENVOLIO:
Tybalt, the kinsman to old Capulet,
Hath sent a letter to his father’s house.

• Benvolio changes the subject and informs Mercutio about Tybalt, the cousin of Juliet, who has sent a letter to Romeo’s house challenging him to a duel.
• Language Device: Foreshadowing – the mention of Tybalt’s challenge hints at future conflict.

MERCUTIO:
A challenge, on my life.
BENVOLIO: Romeo will answer it.

• Mercutio believes Tybalt’s challenge is serious, and Benvolio is confident that Romeo will respond.
• Language Device: Irony – Romeo, who is in love and not focused on fighting, is ironically expected to face Tybalt.

MERCUTIO:
Any man that can write may answer a letter.

• Mercutio mocks the idea of a duel, suggesting that anyone who can write can answer a letter, implying that it’s easy and doesn’t require much skill.
• Language Device: Sarcasm – Mercutio is sarcastically downplaying the seriousness of Tybalt’s challenge.

BENVOLIO:
Nay, he will answer the letter’s master, how he dares, being dared.

• Benvolio corrects Mercutio, explaining that Romeo will not just answer the letter but will respond to the challenge from Tybalt himself.
• Language Device: Antithesis – contrasting the idea of answering the letter with the reality of responding to the actual challenge from Tybalt.

MERCUTIO:
Alas, poor Romeo, he is already dead,
stabbed with a white wench’s black eye, run
through the ear with a love-song, the very pin of his
heart cleft with the blind bow-boy’s butt shaft. And
is he a man to encounter Tybalt?

• Mercutio humorously mourns Romeo’s fate, saying that his love for Rosaline has “killed” him metaphorically (because of heartbreak). He uses various exaggerated and humorous images, like being “stabbed with a love-song” or struck by Cupid’s arrow.
• Language Device: Metaphor – Romeo’s love is described as a weapon, showing the overwhelming emotional impact of his unrequited love.
• Language Device: Allusion – “blind bow-boy’s butt shaft” refers to Cupid, the god of love, whose arrow pierces hearts.

BENVOLIO:
Why, what is Tybalt?

• Benvolio asks, genuinely curious, about Tybalt, not fully aware of the danger Tybalt represents.
• Language Device: Rhetorical question – Benvolio is asking to understand more, but it highlights how little he knows of Tybalt’s aggression.

MERCUTIO:
More than prince of cats. O, he’s the courageous
captain of compliments. He fights as you sing
prick-song, keeps time, distance, and proportion.
He rests his minim rests, one, two, and the third in
your bosom—the very butcher of a silk button, a
duelist, a duelist, a gentleman of the very first house
of the first and second cause. Ah, the immortal
passado, the punto reverso, the hay!

• Mercutio describes Tybalt as a highly skilled, somewhat theatrical fighter who takes fighting seriously and with style, using terms related to formal dueling.
• Language Device: Allusion – “prince of cats” refers to Tybalt’s reputation as a fierce and skilled fighter, and the word “cat” might be a pun, since Tybalt also means “cat” in Italian.
• Language Device: Metaphor – “captain of compliments” means Tybalt is skilled in the “art of dueling,” treating it like an intricate and courteous performance.

BENVOLIO:
The what?

• Benvolio is confused by Mercutio’s elaborate explanation and terminology.
• Language Device: Characterization – Benvolio’s confusion contrasts with Mercutio’s playful use of language.

MERCUTIO:
The pox of such antic, lisping, affecting
phantasimes, these new tuners of accent: “By
Jesu, a very good blade! A very tall man! A very good
whore!” Why, is not this a lamentable thing, grandsire,
that we should be thus afflicted with these
strange flies, these fashion-mongers, these “pardon-me” ’s,
who stand so much on the new form
that they cannot sit at ease on the old bench? O their
bones, their bones!

• Mercutio mocks the affected way some people speak and act, particularly those who care too much about appearances and fashionable behavior. He’s frustrated with those who try too hard to be proper or stylish.
• Language Device: Alliteration – Repetition of the “p” sound in “pox,” “phantasimes,” and “pardon-me’s” emphasizes his frustration.
• Language Device: Sarcasm – Mercutio sarcastically critiques the fashion and social standards.

Enter Romeo.

• Romeo enters at this moment, interrupting the conversation.
• Language Device: Dramatic timing – Romeo’s entry is timed to contrast Mercutio’s complaints.