Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg

Anglistisches Seminar
WS 2019/2020
Proseminar II Literaturwissenschaft: Shakespeare’s Romantic ‘Comedies’ A Midsummer Night’s
Dream, As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet
Dozent: Dr. Kirsten Hertel

Tragic and Comic Elements in Romeo and Juliet

Anastasija Orlova
[email protected]
Im Neuenheimer Feld 134C
69120 Heidelberg
Matrikel-Nr.: 3334625
Anglistik (75%), Slavistik (25%): 7. Semester
4.05.2020
 Table of contents

1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 3
2. Tragedy: the Problems of Definition and Elizabethan Era ............................................ 5
2.1.Shakespearean Drama .......................................................................................... 6
3. Tragic and Comic Elements in Romeo and Juliet ...................................................... 8
3.1.The Role of Mercutio and the Nurse .................................................................. 14
4. Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 16
Bibliography ............................................................................................................. 18

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1. Introduction

The topic of genre mixing and the exploration of genre conventions in William Shakespeare’s
works have been a major field of investigation for literary critics over a long period of time.
To be fair, the problems with the genre identification of Shakespeare’s oeuvre emerged
already during the publication of his plays. For example, the quarto version of King Lear is
referred to as a ‘Chronicle History’, thus falling into the category of histories, but the First
Folio, which was published later, classifies it as a tragedy. The genre classification of Troilus
and Cressida is even more obscure: the quarto’s preface calls it a comedy, whereas in the
Folio it appears as a tragedy.1 Many other Shakespeare’s plays have the same genre
ambiguity. The inconsistency with regard to genre identification can be explained by the
Elizabethan view of genre-formation as well as Shakespeare’s constant experiments with
genre categories. Indeed, Shakespeare was very well aware of various genre-specific
characteristics and successfully employed these literary devices in his plays, thus exceeding
genre boundaries and reinventing the very genre-formation. The simultaneous merging of
and the distinction between genre categories is very characteristic of the Elizabethan literary
period and stems from the patterns of likeness and difference which constitute the
Elizabethan set of mind. This binary thinking based on the juxtaposition of contrasts and
analogies is central to the theory of genre2: while having distinctive features, genres are
paradoxically inseparable from each other. The integration of comic elements into a tragedy
and vice versa can have different reasons but first of all it demonstrates the fluidity of a
system of genres and its constant process of reformation.
One of Shakespeare’s earliest and most famous tragedies Romeo and Juliet provides
a good example of combining the ‘two worlds’ – that of comedy and tragedy. According to
Susan Snyder, Romeo and Juliet is the only Shakespeare’s play where he employs “the
comedy-into-tragedy formula”3, meaning that the play is not intrinsically a tragedy but rather
becomes it. Indeed, the development of the plot up to the death of Mercutio in Act III
resembles that of a romantic comedy, in the tradition of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and

1
Danson, Lawrence. Shakespeare’s Dramatic Genres. P. 10
2
Ibid. p. 15
3
Snyder, Susan. “Romeo and Juliet: Comedy into Tragedy.” P. 81

3
As You Like It, but Mercutio’s tragic death and the subsequent events introduce a tragic
pattern to the plot, thus converting the play into a tragedy. Moreover, Romeo and Juliet is
one of the few Shakespeare’s plays that successfully balance between the tragic and the
comic: whereas the other tragedies have a measured amount of the comic incorporated in a
plot, the amount of comical situations in Romeo and Juliet is excessive and the hope of
avoiding a tragic final and establishing a comic closure remains till the end of the play. The
integration of comic elements into the play not merely provides comic relief and dramatic
effect but also intensifies “the correspondence of the play’s art to nature”: the juxtaposition
of comic and tragic elements creates a harmonious discord which is comparable to the natural
order of Elizabethan world governed by the four opposing and instable elements, qualities
and humours4. Apart from that, Romeo and Juliet exemplifies the instability and
changeability of the genre system and implies that the comic and tragic are always
interdependent in real life as well as in art.
In order to closely explore the topic, the paper is divided into two major sections:
Shakespearean Tragedy and Tragic and Comic Elements in Romeo and Juliet. The first
section deals with a historical evolution of tragedy with a focus on the Elizabethan tragedy,
the problems of genre-definition and the characteristics of Shakespearean tragedy and
comedy. This theoretical framework is essential for the understanding of Shakespeare’s
motives and inspiration behind his choice of integrating the mixed mode into the play.
Together with Snyder’s and Rozett’s essays, it also serves as a groundwork for my analysis
of Romeo and Juliet. The second section comprises the identification and interpretation of
the comic and tragic devices focusing on the characters’ comic and tragic traits, the impact
of fate and fortune on the heroes’ lives and the comic roles of Mercutio and the Nurse. The
conclusion will sum up the findings and answer the following questions: which tragic and
comic structures can be found in Romeo and Juliet, how and why they are utilized and what
effect the intermingling of the tragic and comic has on the play.

4
McAlindon, Tom. “What is a Shakespearean tragedy?” P. 5

4
2. Tragedy: The Problems of Definition and Elizabethan Era

The aforementioned fluidity of genre-system complicates the search for the right definition
of tragedy. What constituents does a play have to include in order for it to be called a tragedy?
The problem is exacerbated by the fact that there are several genre-theories as well as various
interpretations of these theories, some of which have reached us in distorted versions. For
instance, Aristotelian notions of hamartia and catharsis have often been misrepresented to a
large extent due to the translation difficulties. If the majority of critics are unanimous in
defining catharsis as the purifying effect on the audience, hamartia has been misinterpreted
as a character’s fatal flaw, a kind of individual psychological failure that makes the character
responsible for his downfall. Such misrepresentation reduces the tragic genre to a matter of
moral judgement upon the character who succumbed to his inner sin, thus missing the larger
patterns of the conflicting relationship between a tragic hero and a community that is central
to tragedy.5 Liebler defines hamartia as “a missing of the mark” and “a constitutive element
of plot or situation rather than of character”6. The implication behind this definition is that
hamartia is not a character’s inherent trait but an action which accelerates his inevitable
misfortune. Moreover, she elaborates on the idea that hamartia is related not only to the hero
but also to the community, who fails to identify the protagonist’s true social function. This
interpretation takes into consideration not solely the protagonist but the society,
circumstances and context which he is put into7. It is the conflicting relationship between the
protagonist’s values and the fundamental laws governing his community that constitute the
nature of tragedy. Hamartia is thus a tragic dilemma, a situation that leaves the character with
no other choice than to violate these laws. From this perspective, tragedy embodies the
consequences of destabilizing the structures required for society’s preservation and the death
of the protagonist restores these structures bringing order to the community8.
Though Aristotelian ideas about the nature of tragedy had a great impact on the
formation of Elizabethan genre-theory, he was not the only one to contribute. Many other

5
Danson, Lawrence. Shakespeare’s Dramatic Genres. P. 26-27
6
Conn Liebler, Naomi. Shakespeare’s Festive Tragedy. The Ritual Foundations of Genre. P. 42
7
Ibid. p. 44-45
8
Ibid. p. 16-17

5
classical, primarily Roman dramatists and theorists (Horace, Seneca), were immensely
popular among the Elizabethan scholars and writers. If classical sources were in conflict with
each other, the best solution would be to find a consistent interpretation of both the sources9.
As a result, the genre-theory of the Elizabethan period resembled a patchwork where different
pieces constituted the whole. The absence of a single integral theory led to the mixing of the
traditions of genres, which could be witnessed in the tendency to merge comedy with tragedy.
Sir Philip Sidney, the supporter of Aristotelian and Senecan ideas about drama, criticized
those writers who “mingle kings and clowns, not because the matter so carrieth it, but thrust
in clowns by head and shoulders, to play a part in majestical matters, with neither decency
nor discretion”10. Although Aristotelian unities of time, place and action as well as the
distinct separation of genres were widely violated, other aspects of classical tragedy were
adopted. Similar to Greek and Roman tragedies, Elizabethan tragedy is based on the
irreconcilable life conflict between a hero and divine forces that leads to his sufferings and
tragic death. The conflict is usually intensified by the reversal of fortune, thus predetermining
the protagonist’s fall from wellfare to misery.11 Among the works of many other classical
writers, the highly rhetorical and at times shockingly violent Senecan plays had a great
influence on the literary heritage of Elizabethan playwrights. English writers adopted
Senecan style by incorporating into their plays supernatural themes, bloody scenes and
lengthy declamatory soliloquies accompanied by the character’s self-conscious
introspections.12 Senecan philosophy of Stoicism, which proclaimed a harmonious existence
with the divine order and the ability to control the overflowing passions, was compliant to
the Elizabethan worldview based on the harmony and counterbalance of everything, hence
the traces of stoic principles could be found in English plays of that time.
2.1. Shakespearean Drama
Shakespeare also fell under the influence of Senecan style, though most likely indirectly,
through the works of his contemporaries, such as Thomas Kyd and Christopher Marlowe.
His first tragedy Titus Andronicus resembles the cruel Greek-mythology-inspired tragedies

9
Danson, Lawrence. Shakespeare’s Dramatic Genres. P. 21-22
10
Ibid. p. 18
11
McAlindon, Tom. “What is a Shakespearean tragedy?” P. 5
12
Danson, Lawrence. Shakespeare’s Dramatic Genres. P. 37-38

6
of the Roman author in that it involves some genuinely brutal and vicious scenes, such as the
rape and mutilation of Lavinia and a mother eating her sons baked in a pie. Senecan tragedies
often include a counsellor figure who instructs the protagonist and advises against
succumbing to passion, thus functioning as a moral guide for the hero. The patronizing
figures appear in Shakespearean tragedies, Friar Lawrence from Romeo and Juliet, who
reprimands the young lovers for their rashness, among them. Apart from that, Shakespeare
explores some of the fundamental principles of Stoicism in his plays. His tragic heroes are
often torn between the desire to succumb to temptations and the need to control emotions.
The confrontation between cold reason and unrestrained passions is at the core of the tragic
hero’s inner conflict. Sooner or later emotions overpower rational thinking resulting in a
tragic ending. However, Shakespeare also considers the dangers of extreme emotional
detachment and self-control. For example, in Julius Caesar Brutus is able to give a
reasonable justification for the killing of his friend.13 Moreover, Shakespeare goes beyond
the moralizing aspect of Senecan plays, as his own tragedies never convey a univocal moral.
His protagonists receive mixed responses from the audience because of their ambivalent
nature and controversial actions. Despite their monstrous crimes, Shakespearean tragic
heroes arouse pity and compassion; they are often presented as the victims of uncontrollable
passions and circumstances representing the complexity of human nature.14
Since the aim of the paper is to provide an analysis of the tragic and comic elements
in Romeo and Juliet, it would be fair to consider the key characteristics of Shakespearean
comedies. The plot of his comedies is centered around the pair or pairs of young lovers who
through a series of comic misrecognitions and incidents are finally reunited at the end of the
play. Comedies almost always end up with marriage, often more than one, which symbolizes
the restoration of order and harmony within the previously disordered community. Similar to
tragedies, the world of Shakespearean comedies is also governed by the cosmic forces, but
whereas the tragic hero is initially foredoomed to failure and has no other choice than to
surrender to his fate, the comic characters show a high degree of flexibility and adaptability
to the twists of the plot. The role of fortune and happy incidents as well as the characters’

13
McAlindon, Tom. “What is a Shakespearean tragedy?” P. 12-13
14
Ibid. p. 10-11

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ability to accommodate to changes are essential to the plot development in the sense that they
help to avoid tragic outcomes.15
Despite the fact that there is not a clear-cut distinction between Shakespeare’s
tragedies and comedies, as it will be evident in the course of the analysis of Romeo and Juliet,
it would be wrong to dismiss the relevance of the theoretical genre-foundations for
Shakespearean plays. The presence of the repeating plot patterns in his comedies and
tragedies means that Shakespeare approached the origins of genre traditions and exploited
their creative potential to the fullest.

3. Tragic and Comic Elements in Romeo and Juliet

In Romeo and Juliet the close intermingling of the tragic and comic modes modifyies the
familiar patterns of narrative construction, resulting in the reversal of expectations and the
difficulty in predicting the plot. In the Prologue the Chorus establishes that it will be a story
about “a pair of star-crossed lovers [who] take their life” and “with their death bury their
parent’s strife”16. The passage sets up a solemn and sinister tone and the phrases “star-crossed
lovers” and “death-marked love” point to the inevitability of the tragic outcome, so that the
audience anticipates a love story with a tragic end. However, Act I starts with the humorous
interaction between the Capulet’s serving-men bringing a sudden change to mood. Soon they
are joined by the hostile side and the conversation culminates in a conflict between Capulets
and Montagues. This seems to be not the kind of conflict evident in tragedies, but rather a
parody of it, a squabble which comes out of the blue and is comic by its nature. Snyder
describes the conflict in Act I as “two old men [clawing] at one another only to be dragged
back by their wives and scolded by their Prince.”17 Moreover, the reason for the feud is never
mentioned in the play, thus making it rather a pointless quarrel than a decades-long feud. At
this point, Shakespeare breaks with the tradition of the tragedy’s dramatic narrative and the
play exhibits the features of a classic romantic comedy.

15
Mullan, John. “An Introduction to Shakespeare’s Comedy.”
16
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Prologue. 6-8.
17
Snyder, Susan. “Romeo and Juliet: Comedy into Tragedy.” P. 75

8
 The main protagonists, the youthful rebellious lovers Romeo and Juliet, also resemble
comic characters in their pre-tragic selves. Romeo embodies a Petrarchan romantic lover – a
man suffering from the unrequited love for his unreachable godlike Mistress and praising her
heavenly beauty through the poetry of sonnets.18 His melancholic love for Rosaline is
constantly being ridiculed by the teasing remarks of his friend Mercutio, who also draws an
analogy to Petrarch’s love for Laura: “Now is he for the numbers that Petrarch flowed in.
Laura to his lady was a kitchen-wench”.19 However, the language of Romeo’s love
confessions is stereotyped and conventional emphasizing the artificiality and immaturity of
his feelings for Rosaline. Blinded by love and convinced in the exceptionality of his Mistress,
he dismisses Benvolio’s proposal to find a replacement for Rosaline. The more comic the
situation turns out when the second he lays his eyes on Juliet, his ‘true love’ Rosaline is long
forgotten. In this case, Romeo also shows his intrinsically comic adaptability to
circumstances.
Juliet’s inner strength and rebellious nature are also uncharacteristic for the tragic
heroines, who are usually portrayed as the passive victims of the masculine aggressiveness
in Shakespeare’s tragedies (Desdemona from Othello, Ophelia from Hamlet).20 During her
conversation with mother, who wants her to marry Paris, she demonstrates a cleverly
disguised disobedience, saying: “I’ll look to like, if looking liking move./But no more deep
will I indart mine eye”.21 Lady Capulet wants Juliet to meet Paris at the feast but instead of
him Juliet meets Romeo and falls in love with him, which is one of the many typically comic
incidents of the play. In her relationship with Romeo she takes the dominant role: she is the
first to confess her love for him (although she is unaware of his presence) and she explicitly
asks him whether he loves her. Juliet’s straightforwardness strikes once again when leaving
out the traditional vows of love, she expresses to Romeo the idea of marriage. Romeo even
hints at the reversal of gender roles when stating that her “beauty hath made [him]

18
Halio, Jay L. Romeo and Juliet: A Guide to the Play. P. 36-37
19
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. II.3.37-38
20
Danson, Lawrence. Shakespeare’s Dramatic Genres. P. 136
21
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. I.3.99-100

9
effeminate,/And in [his] temper softened valour’s steel”.22 Juliet’s independence and
resistance to surrender to fate link her to Shakespeare’s comic heroines.
In general, the plot setting is that of a comedy: a young lover experiences
unreciprocated feelings for his beloved and then finds a new love who is being wooed by
another admirer whom she does not love back. Similar elaborated schemes of courting can
be found in Shakespeare’s comedies “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “As You Like It”.
Yet despite the light-hearted, comedy-like tone of the play, there is a tragic implication. For
example, Romeo has a strong feeling of foreboding right before meeting Juliet at the feast,
as his “mind misgives some consequence […] hanging in the stars” which will lead to his
“untimely death”.23 The presence of the cosmic forces represented by Fate, Fortune and the
Stars is very prominent throughout the whole narrative. Renaissance thinkers believed that
the Stars could influence the destinies of all human beings.24 Romeo’s observation of an
ominous sign in the sky intensifies the sense of tragic inevitability. However, Romeo and
Juliet do not blindly follow the path predesignated by their fate; on the contrary, encouraged
by their undying love, they throw out a challenge to everything and everyone that stands
against their loving union. The intensity of their devotion gives them a range of possibilities
to overcome the obstacles and they fearlessly and willingly take the chances: rebel against
their families and the feud, climb over the walls risking their lives, arrange marriage in secret
with the help of Friar Laurence. Friar Laurence represents yet another comic stock character
in his role as a manipulator. In comedies manipulators usually manage the events and the
characters in such a way as to achieve a happy end. They are able to influence the
development of the comic plot, thus demonstrating its changeability.25 Friar Laurence agrees
to marry Romeo and Juliet in the hope that their marriage will reconcile the two feuding
families. On the other hand, he also enacts the role of Senecan counsellor figure in that he
discourages the young lovers from unnecessary haste. For example, he disapproves of
Romeo’s sudden change of heart, pointing out that “they stumble that run fast”. 26 In the

22
Ibid. III.1.114-115
23
Ibid. I.4.105-111
24
Andrews, John F. “Falling in Love: The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.” P. 408
25
Snyder, Susan. The Comic Matrix of Shakespeare’s Tragedies. P. 42
26
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. II.2.94

10
wedding scene he once again warns them against the inconsiderate act, telling that “these
violent delights have violent ends”.27 The wedding scene itself is a perverted version of a
classic comic ending. The act which would be a joyful celebration of love and reunion in a
comedy carries a grievous and sullen undertone of the inescapable fatality. The oppositions
of happiness and sorrow, the holy act of marriage and “love-devouring death”27 emphasize
the tragic character of their love. Romeo and Juliet’s marriage in the middle of the play is a
symbolic transition from the predominant comic pattern to the realm of tragedy.
The death of Mercutio in Act III marks “the symbolic death of comedy”28 and triggers
a series of unfortunate events. It is the turning point that urged Romeo and Juliet to expose
their tragic personalities. When Tybalt challenges Romeo to a duel, the latter demonstrates
the stoic self-control of a tragic hero by not responding to his provocation. The reason behind
his refusal to fight is that Tybalt is now his relative by marriage: “[I] love thee better than
thou canst devise/Till thou shalt know the reason of my love”.29 Not knowing it, Mercutio
wrongly interprets his friend’s decision as an act of submission and is determined to defend
Romeo’s masculine honor. Romeo once again appeals to reason, saying that “the Prince
expressly hath/Forbid this bandying in Verona streets”.30 Ironically, his intervention, though
peacefully intended, accidentally leads to Mercutio’s death when Tybalt stabs him under
Romeo’s arm. Romeo is put in a hopeless situation which brings about his hamartia: on the
one hand, his moral principles and the honor code urge him to avenge his friend; on the other
hand, murdering Tybalt would mean betraying Juliet and violating the laws of the
community. Enraged, Romeo kills Tybalt becoming a victim of a sudden emotional outburst.
His inner conflict evolves into an outer conflict with the community when the Prince
proclaims his banishment from Verona. Upon learning about the banishment, Romeo
succumbs to temporary madness and wants to stab himself claiming that “exile hath more
terror […] than death”31 but is stopped by Friar Laurence, who once again acts as a counsellor
and manipulator. He calms Romeo down and advises him to flee to Mantua and wait there

27
Ibid. II.5.9
28
Snyder, Susan. “Romeo and Juliet: Comedy into Tragedy.” P. 77
29
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. III.1.68-69
30
Ibid. III.1.86-87
31
Ibid. III.3.13-14

11
for a favorable opportunity to return to Verona. However, as Snyder points out, the time in
tragedy does not work in favor of the protagonists: whereas in comedy there is no need for
hurry and even bad timing turns out to be benevolent for the heroes, in tragedy it has a
destructive power.32 Friar Laurence’s advice to bide time is congruent with the concept of
time in comedy, but not in tragedy, where time flies rapidly.
As if Tybalt’s death and Romeo’s exile were not enough, Juliet is ordered to marry
Paris in two days. Juliet, who has previously been torn between her love for Romeo and her
sense of duty to Tybalt and who has expressed her conflicted feelings by calling Romeo a
“beautiful tyrant, fiend angelical”33, is stricken by another unresolvable conflict. It seems that
everything and everyone is against her: the feud, the community, who banished Romeo, and
the parents, who against her wish basically force her into prohibited polygamy by marrying
another man. On top of that, the Nurse, her loyal companion, who has been let into all secrets,
advises to obey her parents and marry Paris. Being a comic character, the Nurse suggests to
accommodate to the situation, arguing that “Your first [husband] is dead, or ‘twere as good
he were/As living here and you no use of him”, and thus resolve the problem in the traditions
of a comedy. This scene is directly linked to the one where Benvolio advises Romeo to forget
Rosaline and find a replacement for her. But whereas his suggestion seems to be plausible
within the predominantly comic setting, the Nurse’s advice sounds inappropriate and even
cruel to the loyal Juliet. Feeling betrayed and abandoned, she seeks help from Friar Laurence,
the only ally left.
He suggests the last possible way out: Juliet has to take a sleeping potion and fake
her death. According to Rozett, the trope of the sleeping potion and fake death existed long
before Romeo and Juliet was written and is comic by nature. Moreover, she claims that
Juliet’s feigned death is “a form of disguise, misleading the lover or husband about her
identity”.34 This device is often exploited by Shakespeare in his comedies (e.g. Rosalind
disguised as a young boy in As You Like It). But whereas in comedies fake death and
subsequent resurrection symbolize victory over death, in Romeo and Juliet this idea is turned

32
Snyder, Susan. “Romeo and Juliet: Comedy into Tragedy.” P. 80
33
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. III.2.75
34
Tuck Rozett, Martha. “The Comic Structures of Tragic Endings.” P. 153-154

12
upside down. The preparations for the burial accompanied by the pompous words of farewell
and Peter’s funny interaction with the musicians demonstrate the effects of discrepant
awareness and dramatic irony: because the audience knows that Juliet is alive, the characters’
exaggerated sorrow and bemoaning are perceived with humor. At this point, the hope for a
happy end still seems to be believable. However, a number of ill-fated accidents (a wedding
that was moved forward a day, a belated letter, a misinformed servant) lead to a shocking
double suicide. In comedy, any temporary mischances experienced by the heroes would be
neutralized by the intervention of good fortune and a cunning manipulator. In Romeo and
Juliet, Friar Laurence’s failure to provide a satisfying end implicates the dysfunctionality of
the comic characters put into a tragic context. Still, a happy resolution would have been
possible if Juliet had awoken moments prior to Romeo’s arrival. But in tragedies fortune is
never on the heroes’ side. The trick with the sleeping potion results in a fatal mistake instead
of a comic revelation, and Paris’ accidental death only intensifies the inevitability of Romeo’s
suicide.
The end of the play is ambivalent in that it in a way fulfills both the expectations of a
comic reconciliation and cathartic effect. Rozett observes that the last act with its “unraveling
of evidence, lengthy revelations, and acts of forgiveness”35 is more reminiscent of a comic
closure. Furthermore, peace and harmony in the community are restored through the
reconciliation of the two families. However, the aim is achieved at a high cost. The violent
and meaningless deaths of so many young people overshadow any positive outcomes and the
remaining characters are left to deal with the horrifying consequences they caused. The
realization that the conflict has been resolved through such a cruel and unnecessary sacrifice
accelerates catharsis – the purgation of feelings, specifically that of pity and fear. This
particular effect on the audience the play has links it to the Aristotelian notion of tragedy.
The comic potential of the suicide scene in Romeo and Juliet is explored in Pyramus
and Thisbe, a play staged by the craftsmen from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The suicide
of Pyramus and Thisbe is an ancient pre-story of Romeo and Juliet’s tragedy: a young man
commits suicide thinking that his beloved is dead; in turn, she takes her life and dies at his

35
Ibid. p. 158

13
side. Apart from the apparently similar plots, some details also coincide: for instance,
Thisbe’s ‘shears’ with which she stabs herself is a comic allusion to Juliet’s final speech: “O
happy dagger,/This is thy sheath” with a clear phonetic analogy between ‘shears’ and
‘sheath’.36 The comic aspect can also be observed in the play’s exaggerated language and the
craftsmen’s absurd understanding of the tragic genre. The latter is particularly evident in their
discussion of the play production. In order to not scare the ladies by the sight of swords and
corpses, the craftsmen want to “leave the killing out”37 at first, but then Bottom offers to “let
the prologue seem to say […] that Pyramus is not killed indeed. And for the more better
assurance, tell them that I, Pyramus, am not Pyramus, but Bottom the weaver”37. Bottom’s
ludicrous suggestions transform the play into a complete farce and a parody of the genre. The
case of Romeo and Juliet and Pyramus and Thisbe demonstrates what happens if the same
plot is rendered by tragedy and comedy. The resulting differences and similarities in the
representation of the plot indicate the complementary dependency between the two genres.

3.1. The Role of Mercutio and the Nurse

There are reasons for dedicating a chapter to these characters. First, Mercutio and the Nurse
provide much of the comic relief through their humorous interactions with the other
characters. Second, their function in the play is crucial for the understanding of the operation
of comedy within the tragic context.
Mercutio and the Nurse are the opposites of the protagonists – Mercutio of Romeo
and the Nurse of Juliet – in the way they perceive the relationship between a man and a
woman. They both treat love as exclusively sexual gratification and deny any romantic
feelings attached to it. This physical concept of love is manifested in their bawdy humor and
constant mocking of Romeo and Juliet’s elevated feelings. For instance, when Romeo
complains about love being too rough with him, Mercutio answers with a witty wordplay:
“be rough with love/Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down”38, suggesting that
Romeo abandon his love-sick passive self and take control over his feelings. In his direct and

36
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. V.3.169-170
37
---. A Midsummer Night’s Dream. III.1.13 and 15-19
38
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. I.4.25-26

14
anti-romantic treatment of love, Mercutio remotely resembles a clown – a comic figure
whose primary function “is to speak for the truth of animal needs and pleasures that is ignored
in the truth of high romance”.39 The Nurse likewise introduces Juliet to the sensual side of
love and marriage on multiple occasions, such as when she retells his husband’s words:
“Thou wilt fall backward when thou hast more wit”.40 However, unlike Mercutio’s witty and
elaborated puns, the Nurse’s humour is earthy and direct and results from her self-repetitions,
linguistic misunderstandings and lengthy off-topic remarks. In general, both the characters
and their sexual jokes serve as a foil to the spiritual and innocent love of Romeo and Juliet.
Their vision of love is intrinsically comic, since in comedy explicitly sexual language is often
used to bring down from the high feelings to the low carnal instincts at the worst possible
times.41
Apart from that, by putting two inherently comic characters into the play,
Shakespeare demonstrates how comedy operates within the tragic context. This is most
evident in the juxtaposition of two parallel scenes – one comic and one tragic. In Act II, Juliet
impatiently waits for the Nurse to deliver the news about the wedding. However, the Nurse
procrastinates the time complaining about her aching bones instead, thus adding to Juliet’s
desperation. The resulting comic effect consorts with the light-hearted mood of the scene and
the comic role of the Nurse fits into the prevalently comic pattern of the first half of the play.
However, quite the opposite effect is created when the Nurse has to deliver upsetting
information about Tybalt’s death and Romeo’s banishment. Juliet again with eagerness
interrogates the Nurse, but the latter, being as always inconsequent and chaotic, misleads her
into thinking that Romeo is dead, which only intensifies Juliet’s anxiety. The comic principle
of misconception does not work in the tragic context and the Nurse seems out of place.
Another example of the analogues scenes involves Mercutio. In Act II, Scene 3, Mercutio
and Romeo engage in a humorous conversation ‘attacking’ each other with wits and puns.
Mercutio then playfully accepts the defeat asking for Benvolio to intervene: “Come between
us, good Benvolio, my wits faints”.42 These jesting exchanges mirror the actual battle

39
Snyder, Susan. The Comic Matrix of Shakespeare’s Tragedies. P. 43
40
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. I.3.44
41
Leggatt, Alexander. “Comedy and Sex.” P. 139
42
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. II.3.64-65

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between Mercutio and Tybalt, resulting in Mercutio’s defeat and death and accelerating the
chain of tragic events. Snyder argues that Mercutio’s sudden removal from the play and the
Nurse’s absence in the final Act demonstrate “the principle of irrelevance”43: the comic
characters become irrelevant within the rapidly progressing events of the tragic world.

4. Conclusion

Romeo and Juliet is one of the earliest plays in which Shakespeare explores the
interdependence of comedy and tragedy. Starting as a romantic comedy, the play has a
symbolic comic closure in the scene of Romeo and Juliet’s wedding and then, after
Mercutio’s death, moves towards its imminent tragic ending. The intermingling of the comic
and tragic elements affects the usual turn of events one would expect from a tragedy. The
ominous message in the Prologue, the premonitions of death that hunt the protagonists
provide a sullen undertone to the overall uplifting mood of the first half of the play. The
audience has a constant feeling that the catastrophe is inevitable. On the other hand, the
expectations of a happy end do not leave until the final Act. Almost nothing is clear-cut in
Romeo and Juliet. The various comic possibilities introduced in the play (the accidents of
timing, several misconceptions and misrecognitions, the trick with the sleeping potion) are
either perverted or dismissed at all as to emphasize the tragic intensity of the plot and the
inadequacy of the comic resolution in the tragic context. Even the characters are neither
comic nor tragic in nature (except for Tybalt and the Nurse, perhaps)44 but rather gradually
develop from the comic into tragic identities. Another example of the way that comedy
operates in tragedy is the integration of the comic characters: Mercutio, the Nurse and Friar
Laurence. Friar Laurence’s failure to carry out his plan and Mercutio and the Nurse’s early
removals from the play implicate their irrelevance and inefficiency for the tragic plot.
Despite the juxtaposition of the comic and tragic modes, the play’s plot is not
disseminated. On the contrary, their inclusion into the play not only does not destroy the
integrity of the plot but rather maintains it, which implicates the relatedness of the two

43
Snyder, Susan. “Romeo and Juliet: Comedy into Tragedy.” P. 81
44
I would argue that, although Friar Laurence is also largely a comic character, he can simultaneously be
characterized as the adviser figure that frequently appears in tragedies.

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seemingly opposite genres. This so called harmonious discord achieved in the play is
essential to the Elizabethan worldview: Elizabethans believed that harmony can be
established through the combination of opposing elements. In this respect, the Elizabethan
world perception is reflected in the composition of Romeo and Juliet. Apart from that, the
case of Romeo and Juliet shows Shakespeare’s inclination to experiment with genres. His
experiments contributed to the reinvention of the genre system and undermined the
established opinion that genres should be treated as separate units.

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