Comical Elements In Romeo & Juliet

The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedie, of Romeo and Iuliet - a play with such a title as this could hardly be expected to contain any great deal of light-hearted comedy, but comic elements can still be seen throughout the course of the story. Characters joke and jest in between romantic soliloquies; bright imagery are embedded between passages of trouble, darkness, and death. These elements are so subtly included in the tragedy that one barely notices their poignancy as the story folds out. Upon reflection, however, readers can see that this most lamentable tragedy is not purely tragic. Why would Shakespeare, then, theoretically, "dilute" the pathos of Romeo & Juliet by using these comical elements? He could have simply went along with Aristotle and developed the tragedy even further, but instead, he chose to combine humor into his play as well.

The daily hustle and bustle of the Montague and Capulet serving men are so strikingly ordinary in comparison to Romeo and Juliet's romantic lives that it can easily be seen as comedic. The very first scene of the play opens with wit-play from the two Capulet servants, Sampson and Gregory. Their imitation of the language of their masters makes for an entertaining little exchange as they play around with words like "collier....choler....collar" (9) since the speech of the servants throughout the play are quite a few notches below the language of their superiors. Peter, the illiterate servant of the Capulets, is one such example of the servingmen's humor through their inferiority. He asks Romeo and Benvolio for help in reading the guest list, and inadvertently invites them - or rather, uninvites - them to the feast. Later, after the "death" of Juliet, he has a seemingly irrelevant exchange with the musicians, in which he attempts some witticism. "Then will I lay the serving-creature's dagger on you pate. I will carry no crochets. I'll re you, I'll fa you. Do you note me?" (207). He uses multiple meanings of words such as crochets and note to demonstrate his "cleverness," and it is language such as this that offer glimpses into the light, ordinary Elizabethan life. While these interactions between minor characters serve largely as an introduction to current situations in Verona or as connective tissue between scenes, they also give elements of common life, playful violence, and sexual innuendo, which provide amusement to the audience.

One servant, however, deserves special attention, not only because of her greater role in the life of a main character but also for all the humor she adds to the play. This is, of course, the chatty, coarse, and often times annoying nurse of Juliet. Instead of witty word play, she is a comic character because of her constant rants about anything and everything. In her first scene, she goes on for pages at the very mention of Juliet's age, starting with "I'll lay fourteen of my teeth (and yet, to my teen be it spoken, I have but four) she's not fourteen" (35), even as she agrees with Lady Capulet. She sometimes gives the impression of an old, nagging grandmother, especially when she is complaining of her aches and pains to Juliet instead of telling her the information she was sent to obtain. This scene also shows her mischievous, pestering nature. The Nurse often embarrasses Juliet, telling stories of when Juliet was young, and going on and on incessantly, much in the way a modern parent could embarrass their child in public. Her allusions to sex and Juliet's virginity are also comic elements used by the Nurse, mostly to poke fun of Juliet's childish innocence, as well as out of her unrefined manners. "Thou wilt fall backward when thou hast more wit" (37), she remarks while telling a story about Juliet taking a fall as a child just learning how to walk. From her repeated sexual references to Juliet's romantic relationship, the Nurse can be seen as having a rather casual view on the young lovers' passion, especially since she was so quick to suggest that Juliet should go ahead and marry Paris now that Romeo is exiled. Her ignorance of the deeper emotions in the play are also, therefore, comical to the audience.

While the Nurse is teasing Juliet, Romeo's lovesick devotion is also being made fun of by his friend Mercutio, a brilliant, witty character whose name is derived from the quick-changing mercury. He is very much a comic character in the sense that he adds a certain irreplaceable spark and liveliness to the play through both what he says and how he says it. According to Romeo, he is "a gentleman....that loves to hear himself talk and will speak more in a minute than he will stand to in a month" (99). Another talkative character, Mercutio's language is full of life and imagery, and most importantly to his comical role, witty. His "Queen Mab speech" contains some of his of the most famous lines, which capture all of the imagination and eloquence he puts into his words. One of the best examples of the witticisms of his language among his friends, so loved by the Elizabethan audiences, are in his little battle of wits with Romeo:

Mercutio: "I will bite thee by the ear for that jest."

Romeo: "Nay, good goose, bite not."

Mercutio: "Thy wit is a very bitter sweeting; it is a most sharp sauce."

Romeo: "And is it not, then, well served into a sweet goose." (95)

This carefree joking lights up the scene in a way that the servants and the Nurse are quite unable to do. However, with all of Mercutio's eloquence, he still has the profane elements of