Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Individual
Group Discount
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews December 12, 2023 December 5, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan - Group Discount
Qty: 00
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
True, I talk of dreams,
Which are the children of an idle brain,
Begot of nothing but vain fantasy. (I.iv.)
Mercutio’s “Queen Mab” speech introduces us to an important aspect of his character. He is a cynical realist who finds dreams and fantasies ridiculous. Throughout the play Mercutio makes fun of Romeo’s fantasy of perfect romantic love, which invites the audience to question the seriousness and maturity of Romeo’s feelings for Juliet.
Appear thou in likeness of a sigh,
Speak but one rhyme and I am satisfied,
Cry but “Ay me,” pronounce but “love” and “dove.” (II.i.)
Mercutio makes fun of Romeo for using language drawn from the love poetry that was popular in Shakespeare’s day. He draws attention to the fact that Romeo’s romantic language is clichéd, suggesting that Romeo’s feelings might be inauthentic or immature.
O Romeo, that she were, O, that she were
An open-arse, thou a poperin pear! (II.i.)
Mercutio believes that love is grounded in sexual desire. When Romeo makes the romantic gesture of breaking into the Capulets’ garden to see Juliet, Mercutio calls after him that his real motive is not romantic but sexual. An “open-arse” is a slang name for a fruit often compared to the vagina, while “poperin” puns on “pop her in.”
Now art thou what thou art, by art as well as by nature, for this driveling love is like a great natural that runs lolling up and down to hide his bauble in a hole. (II.iv)
Mercutio is pleased when Romeo stops pining for Rosaline. He suggests that Romeo’s “driveling” over his beloved was caused by a sexual desire to “hide his bauble in a hole.” Mercutio doesn’t know about Juliet, but these lines might make the audience wonder if sexual frustration also lies behind Romeo’s love for her.
A plague o’ both your houses.
They have made worms’ meat of me. (III.i.)
When Mercutio is fatally injured, he turns his cynical and realist eye on his own situation. He points out that the feud that has caused his death is pointless. While Romeo and Benvolio talk about Mercutio’s “soul” and “gallant spirit,” Mercutio himself describes his death in strictly physical and unromantic terms: he will be “worms’ meat.”
Please wait while we process your payment