Character: MERCUTIO, Romeo’s best friend. A wild child—the life of the party. Deceased at the start of the play.
MERCUTIO:
Not Romeo. Not he. You never loved that boy,
That velvet lad, that Montague in lace.
‘Tis me you want, sweet Juliet, not him.
You’re drawn to me, you crave me, even now—
For I am all the bad boys of your dreams;
The man who’ll take your hand and teach you things
Your nurse would never tell you, all those things
You dreamed about, the secrets of your heart
And other places;
What a pale man is Romeo, when you
Compare him to the scarlet of my soul.
And now that everything is changed, why should
You not be free to change your choice as well?
I’m better than your Romeo, you’ll see:
Forget his candle—burn the torch of me.
