A Friend and a Fool

A Friend and a Fool

Two plays written by William Shakespeare are The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night. Many of the characters in these plays are similar to each other. One example is Romeo's best friend, Mecutio and the clown in Twelfth Night, Feste. They share many common characteristics and also a few differences. However, they are more similar to each other than they are different. Mercutio and Feste are alike and different because of their personalities, morals, fates, and reliability.

In Twelfth Night, Feste is the name of a clown, also known as a fool. He is a poor and slightly greedy man who is often tardy. "Nay, either tell me where thou hast been, or I will not open my lips so wide as a bristle may enter in way of thy excuse. My lady will hang thee for thy absence" (Twelfth Night 77). In the play, he works mostly for Lady Olivia, the Lady of the island where the story takes place. When he is not working, he talks with Olivia's uncle, a gentlewoman, and a gentleman of her household. He also does whatever he thinks is fun, even if it is at the expense of others.

One way to compare Feste and Mercutio is to take a look at their personalities. For the most part, the are pretty much alike in character. They are both witty, laid back, rude at times, and occasionally very wise. There is, however, one significant personality difference. Mercutio has very good friends that he hangs out with. On the other hand, Feste does not have any good, specific friends. He does not belong to any group in particular, though he tends to spend more time with the members of Lady Olivia's household.

Another way they can be compared is by their morals. Generally, they are both rather rude to others. One example of Mercutio being rude is when he made fun of how fat the nurse was. Something rude that Feste did was being part of a huge prank on a character, named Malvolio, that went way too far. However, Mecutio believes that friends come before most other things, which is why he was upset when Romeo ditched him and Benvolio for who he thought was Roseline. He also thought that it was very noble of Tybalt to challenge Romeo to a duel instead of just killing him. For these reasons, Mercutio has more morals than feste does.

A third way to see how they are alike and different is to compare their fates. At the end of Twelfth Night, the worst thing that happens to Feste is that Olivia finds out that he had a part in the prank on Malvolio; the play actually ends with him singing the final lines. He deserves this, though he also might have deserved it if Malvolio had decided to seek revenge on him, as well. In The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, however, Mercutio gets stabbed by Tybalt. This he did not deserve at all; he got killed as a result of Romeo interfering with his and Tybalt's duel. "Why the devil came you between us? I was hurt under your arm" (The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet 822).

One last method is to look at the reliabilities of the two characters. Feste often arrives late to everything and is only concerned about himself. Whereas, Mercutio shows loyalty and friendship and has more morals than Feste does. Therefore, Feste is not as reliable as Mercutio is. "Go to, you're a dry fool. I'll no more of you. Besides, you grow dishonest" (Twelfth Night 79).

In conclusion, Mercutio and Feste are alike and different because of their personalities, morals, fates, and reliability. Feste and Mecutio have similar personalities, but Mercutio has more morals. For this reason, Mercutio is more reliable than Feste. Also, Feste lives and does not even get in a large amount of trouble in the end, while Mercutio accidentally dies. If only one of them deserved to die, it was Feste because of his part in the cruel prank, not Mercutio, who did nothing to bring his death upon himself. Of these two plays, these are the characters that are the most like each other, but also the most different.