Metaphor Romeo And Juliet

Shakespeare uses metaphors to convey Mercutio’s idea that dreams are just a fantasy. Mercutio refers to dreams as a vain fantasy “which is as thin of substance as the air, And more inconstant than the wind” meaning that no one would live in the unpredictable wind and that “as thin of substance as the air” is stating that air is untouchable and so dreams are untouchable as well but also and uncontrollable. This proves that Shakespeare is referring to dreams as lies and are pointless. And so Mercutio has decided that dreams are worthless and should be ignored.

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This is a good analysis of the metaphor and its direct meaning. To develop this further, the next stage should be to explore what this means in terms of the play as a whole. For example, given what we now know, are Romeo’s dreams really “As thin of substance as the air”? I think not. It is also interesting to note where Mercutio ends up – perhaps he would have been wise to pay more attention to Romeo’s misgivings?

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