Romeo and Juliet has been one of the most famous plays in the world.

This is a play by William Shakespeare mainly about the tragic love between Romeo and Juliet from the two families Montague and Capulet. Throughout the play, W. Shakespeare also highlighted the friendship among the characters in the play. Standing out in the play is the friendship between Romeo and Mercutio. When comparing the two characters, we can see their similarities and differences. Romeo and Mercutio are friends. Romeo is from Montague family. Thus, he is in the tension between the two families. He must only side with his family should anything happen. Mercutio is one of the closest friends to Romeo and Benvolio. He is a blood relative to Prince Escalus and Count Paris. Standing in this postion, Mercutio is neither Montague nor Capulet. In general, Romeo, Juliet and Mercutio play important roles in the plot of the play. If Romeo is the main character with his appearance covering almost every scene of the play, Mercutio should be considered as the turning point of the play. Although they are close friends, they have very different personalities. Romeo is a romantic and has a heart set to seek for an ideal love. In the beginning of the play, he falls for Rosaline and tries in vain to catch her attention. Later, when invited to the Capulets party, he meets Juliet and he is struck by the love at first sight. He makes effort to build up his relationship with Juliet. In contrast, Mercutio has a different attitude to love. He is somewhat a realistic but funny man. He tries to give more objective advice on Romeos love. When Romeo is desperate in love with Rosaline, Mercutio tells Romeo to get over it: If love be rough with you, be rough with love; Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down (1.4.4). Meanwhile, Romeo is determined to pursue his love. He set his heart for the love with Juliet and definitely tries to marry her at all costs. His love softens his tension with Capulet: I love thee better than thou canst devise And so, good Capulet,which name I tender/ As dearly as my own,be satisfied" (3.1.66-69). His love for Juliet is so strong that nothing can prevent him, even death. On the contrary, Mercutio is more conscious about the possible risk of this love. He calls for Romeo to remind his friend: Romeo! Humors! Madman! Passion! Lover!(2.1.8) and then says, My invocation is fair and honest. In his mistress name I conjure only but to raise up him.(2.127-29). He knows that this love just causes trouble to his beloved friend. Mercutio and Romeo still have similarities. First, it is their bravery and loyalty to friendship. When Tybalt is aggressive and intends to attack Romeo. Mercutio on the behalf of Romeo fights Tybalt(3.1). Similarly, when Mercutio is killed by Tybalt, Romeo takes revenge on Tybalt. He kills the Julies cousin despite his love for Juliet. They are caring for each other. Mercutio gives warnings to Romeo when he falls in love with Juliet. Vice versa, Romeo confesses: O, I am fortunes fool (3.1.135) when he holds Mercutio in his arms. It is a respectable friendship. One more important but pitiful similarity is that they end up their life in tragedy. Both of them are dead while they can have a bright and prominent future. In conclusion, Romeo and Mercutio are good friends to each other. They can do anything for their friendship and they also are brave men. However, Romeo is too deep in love whereas Mercutio is very practical. Also, Romeo appears to be more calm than the hasty Mercutio. But tragedy happens to both. That is a success of W.Shakespeare to create a quite contrast characters but good friends of each other.