At the time Mercutio makes his famous "Queen Mab" speech in Shakespeare"s Romeo and Juliet, he and Romeo, together with a group of their friends and kinsmen, are on the way to a party given by their family"s arch-enemy, Lord Capulet. Their plan is to crash the party so that Romeo may have the opportunity to see his current love, Rosaline, whom they know has been invited to the Capulet"s masque that evening. Romeo, whom his friends seem to consider generally very witty and fun, originally thought the party-crashing would be a wonderful idea, but suddenly is overcome by a...
violence which Queen Mab will set in motion that night are no dreams, but real. And yet Romeo seems to realize that there is nothing to be done except face the future squarely; there is no running from it. "But he, that hath the steerage of my course, / Direct my sail!" I, iv, 112-13. His final words, "On, lusty gentlemen!", are to Mercutio and their other friends, but they might have been addressed to himself as well. It is his passion, his impetuosity, his lust, which will spell his doom-all of it foreshadowed in Mercutio"s "talk of dreams."