Insults and Violence: Markers of Masculinity

Bragging and insults seem to be a brand of "masculinity" even in Shakespearean times.   Mercutio, at the beginning of the Act III, is a perfect example of this.  Even when he is talking to Benvolio, a friend, Mercutio feels the need to break him down.  He says, "why, thou wilt quarrel with a man that hath a hair more or a hair less in his bread than thou hast" (III.i.16-18).  He goes on for at least ten more lines, insulting Benvolio, saying that he is too quick to fight over silly things.  (Ironically, it was actually Benvolio who attempted to break up the fight from the first scene.)  However, Mercutio's insults become much more personal when Capulets enter the scene.  Where Benvolio acknowledges the fact that Tybalt has arrived, Mercutio announces that he "care[s] not" (III.i.35).  He has greatly insulted the Capulets by saying they mean so little to him that they are completely unworthy of acknowledgement.  He is also, in this way, bragging a bit.  It is his way of proving he is unafraid of the Capulets because he doesn't find them to be a threat.  He believes he could hold his own in a fight.

Fighting is also of importance to masculinity in Romeo and Juliet.  Because it cannot be said which family is better, the Montagues or the Capulets, violence is an easy way for them to settle the dispute.  If one man can kill another, does that not make the one who survives the better man?  After all, he is still alive.  It makes him seem stronger and braver.  This is likely why Mercutio jumps into a fight with Tybalt, who was originally trying to duel with Romeo.  When Romeo denies to fight, Mercutio says, "O calm, dishonorable, vile submission!" (III.i.72).  Mercutio cannot stand the idea of a Montague man not rising to the challenge of a lesser being such as a Capulet.  It makes the Montagues seem weak and he cannot let that happen.