Explain how Romeo and Mercutio are foils for each other. What do you learn about the characters by seeing them in contrast to each other?

Answer and Explanation:

In literature, a character's foil is someone who is his opposite, who makes certain qualities of his more noticeable. In Shakespeare's tragedy "Romeo and Juliet," Romeo and his friend Mercutio are foils for each other.

Even though they are friends, their personalities could not be more distinct. Romeo is a helpless romantic. He believes in true love and in dreams. Romeo is the type of person who will stop eating, who will stay home alone, sulking, because the woman he likes does not like him back. Mercutio teases him for being like that. Mercutio does not have such a romantic view of love as Romeo. He has a more playful attitude toward it. He also thinks that dreams have no meaning, no importance. Mercutio is the type of person who lives in the present, who enjoys life, who does not allow feelings to overwhelm him.

he has become more humble and patient in battle.