In Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio's words in Act II on the blindness of love take on a contradictory meaning when juxtaposed with the words of Romeo from Act I:
Alas that love, whose view is muffled still,/Should without eyes see pathways to his will! (I,i,169-170)
For, the meaning of Romeo's words are that love, whose eyes are blindfolded, can still see ways to have his will done. In Act II, Scene 1, when Mercutio uses the words blind he first refers to Cupid, the "purblind son of Venus," who still "shot the arrow so well"; this statement concurs with that of Romeo. However, Mercutio's comments on Romeo that "If love be blind, love cannot hit the mark," indicate Mercutio's judgment of Romeo's inability to find the spot for his love.
Benvolio dismisses Romeo as having a liason with the moody night--"Blind is his love, and best befits the dark" (II,i,34), so indications are that the friends do not want to bother with their friend as they think his actions are frivolous and will come to nothing. It is, ironic, then, that Romeo in Act I has spoken the truth in his remark on the blindness of love, and Mercutio has also "hit the mark" with his first comment about Cupid finding his mark though blind, but misses the seriousness of the situation as he makes his second remark on blind love, just as he misjudges Tybalt in Act III.
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