You are here

All Site ContentRomeo and JulietAct 3Scene 1
Back to the Play
"beaten as addle as an egg"
Metaphor
Act 3,
Scene 1
Lines 22-23

An explanation of the egg metaphor in Act 3, Scene 1 of myShakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Mercutio

egg is full of meat, and yet thy head hath been beaten
as addle as an egg for quarreling. Thou hast

In Mercutio's metaphor Benvolio's head full of quarrels is likened to an egg full of yolk. Eggs are beaten, or "addled" (in preparation for cooking) and Benvolio's head gets beaten, or scrambled, when he fights in a quarrel, like an "addled" egg.