You are here

All Site ContentRomeo and JulietAct 2Scene 4
Back to the Play
"whole depth of my tale"
Innuendo
Act 2,
Scene 4
Lines 82-88

An explanation of Mercutio’s sexual innuendo in Act 2, Scene 4 of myShakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Benvolio

Stop there, stop there!

Mercutio

Thou desirest me to stop in my tale against the hair.

Benvolio

Thou wouldst else have made thy tale large.

Mercutio

O, thou art deceived; I would have made it short. For I was
come to the whole depth of my tale and meant, indeed,
to occupy the argument no longer.
[Enter the nurse and another servant, Peter. Both are wearing white, loose-fitting upper garments]

Romeo

Here's goodly gear!

Literally, Mercutio means something like, "I would have made my pronouncement short, because I had come to the end of it, and didn't intend to discuss the subject any longer." But in a bawdier sense, he's once again punning on "tale" as the the male genitalia, and "argument" as the female.