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All Site ContentRomeo and JulietAct 3Scene 1
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"king of cats"
Allusion
Act 3,
Scene 1
Lines 74-80

An explanation of the “king of cats” allusion in Act 3, Scene 1 of myShakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Mercutio

Tybalt, you rat-catcher, will you walk?

Tybalt

What wouldst thou have with me?

Mercutio

Good king of cats, nothing but one of your nine lives
that I mean to make bold withal, and, as you shall use
me hereafter, dry beat the rest of the eight. Will you
pluck your sword out of his pilcher by the ears? Make
haste, lest mine be about your ears ere it be out.

Once again Mercutio refers to Tybalt as a cat, because of a popular folktale featuring a cat by that name.