Scene 2. Verona. A public place.

Benvolio: It hast been two weeks, and yet I still cannot believe that Romeo hath wed, and to a Capulet.

Mercutio: It is the height of lunacy, the moon
Hath struck Romeo, bespelled, bewitched him,
Diana did catch him by his fair horns
And when she found him male, did throw him back
And in this bedazzled state did he go
And fall into the arms of Juliet.
The heavens laugh at unlikely unions
Filled with rivers of familial blood.

Benvolio: O, how our besotted friend falls from one disaster to another. Nothing good can come from this.

Mercutio: I do not understand a woman's lure
She is soft, and silly, and loves mirrors.
Give me magic, music, and many men,
A good wine, a good sword, and some good friends
And I shall be a happy wit at last.
A man who must ask permission before
He leaves the house, is a lion who hath
Been tamed by the mouse. Give me all freedom,
For I scorn foolish fidelity now.

Ah, and here is the wedded wifey now,
He must have been let out of prison today.

Romeo: Good day, friends.

Mercutio: And how is wedded bliss with you this fine day?

Romeo: A fool like you would never know my joy.

Mercutio: Aye, then I must take thee at thy word,
For I do not know of the softer sex.

Romeo: You know not what you miss.

Mercutio: I know it enough to not want to know.
For the pleasures of her body, a man
Gives up the true enjoyments of his soul.

Romeo: That's not true. My soul is as free to roam
The heavens as well as the earth below
For Juliet's love doth raise me that high.

Mercutio: Then you and your free soul hear this. Come with us to the revels at Signor Antonio's, where we shall dance and make merry.

Romeo: Aye, we shall go.

Mercutio: No, not we, only you, for this is a masculine feast where delicate women should not go.

Romeo: Then I will ask Juliet if she mind that I go.

Mercutio: Thou provest my point, look at him, Benvolio. There stands a man who once was a lion. Give him a cat, and he weakens. It is always like this with wedded men, they are confined to the dungeon, never to be seen by their friends.

Benvolio: End your talk, Mercutio, leave Romeo be. Once a man weds, some things must naturally change. Our importance in his heart lessens.

Romeo: You are wrong, friend, you are as important to me as ever you were before I wed.

Mercutio: Then come to the party tonight, and prove you still love me, or this ends our friendship.

Romeo: I will be there tonight, Mercutio.
To Juliet at home, I shall not go. (Exeunt.)