Mercutio denies Romeo’s prophetic dream, leading him to not take the dream of death seriously. When Romeo talks about a dream he has about the events of the evening foreshadowing his demise, Mercutio shuts him down and denies it having any meaning, jeering, “True, I talk of dreams, which are the children of an idle brain” (Shakespeare 1.4 94). Mercutio is unserious and always joking, so when Romeo desires to talk about deeper topics, he distracts him with crude jokes and a story about “Queen Mab”. He not only denies the meaning and importance of his dream, he makes a public mockery of this dream, and Romeo for believing it had any meaning beyond the surface level. Romeo is looking for assurance and his best friends don’t take him or his dream
