Romeo and Juliet what is 'the mistress circle'?

Answer 1

In Act II Scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet Mercutio says

'twould anger him

To raise a spirit in his mistress' circle

Of some strange nature, letting it there stand

Till she had laid it, and conjured it down.

Mercutio has been pretending to be a magician who can conjure up Romeo by talking about Rosaline. He is carrying on this sorcerer-type imagery by talking about "raising a spirit". In this context sorcerers sometimes held that a circle, especially a circle made of chalk, could be used to summon a spirit, and on the surface that is what he is talking about.

But with Mercutio, every single thing he says is talking dirty and has an obscene secondary meaning. In this sense the "spirit" is Romeo's sexual organ which he will raise in her sexual organ (the "mistress's circle") and let it stand until she has "laid it and conjured it down".