Romeo and Juliet Essay
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet potrays many violent images , particularly in Act 3 scene 1 .This scene is a consequence of the previous scenes. Shortly after the servants brawled in the streets, Romeo gatecrashes the Capulet’s party. Tybalt is furious and goes after Romeo for revenge. Romeo who just married Juliet refuses to fight Mercutio, despite keeping his family’s honour. Of course, Mercutio and Tybalt , who is oblivious to this fact is disgusted at his reluctance to put up his sword. Instead, Mercutio defends his friend by dueling with Tybalt. From the very start of the play , Shakespeare has already begun giving out small hints and warnings of ‘revenge’ and ‘brawls’ in the prologue. In Act 1 scene 4 , Mercutio talks of ‘nothing’ . To the audience, he is slightly disturbed at that point of time, and over reacts dramatically when he talks about Queen Mab. In Act 1 scene 5, Tybalt vows at Capulet’s party, saying that Romeo will pay for the ‘hurt’ he has caused Tybalt. This tells the audience that Tybalt is very violent. Shakespeare wants the audience to understand the personalities his characters as soon as possible, so that what happens in Act 3 scene 1 is not a surprise. In Act 2 scene 6 , Friar Lawrence’s soliloquy, he says that “these violent delights have violent ends.” So, as Shakespeare builds up each scene , bringing in the main characters of the play, the audience is warned that although the play circles around the love theme, it is also closely linked to violence and fate. Act 1 scene 1 shows a family feud between the Montague and Capulet’s servants . Violence runs constantly throughout the play. Even on the streets the servants verbally abuse each other. However, fate plays a more definite role in this play. In the prologue , Shakespeare makes it known to the audience that the play will be about two “star crossed” lovers. In Act 1 scene 4, Romeo talks about having a “dream”, and is reluctant to join Mercutio at the Capulet’s party. He thinks that his dream is a bad omen, warning him that something bad is going to happen, and he’s right. In Act 1 scene 5, he meets Juliet . This is fate, considering that just earlier on that morning, in Act 1 scene 2, he talks to Benvolio about Rosaline, how she has no interest in him. When Shakespeare wrote this play in the early 1600s, fate and God played an important role in everyday life. People believed that the only reason why something bad happened to you, laid in God’s hands.
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The scene starts off with Benvolio’s warning of a ‘brawl’ as the ‘hot’ weather is the ‘mad blood stirring.’ This warns the audience that something bad is about to happen. This creates anticipation . The audience should be well aware by then, that Benvolio is a nervous character, who can always predict when trouble is brewing. Mercutio ignores Benvolio’s warning. He starts teasing and provoking him, using puns and alliterations, like “ as soon moved to be moody and as soon moody to be moved.” This amuses Benvolio. He knows that he is not as hot tempered as Mercutio suggests he is. He tries to distract Mercutio by asking him whether he is ‘such a fellow.’ Mercutio remains argumentative. He makes up ridiculous puns, exaggerating Benvolio’s gentle personality. He says that Benvolio finds the most unbelievable excuse to fight a man. He “quarreled” with a tailor just because he wore new clothes before Easter. The audience can hear the edge in Mercutio’s voice, ware that the heat is affecting Mercutio’s wild imaginations. He tries to irritate Benvolio, annoyed at being tutored for being “quarrelsome.” The audience waits for the expected fight as Tybalt enters the scene.
Tybalt enters the scene . From Act 2 scene 4 , the audience is told that Tybalt is a skilled swordsman. He is ‘deaf to peace’ and ‘saucy’. More than anything else, he want ‘revenge’ on Romeo. He will not “endure such a villain.” However, he does not seem interested in fighting with Mercutio and Benvolio. He is polite and even suppresses his aggression when Mercutio taunts and provokes him. He ignores Mercutio when he says that he will make it a ‘word and a blow’. Meanwhile, Mercutio does not give up . He pretends to misunderstand Tybalt , trying to find some ‘occasion’ for him to draw. Tybalt is calm towards Mercutio’s aggressiveness. He addresses Mercutio as ‘sir’, surprising the audience, as we know that Tybalt is extremely hot tempered. When Romeo enters , Tybalt brushes Mercutio way. He bades him ‘peace’, as the ‘man’ he wants to see has arrived. Mercutio takes offense in this. It becomes apparent and obvious to the audience that he is trying to find reasons to fight Tybalt. He misinterprets the word ‘man’. He blames Tybalt for insulting Romeo, calling him a servant. On the other hand, Tybalt could have been sarcastic, for all we know. This relates to his personality . Tybalt is sly and short tempered character. So when he replies to Mercutio, the words ‘consort’, minstrels’ , ‘fiddlestick’ and ‘my man’ could have suggested another meaning to the fiery tempered Mercutio. We don’t know for sure whether Tybalt had meant what he said. As Tybalt is a violent character, , and the audience would have expected him to attack the irritating Mercutio. However, he remains calm and turns away from him. Perhaps that’s why his temper runs short when Romeo turns away from him. He returns to his spiteful character that we all know too well. He calls out ‘boy’ to Romeo . This is an insult. Shakespeare did this because in the 1600s, social ranking meant a lot to the people. To be considered a working class person - a servant, was a disgrace. Romeo is from a well off and wealthy family. To be called a servant , ‘boy’ would have offended almost anyone from a high social ranking. However , Romeo chooses to ignore it. It is now Tybalt’s turn to annoy Romeo, so that he will ‘turn and draw.’ Romeo still refuses to put up his sword . He replies that he ‘tenders’ Capulet’s name, just as ‘dearly as’ his own. Tybalt, Mercutio and Benvolio don’t know that Romeo and Juliet were married just minutes ago. Both Mercutio and Tybalt thinks that Romeo is dishonourable. Mercutio is totally disgusted by Romeo’s attitude, as the code of honour in Shakespeare’s time meant a lot. He calls Tybalt a ‘rat catcher’ while drawing his own sword . The audience is told that Tybalt is the King of Cats. This suggests the Tybalt is agile and Mercutio will probably lose the duel, and he does. Romeo tries to stop the fight. He pleads them to stop the ‘outrage’. He is very anxious. He reminds them of the Prince’s warning on the ‘bandying’ in Verona Streets. He tries to distact them both, but they ignore him completely. The audience holds their breath. This is the beginning of the build up of all the previous scenes.
Mercutio and Tybalt continue fighting. They are the center of attention. The people gather around. Some are watching, some are taunting , and others provoke both Mercutio and Tybalt, trying to fuel their anger . Oblivious that they are in the ‘public haunt of men’, they don’t stop fighting. In my opinion, Shakespeare included this fight scene as an entertainment for the audience. In the 1600s, people tended to like brutal and barbarous entertainment like dog fighting. Shakespeare liked and wanted his audience to be interested throughout the whole play. After Act 2 scene 6, some of the audience would be bored of the marriage scene. The marriage scene moves slowly, displaying Romeo and Juliet’s obssessive love for each other. The story is at a standstill.Act 3 scene 1 gets the audience intrigued again , as it is a change a pace and the story moves quickly. The theme changes from romance to violence. As in most cliched stories , there are always happy endings. This change of theme from love to violence, acts like a twist in tale. The audience will be aroused by curiosity. They will be engrossed in the play once again, and will wait to see how this fight will affect the rest of the play. This is very crucial as back then, the audience could leave the theatre when they got bored. Shakespeare definitely didn’t want this to happen. In the middle of this violent theme, it changes to fate. As Romeo tries to stop the fight by standing in the middle of Mercutio and Tybalt, Mercutio is hurt under his arm. Tybalt did not mean to stab Mercutio enough to kill him, and the last thing Romeo wanted was to let Mercutio get hurt. Like most bullies, Tybalt runs away, portraying cowardness.
Mercutio curses the two families. He is distressed and distraught, as he had just fought to uphold the honour of the Montagues and now it will cost him his life. He feels disappointed as Tybalt has ‘gone ‘ and ‘hath nothing’. Mercutio still emphasizes honour. He wishes that he had injured Tybalt, for the sake of his pride. When he says ‘ a plague on both your houses….’ , this is another warning. He knows that his death will lead to something awful. However, he still can’t step down and admit that he is hurt. He wants appear strong and brave. So he puns, saying that it is just a ‘scratch’. This could be because it was inflicted by the King of Cats. However, it could also show his unwillingness to show his friends that he is badly hurt. He continues using metaphors and puns to insult Tybalt, trying to convince the people around him that he is courageous. Mercutio calls himself a ‘grave man’. Unaware of how serious Mercutio’s wound is, Romeo and Benvolio take the word ‘grave’ for granted, thinking that Mercutio is just feeling sad for not beating Tybalt. He emphasizes the ‘plague’ on both their houses. Shakespeare does this to illustrate how serious Mercutio is about it, as he never seems to mean what he says. Also, Shakespeare suddenly uses prose. This suggests that Mercutio can’t even think properly anymore. The audience knows that he likes playing around with words, so the prose is significant at this point of Mercutio’s death scene. Mercutio just seems to be saying whatever that enters his mind. He tells Romeo off for interfering . He only allows Romeo to answer shortly. Mercutio starts speaking in shorter phrases now, as if he is gasping for breath, a sign that tells the audience that he is dying. He talks about the ‘plague’, this time the repetition has more impact on the audience. He calls out ‘your houses!’ at the end. Even on his last breath, he curses the two families. This is very powerful The last thing on his mind was the curse. Romeo, obviously shocked and upset over his friend’s wound, declares that his reputation is ‘stained’. He insults Tybalt. He is confused. He had ‘came between’ the two of them because he ‘thought all for the best.’ He blames Juliet for making him ‘effeminate’, that he has no courage. Benvolio returns with the news that Mercutio is dead. Romeo replies to himself that this ‘day’s black fate on more days doth depend, this but begins the woe others must end.’ This tells the audience that the excitement and violence of the play is not over yet. What happened that day will affect the future.
Tybalt returns . Romeo loses his temper , portraying the effect the heat has on them. The audience is aware that Romeo is sweet and mild mannered and does not lose his temper easily. “fire- eyed fury’ is another metaphor of his anger. He is so angry and eager to take revenge for Mercutio’s death, that he says that either Tybalt or him must ‘go with him ....to keep him company.’ , he doesn’t even care that he is endangering his own life. Tybalt insults Romeo , his anger also building up. Fueled by his anger, he kills Tybalt. Benvolio tells Romeo to leave quickly. Shocked and dazed by what he has just done, Romeo stays rooted to the ground. Benvolio has to tell him twice to ‘be gone.’ By then, Romeo is already being dragged away. In despair and frustration, Romeo screams passionately that he is ‘fortune’s fool’, before running away. The theme of fate and violence adds to this horrific atmosphere, where fate has turned against Romeo and brought the death of his friend, Mercutio, and killed his cousin in law. This suggests that fate cannot be predicted. Bad luck will come looking for you when you least expect it. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, fate changes from bad to good unexpectedly and then suddenly changes for the worst. When Romeo can’t get any attention from Rosemary, the servants fight on the street, causing chaos. Just as he thinks that he will never find a another lover, he meets Juliet at the party and they both fall in love at first sight. They marry, and in less than an hours time, Romeo loses a good friend and slays Juliet’s cousin.
An officer, clearly oblivious about Romeo’s reaction to Mercutio’s death enters, looking for Tybalt who had slained Mercutio. By then, word has got around about Mercutio’s death. The officer orders Benvolio to follow him, under the Prince’s order. The Prince demands to know what caused the ‘fray’. He is furious that another feud has broken out. He wants to know who the ‘vile beginners’ were. The word ‘vile’ is strong and shows just how angry the Prince is. Benvolio speaks in cup lets making his story memorable. He uses the words ‘all, brawl , Romeo and Mercutio.’ Lady Capulet is emotional. She mourns for her cousin and her brother’s child. This shows that eventhough the feud is a normal issue in their lives, both the Capulets and Montagues are still human, and are caring. Death affects them just as much as it affects anyone else. However, in her anger, she still does not allow the Montagues to get away with it. She wants the Prince to punish them. Revenge still clicks constantly. This builds up on the ongoing family grudge. They don’t know why they hate each other so much. They were brought up to hate one another. As love and violence circles around the play, Shakespeare creates a contrast , where these two families have a love( Romeo and Juliet) hate ( the two households) relationship. Benvolio speaks his point of view, trying to defend Romeo as much as possible, as he is aware that Romeo has a chance of being sentenced to death. He tries to paint an image, as if Tybalt is in fault. He also blames the violence on heat. Mercutio whho turns ‘hot’ and angry is killed by Tybalt who is ‘deaf to peace’. This is inaccurate, but only the audience is aware of it. As usual, Benvolio is trying to prevent more trouble. He doesn’t want Romeo to be in the blame. He talks about Mercutio’s ‘cold’ death. This is a contrast to the fiery tempers and the heat mentioned earlier on, which irritated and caused the ‘mad blood stirring.’ Benvolio tries to pinpoint the fault back to Tybalt again, saying that Tybalt continued to fight, despite Romeo’s desperate attempts to stop them fighting. He says that Tybalt’s ‘agile’ arm kills Mercutio. However, he does not mention that Mercutio was accidentally killed when Romeo interfered. He completely leaves out the fact that Romeo is partly to blame for Mercutio’s death, a s Tybalt only wanted a ‘word’ with him, for gate crashing the Capulets’ party. Notably, he’s giving a realistic point of view of what happened, but leaves out the insignificant details, hoping that what he says will shift the blame onto Tybalt’s shoulders. Then, to make himself seem innocent, Benvolio says that Romeo and Tybalt fought like ‘lightning’, so he was unable to ‘draw them apart’. Lightning is also an element of heat, which Shakespeare imposes to create and emphasize on the heat which centers around this scene. In a last and desperate attempt to plea for Romeo, Benvolio says that what he has just narrated is the ‘truth’, or else let him die. This dramatic approach does not fool Lady Capulet. She says that he is biased, being the ‘kinsmen’ of the Montagues. She pleads for justice and orders the Prince to do so for the sake of Tybalt. Romeo’s father continues to beg for his son’s life, saying that Romeo’s crime has simply put into effect what the law would have demanded. The Prince, fed up, comes up with a conclusion. He speaks in cup lets, suggesting that he is a powerful character and that he is high in status, and what he says is important. He is unmerciful and will be ‘deaf to pleading.’ Romeo is banished and no ‘tears nor prayers’ will change the Prince’ mind.
The audience is left feeling more curious. What will happen next? Will Juliet be upset? The audience knows that Romeo and Juliet love each other very much. Will this be the end of their love, or the pathway to new opportunities? This violent scene returns to the slow moving love theme. This time, the audience will be interested in what happens next. Shakespeare has created a scene which will dramatize the love scene in Act 3 scene 2 , as these two themes are in contrast . In order to keep the audience fascinated, he has cleverly linked these two themes together. Earlier on , Romeo says that he is ‘fortune’s fool’. The audience is aware that the fight in Act 3 scene 1 is not over yet. This family grudge has been ongoing for a long time. It has not ended yet, and although the audience knows that the next few scenes will bring it to an end, it is obvious that the hate both families have for each other will make peace very unlikely . Will Romeo and Juliet’s love be strong enough bring this ‘ancient grudge’ to a halt once and for all?How and when is still a question in the audience’s mind, and therefore, they will look forward to the next scene.
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