There is a very tense atmosphere as Tybalt enters; Mercutoi’s mood is very laid back ‘by my heel I care not’ Act 3 Scene 1 line 34. This show us Mercutoi’s mood and personality is trying to distresses Tybalt and start a fight when Tybalt does not retaliate and is very straight forward as to why is their Mercutio has to twist Tybalt’s words so he could some how take offence and have a reason to fight Tybalt ‘Mercutio, thou consortest with Romeo’ Act 3 Scene 1 line 42.The scene is also made interesting by the contrast between Mercutio and Tybalt because as we know earlier in the play, Mercutio hates Tybalt. When Mercutio says “more that prince of cats” this means Tybalt, a cat in a Dutch Fable. Tybalt says things that are short and sharp, he never says more than is necessary on the other hand Mercutio is the type of person who is digresses and goes off the point but, at the same time he is very warm and an emotional person, who loves to talk(to hear his voice). Tybalt is also a man that is cold and precise for example when he insults Romeo “no better term than this: thou art a villain.” villain meaning crook, peasant a very serious insult that would calls for duel. Where as Mercutio’s insult to Benvolio is very wordy, full of jokes and imaginative. He doesn’t really mean anything he says and Benvolio doesn’t take any offence of the insult, also the audience know this is ridiculous because we have seen him wanting to “keep the peace.” Act 3 Scene 1 lines 11-12 “thou art as a Jack in thy mood as any in Italy.” Tybalt speaks to Mercutio; the audience can see the difference between them because of the use of languages used from comical to serious, but Tybalt is not really interested in Mercutio because Tybalt doesn’t listen to Mercutio says lines 54-56 he goes straight on to talk to Romeo.
Mercutio, on the other hand is looking for an argument by twisting Tybalt words. Tybalt use the word ‘consort’ line 42 meaning a company of hired musicians (like you need some there). Mercutio pick up on the word ‘consort’ and deliberately misunderstands him and take offence just to start the duel. Tybalt uses the word ‘associate’ (with or to go around with). Musicians were regarded as lower class servants in Elizabethan times or Shakespeare’s day. Mercutio acts as if Tybalt has insulted him, and then draws his sword line 45. Notice how even here, Mercutio cannot resist a joke he pretends his sword is a fiddlestick lines 45 “here’s my fiddlestick, here’s that shall make you dance.” This also relates to the music, like the way the fiddle stick moves and how someone dances (quick and speedy). It is like his looking for a duel.
Another thing that makes the scene very interesting is the way Romeo behaves when Tybalt insults him “thou art a villain”. Tybalt wants revenge because he thought that Romeo put dishonour to the Capulet’s family, when arriving at the ball (party), and wasn’t even invited, that is why he insults Romeo. However Romeo bows out of it because of the love for Juliet, he tries to warn them by saying “Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee doth much excuse the appertaining rage to such a greeting. Villain am I none; therefore farewell, I see thou knowest me not.” Being called a villain is like the worst comment anyone could say in Shakespeare’s time. So if Romeo didn’t duel he would be disgraced as a coward, by the code of honour at the time, Romeo must fight. Romeo will not fight and tries to make peace with Tybalt in a wordy way on lines 65-66 but, he also has a lot of conflict within himself in this scene. The audience know why he will not fight as he has married Juliet and he can not kill a Kinsman, he swears on holy words “ then love-devouring death do what he dare, is enough I may but call her mine”(meaning Juliet) Act 2 Scene 6 lines 6-8. However, all the people on the stage think he is being a coward and that he is disgracing himself although he has a good reason. This could be shown on stage though the way they behave towards him because they could be looking at him as if he was/is a dust mitt on the bottom of there shoes and a shame to them all (Montage’s family).
A very interesting part of the scene is the death of Mercutio because he is such a joker, his friends think he is fooling about and do not realise that he is actually dying. Lines 89-90 “Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch, marry, ’tis enough. Where is my page? Go, villain, fetch a surgeon.” He is still joking right up until his last minute of his death. Even though he knows he is dying, Mercutio cannot resist another joke lines 92-95 “so wide as a church door” “ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man” this means that he will not be able fit though the door because of his build and that he will be buried tomorrow. “A plague a’both your houses!” Then in his final words, he curses both the Capulet’s and the Montages, because between them, they have caused his death “A plague a’both your houses!” repeated in lines 102-103 plague meaning dreadful cruse, they don’t necessarily know at the time what is going to happen an example of this is when both families have someone breathe your last breath meaning pass away (Romeo and Juliet). Disease was out of control in the 17th century. Plague was the most feared disease of all: people died of it every year, which had killed nearly one third of Europe's population (20 million people) in the 1300s. Another change of mood occurs when Romeo realises that Mercutio really is dying. The change of mood is as sudden as the first change of mood from Act 2 Scene 6 to Act 3 Scene 1 because Mercutio is joking and messing around so no one on stage knows.
To conclude this scene changes everything in every way you can think of, especially at the end the families hate each other more than ever because of the two deaths, one from each family. The mood changes that all times from comical to serious, happy to sad and then anger at the end from the lost of two people. Romeo is banished by the Prince because of Tybalt’s death; also Romeo is frightened that he will by no means see Juliet again. There is no hope that the marriage will end the hatred between the two families because they will never see that one child they lost over a childish conflict.
By Dariene Wootton Page of
