The scene is really been put in a number of episodes:
First, Mercutio and Benvolio wait for the Capulets to arrive, and Mercutio trades insults with Tybalt when they do;
Then Romeo is challenged by Tybalt and refuses;
Mercutio fights Tybalt and is fatally wounded when Romeo interferes;
Romeo chases Tybalt and kills him;
Finally Benvolio gives an explanation of the events to the Prince, who banishes Romeo.
All the way through this scene there is a change in mood from the start to finsh, one minute Romeo wants to be family and stop fighting with Tybalt and then at the end there are two deaths one by Romeo to Tybalt. So there is a lot of mixed feelings I think.
In this scene, the most obvious stage props are the swords used in the fighting they were used by all the characters as this would be what every person would carry around in the olden days as it was seen as a what a gun would be to us a sword would be to them. There are two passages of fighting. The stage directions simply tell us who fights and who dies. Often in this play Mercutio speaks in writing style. This is a mark of relaxed attitude. Mercutio are all from royal families yet all sometimes speak in writing style. Speaking in writing style shows their attitude to the situation they are in or the person they are addressing.
In this scene various characters speak in writing style, but after Mercutio's death the more serious mood is shown as characters all speak unrhymed verses. This is kept up until the end of the scene, where Benvolio, Lady Capulet, Montague and the Prince all speak in rhyming verse.
The language use has changed since Shakespeare's time; a villain in earlier times was a common person - so the name, applied to a nobleman like Romeo, would be an insult. In calling him my man Tybalt speaks of him as if he were a servant - which is why Mercutio says he won't “wear” Tybalt's “livery” the uniform of his servant. The 16th century audience would understand this as they heard it - today it needs to be translated so we will all be able to understand it in our language today.
For figurative language we can look at Romeo's challenge to Tybalt:
“...for Mercutio's soul
Is but a little way above our heads,
Staying for thine to keep him company
Either thou, or I, or both must go with him.”
This is saying that Mercutio is dead and someone must die for this either Tybalt or me.
Benvolio gives a convincing account of the fighting, saying Tybalt and Mercutio's aggression with Romeo's attempts at peace. We see why Lady Capulet refuses to accept him, but he tells the truth.
We know Benvolio is truthful
We know why Lady Capulet disputes his account
We know why what she says might seem believable
We know that the Prince knows Tybalt's character, as reported by Benvolio
This scene like this whole play has lots of patterns and wordplay. Much of it is from Mercutio. Jokes come when Mercutio is wounded: first he is sarcastic his wound is not as “deep as a well” or “wide as a church door” but quite enough to kill him then he makes a bad joke “grave man”. Finally, he lists animals to insult his killer: “A dog, a rat, a mouse, a cat, to scratch a man to death”.
A more elaborate pattern is found in Tybalt's challenge to Romeo and Romeo's replies. When Tybalt sarcastically says “the love I bear thee” (no love at all) Romeo responds with “the reason that I have to love thee”, while “Thou art a villain” becomes “villain am I none”. “Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries...” is met with “I do protest I never injur'd thee”. Finally the direct challenge: “Therefore turn and draw” is countered with “And so…be satisfied”.
