Mercutio’s role is quite impressive with his main scene he could of questionably stole the show. His main part Act 3, Scene 1 sees what he is really like showing his true self saying such comments as “By my heel, I care not” seeing how impolite he can really be even at the time of a fight. He first exchanges words with Tybalt which leads to a fight but it was obvious they both were expecting this and wasted no time in battling it out, however Romeo as well as Benvolio tried to avoid this intense fight by stopping it. Neither Romeo or Benvolio’s actions can stop it so it ends up coming to a battle of the death with both men fighting it out viscously for their lives. Unfortunately one must go and it ends up being Mercutio with a wound to his heart. His last request is for Benvolio to let him rest easily by taking him into his house.
Tybalt
There is not much information about Tybalt’s past regardless of it we know he is related to Juliet as she is his cousin, this also makes him a relative of Romeo as Romeo is married to Juliet, but nonetheless he still has a hatred for him. We can see from various speeches and thoughts Tybalt is strict and vicious as well as provoking, one similarity both him and Mercutio share. One example of his actions is when he demands Romeo be thrown out from his party in an early scene even before he knows him. This shows he will be rude to anyone and think he is all worthy and powerful from his background at the Capulet’s. One of his most hurting words he says to Romeo is “thou art a villain” this sentence greatly offends Romeo who is noble from birth and brought up respectfully. This shows he would be cruel to the most honourable of people. We can already see how villainous Tybalt can be just by using words.
Tybalt has very few close friends or companions that we witness during the play. His main relations are his uncle lord Capulet and as mentioned before he is the cousin to Juliet. As there have not been a lot of influence from other people to be good this could be one of the reasons why he is so “hot headed”. The only people to guide him is people mentioned e.g. when he sees Romeo at the Capulet party, his immediate instinct is to fight, but only the increasingly firm warnings from Capulet to hold his peace restrain him. Juliet also sees wants to protect him the reason being of there relationship with him this also makes Romeo more forgiving towards him as he wants the best possible relationship possible.
He does not speak many lines, but he influences the entire course of the play to a degree that exceeds his seemingly minor role in it. Throughout the play, he demonstrates his angry, resentful, and stubborn nature. When Tybalt first appears, Benvolio is attempting to stop the servants of the Capulet and Montague households from fighting. By contrast, Tybalt urges on the fight and succeeds in drawing Benvolio in to fighting with him. Later on, once again due to him provoking, another more serious fight occurs. Starts of with mental/verbal abuse then later leads to physical harm which results in the death of Mercutio. We can definitely see Tybalt will be ruthless and brutal to accomplish his goal no matter how immoral the sin. For this inhumane action it increases the rage within Romeo where he is determined to seek revenge out for his best friend, Mercutio. Once he destroys Mercutio, Tybalt then exchanges words once again with Romeo however this time Romeo isn’t going to be sympathetic towards him. Tybalt dies a quick but certainly not painless death and his role is complete. Tybalt is one of those villains you love to hate without him this play would seem incomplete and he without a doubt brings anger, revenge and greed to the play, things most people can relate to.
Similarities
There are several resemblances between the two characters such as rudeness, being impolite and one deficiency which results in death, foolishness. They are also both so eager to compete with each other obviously for two reasons:
- To determine who is the “better man”.
- Want to put an end to this feud.
During the fight they also feel the need to provoke each other and put one another down before any contact. Showing they may have a grudge but none would be strong enough to actually fight. It’s fairly difficult to see the similarities as these two beings have very few parts; however what we do know is they’ll do almost anything to destroy one another.
Differences
Even though they share a few of the same “qualities” they still are fairly different. We can see that when Tybalt is rude, he is actually quite serious, mean and really means what he says. Mercutio on the other hand seems to be “teasing” with his comments which makes the crowd enjoy him far more then Tybalt. Mercutio is also the one who provokes Tybalt leading to the fight with various phrases e.g. “Tybalt, you rat-catcher, will you walk?” of course this is an insult to him and accepts his challenge to proceed with a fight. Also they are from different backgrounds so of course there upbringing is different unfortunately we don’t see how.
Zeffirelli and Lurhmann Films
The Franco Zeffirelli adaptation was produced in 1968 whilst the baz Lurhmann. Whilst they both use the same language i.e. Old-English they both are unique in each way. The Zeffirelli production was designed so it felt as though you were actually in Shakespeare’s period but the Lurhmann version was made so it would appeal to a younger new generation by influencing things from today. Some of the modern influences in the Lurhmann version were guns, cars “new music” and other objects most of us relate to that weren’t used in Shakespeare’s time. Even though it was radically different they stayed true to the play by using the same, Old-English, language. I feel by mixing this theme it had a great effect but left some of the audience confused especially since it was suppose to target the young audience.
In the Zeffirelli film the props were exactly how I imagined it, by setting it in an environment where there were hardly any modern facilities or any blatant ones also the costumes were made to look as though it were in the 16th/17th century. It was fairly regular with no unusual surprises unlike the Lurhmann film. In the Lurhmann production he “exaggerated” the characters so it was more obvious to distinguish how they are portrayed e.g. at the scene of the party Tybalt is dressed as the devil, here just by his costume his personality is fitted perfectly so the audience can see. As well as Tybalt wearing “new” clothing so is every other actor in the movie. The setting is far more expanded and the film has more facilities such as fireworks and cars. Overall I enjoyed the Lurhmann version more as it appealed to me more with its time period rather then the predictable Zeffirelli version.
In conclusion I have discussed the issues or points of the two characters Tybalt and Mercutio, I have also managed to show there good and bad points. Overall out of the two characters I prefer Mercutio as he was more humorous then Tybalt.
By Asim