Romeo is deeply in love with the girl he has just seen and does not concentrate on what is going on around him, this is where Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt enters the scene. The mood of the scene suddenly changes from romantic to hatred. As Romeo’s soliloquy is overheard by reckless Tybalt, he gets furious when he overhears Romeo. This is shown when he says, “This by voice should be a Montague. Fetch me my rapier boy.” This shows how much disgust Tybalt has towards Romeo, who is a Montague. The phrase “fetch” shows that is a command; this shows how much Tybalt hates the Montagues without a limit, and he does not want to think about anything else than just killing Romeo. This would increase tension amongst the audience as they already know Romeo’s prediction and would start to wonder if this is the moment where everything goes wrong.
Tybalt does not get into action straight away; he follows his servant to get his sword but then is stopped by Lord Capulet who noticed that Tybalt was angry. Tybalt explains his uncle about what has just happened and expects Lord Capulet to react the same way as himself. However, Tybalt is shocked when his uncle does the opposite of this. Instead Lord Capulet says, “content thee gentle coz, let him alone”. The quote says that Lord Capulet is telling Tybalt to stay calm and leave Romeo alone. Lord Capulet is really enjoying the party and is actually letting off a Montague who sneaked into the party and tells Tybalt to leave him alone. It also shows that Lord Capulet want the party to be perfect and want to impress his guests and if there would be a fight at the party then, he would loose his pride, In the Elizabethan times pride was a very important thing to rich people and Lord Capulet did not want to lose it at a party where there are important guests. Tybalt does not agree with his uncle and foolishly talks back to him. This is making Lord Capulet angry, this is shown by, “Am I the master here, or you?” The word “master” shows us that Lord Capulet considers himself higher up in the hierarchy and want to be respected. He is asking a question to make Tybalt get the message that he is lower than Lord Capulet. It also shows a sudden mood change within Lord Capulet. At first he was very happy and did not mind a Montague in the house of Capulet’s however when he realises that someone has just disobeyed him, he gets angry and tells of Tybalt. This reveals a lot about Lord Capulet’s character, he basically want people to respect him at all times. This is seen later in the play also when he looses his temper when Juliet refuses to marry Paris. Lord Capulet looses his temper when Juliet disobeys him. If people fail to respect him then he gets angry. When Lord Capulet tells Tybalt off it makes him feel offended but does not talk back as Lord Capulet is in a bad mood. He patiently listens to his uncle till he goes away. He later says “Patience perforce with wilful choler meeting makes my flesh tremble…” The phrase “flesh tremble” the anger Tybalt has and is unable to let it out as he has to obey his uncle, it also describes how much anger he is holding onto and makes him look like the bad character as he is furious. However, it shows the respect Tybalt has for his uncle, he understands the social hierarchy. He is listening to his uncle and is letting off Romeo despite all the anger he is holding onto and the eagerness he has to kill Romeo. He also feared his uncle because he has much power than Tybalt and could punish him if he done anything wrong. In the Elizabethan times punishments were harsh and Tybalt would have feared to get a punishment like this. At the moment the audience would be very thrilled and tensed, because they would want to know what would be happening next, this would mostly be to see the relationship between Tybalt and Romeo and tensed to see if Romeo gets to talk to Juliet.
While Tybalt and Lord Capulet, have had their argument and Lord Capulet tells Tybalt to stay calm. This gives Romeo and Juliet an opportunity to talk to each other. Once again Shakespeare changes the atmosphere of the scene from tension to romantic. Once Romeo talks to her, he says “My lips, two blushing pilgrims” By comparing his lips to pilgrims he is saying that he is a holy person and he has come to see the God who is Juliet. He calls Juliet a “shrine” He is basically saying that he found his destiny. When he calls Juliet’s a “holy shrine” meaning his destiny shows us that Romeo is deeply in love with Juliet. He makes Juliet a Goddess so that he can justify the kiss he is going to give her. Kissing someone randomly would not be right so Romeo is being clever and compares her to a Goddess so that he can kiss her. By doing this he reveals a lot about his character, basically, he is able to get over Rosaline, the girl he was madly in love with but once he sees someone beautiful he is able to get over Rosaline. This shows us that he can move on very easily. On the other hand, Juliet is opposite to this she is more of a scared character. This is shown when she actually kisses Romeo. She is wearing her mask which is giving her bravery, so if she was not wearing her mask she would not have kissed Romeo. At the moment the audience, would be very tense and excited. Tense because they would be curious on what would be happening next between Romeo and Juliet and would want to see how Tybalt is reacting. Excited because the young lovers have know met and would want to see whether this is the moment where everything goes wrong, according to Romeo’s prediction which relates us to the theme of fate.
The audience are aware that Romeo and Juliet are from opposing families, however, Romeo and Juliet does not know this. Once again Shakespeare changes the atmosphere of the scene. This happens when Romeo act knowledge that Juliet is a Capulet. He gets shocked when he discovers who Juliet is. He says, “O dear account! My life is my foe’s debt” The phrase “my life my foe’s debt” says that his enemy owes his life. By saying this he is showing how much love he has for Juliet because his life has now begun. Not only does Romeo get shocked by the news but so does Juliet. She says “My only love sprung from my only hate!” The phrase “sprung” shows how much passion Juliet had for their love and how much she loves Romeo. The only person Juliet loved seemed to be her only enemy as well. At the moment the audience, would be feeling very sympathetic as they know how both of them are feeling, this is where it relates to the theme of fate. When Romeo’s prediction has come true.
The scene ends at a hair-raising and heartbroken moment. The audience would want to know what would be happening next and would be heartbroken on behalf of Romeo and Juliet. We have met all the main characters and got an understanding about their personalities. The theme of love and hate is present during the scene. The scene is the most important in the entire play because it ends at a point where Tybalt is left outraged and Romeo and Juliet get to know each others true identity. When Tybalt is left outraged the audience would start to wonder if he gets his hands on Romeo or not. In the scene Romeo says that he had found his destiny however when he realises Juliet is a Capulet, we don’t know if she is still his destiny. This is why the scene is important and the audience would want to see what happens in the rest of the play. Romeo and Juliet probably start their destined love and Tybalt wants to kill Romeo.
