When we first come across Mercutio our first impressions are that he is a smart, sharp tongue backfired quick-witted aristocrat, character and that he likes to try and help his friends as much as he can especially Romeo with Rosaline, we can see this when he is first introduced in Act 1 Scene 3, when Benvolio and Mercutio are getting prepared to go to the Capulet feast. Romeo doesn’t really want to go because Rosaline, a girl that Romeo is in love with is going to be there so, Mercutio tries to liven up Romeo’s feelings and thoughts by saying “Nay gentle Romeo, we must have you dance.” We can see that he is trying to make Romeo laugh, and try to get him to try and have a nice time and join him and Benvolio at the Capulet feast.
Mercutio’s banter suggests long friendship with Romeo and can become far out. For example:
Mercutio says “No I am the very pink of courtesy.” And then Romeo replies “Pink for flower?”
Mercutio says “Right.”
Besides being a flower, he is also centre of attention. Romeo describes him as "a gentleman... that loves to hear himself talk."
Benvolio on the other hand tries to behave above reproach; he is so ready for action that he keeps getting into trouble.
For example in Act 3 Scene 1 Benvolio recommends to Mercutio that “the day is hot, the Capulet’s are abroad, and if we meet, we shall not escape a brawl,” Mercutio would usually respond to Benvolio in a good natured humor, but as he is very tired and hot his invention is slower than usual. Due to Mercutio’s attitude he bickers with Tybalt causing them to fight. So although Benvolio suggested to Mercutio to leave he was then caught in the middle when Mercutio and Tybalt started to bicker and fight with each other.
Mercutio and Benvolio are both very close to each other, and they and Romeo all try to look out for one another. We can really feel the love between the characters from the moment they interact with each other.
When we look at Act 2 we can see a major difference from love to hate compared to Act 3. In Act 2 the love for Romeo and Juliet starts to develop. We can see this when Romeo says to Juliet “the exchange of my loves faithful vow for mine” and Juliet replies “if that thy bent of love be honorable thy purpose marriage send me word tomorrow” they are expressing their love for each other here by suggesting marriage to prove and contain their love for each other. From this we start to understand how the story is changing from a violent tragic play to a play about love and romance.
In Act 2 Romeo and Juliet declare their love for each other so suddenly and powerfully. The way Shakespeare has put the scene across it is really love at first sight. They are really and deeply in love with each other. They are willing to put aside the fact that their families hate each other, and marry. At this moment in time their love for each other is so powerful and strong that they don’t want to be apart from each other any longer. If their families were to find out about their love and marriage they are prepared to take whatever consequences comes at them, even if it means Juliet changing her name and disowning her family we can see this when she pronounces “be but sworn my love and I’ll no longer be a Capulet.”
Just from saying a few lines the love between the two characters seems to be unexplainable. They are willing to disown their families and their names to be with each other. Compared to Act 3 the atmosphere, language, and character is completely different to the previous scene as Act 3 is full of feud, tension, aggression, and atmosphere we can see this when Benvolio mentions to Mercutio “the Capulet’s are abroad and we meet we shall not escape a brawl” he is trying to warn the audience as well as Mercutio that if they were to stay and bump into the Capulet’s then a brawl is most likely to happen.
So from just a few moments the tension and atmosphere is completely different to Act 2. In Act 2 there is love and romance, and then all of the audience is faced with anger, and tension. Shakespeare has put the two acts in a way that we keep on remembering and seeing the hate and love between the two families. The audience begins to get hooked on Romeo and Juliet’s love that us the audience forget about the hatred between the characters. Shakespeare has put the play into perspective so that we can see the violence and love between the characters very rapidly.
From looking at Act 3 you begin to see how the play fits itself together. The play is very much like a jigsaw each scene puts itself into place for example in Act 1 we see how the families are towards each other, in Act 2 we see how love develops and in Act 3 we are reminded of the hate between the characters.
In Act 1 Benvolio and Tybalt are warned by Prince Escalus because they caused an unnecessary brawl in the streets of Verona and that this is the third time this has happened to happen. Their consequence is that if this was to ever happen to again their lives will pay the consequences. The brawl that Tybalt and Benvolio had has not been forgotten the grudge is still there between them this adds to even more fury when the Capulets and Montague’s meet again in Act 3. So from each scene more and more tension is building up as we go along.
Shakespeare uses dramatic irony in Act 3, with clever effects. As we the audience knows Tybalt has come to fight with Romeo because he and the Montague’s had arrived at the Capluet’s feast when asked not to, also the fact that Capulet wouldn’t have any violence at his feast. This wound up Tybalt even more than we wanted, because it made him more vicious towards the Montague's. Romeo however has just married Tybalts cousin young Juliet this means that now Tybalt and Romeo are family, but of course Tybalt doesn’t know this but us the audience does. Shakespeare has used dramatic irony effectively, as Romeo is trying to be as calm as he can towards Tybalt and is allowing Tybalt to bully him, for example Tybalt says “thou art a villain” this a huge insult to Romeo but Romeo pushes the comment over his head and replies with “Tybalt the reason that I have to love thee, doth much excuse the appertaining rage to such greeting” After all that Tybalt has said to Romeo, Romeo still replies with such love and affectionate language. This is how Shakespeare has shown the effect of dramatic irony between the characters.
When we look at how the stage directions of the play begin in Act 3, the scene is very rapid. One moment Mercutio and Benvolio are joking around and doing what normal friends do, the next moment Tybalt arrives and the play falls to pieces. The choreography for the scene creates a huge amount of tension and atmosphere for both the characters and the audience for example when Mercutio is just about to raise his sword he says “o’ calm dishonorable vile submission! Alla staccato carries it away. Tybalt you rat catcher will you walk?” as soon as he says this the tension begins to build and the audience starts to get very excited and on edge about what’s going to happen. Tybalt replies with “come sir your passado!” and they fight. With what they say to each other the audience can feel huge amounts of hate and aggression. The way the scene is set out at this point is very engaging because Mercutio and Tybalt are in a very deep fight at the moment then all of sudden Romeo comes from know where and tries break up the fight between Tybalt and Mercutio but then Romeo ends up getting Mercutio stabbed. All this is very erratic and sudden, but for the audience it is very exciting and is almost like a cliff hanger.
Benvolio is used like a narrator quite a lot in Act 3. Benvolio plays quite and important part during this scene because Romeo’s life is at risk from this point because two murders have happened and the murders have gone round in a triangle, because both Mercutio and Tybalt are dead leaving Romeo as the suspected murderer. Benvolio tries to prevent Romeo from getting killed this suggestion has come about because this is what Lady Capulet has recommended for Romeo’s punishment. To prevent this from happening to Romeo, Benvolio tells the complete truth to Prince Escalus, this helps Prince Escalus to change his mind and come to a decision this being “let Romeo hence in haste, else when he is found, that hour is his last.” This means that when Romeo is found that will be his last moment in Verona as he will be banished. Benvolio is trying to help Romeo as much as he can but with out lying he says “as he tell did Romeo turn and fly, this is the truth or let Benvolio die” Benvolio is trying to make it as clear as he can to Prince Escalus that he is telling the truth and that if it wasn’t for Tybalt killing Mercutio then Tybalt himself wouldn’t be dead now. At this point in the play the story becomes very strong we start to realize the love and hate between each character. For example Romeo and Mercutio had such an important bond and trust in their relationship that all they tried to do was help each other out. Tybalt however shows no love towards any of the characters, we just see Tybalt as an aggressive, forceful character so this shows hatred.
The moment when Mercutio is killed is very dramatic and powerful. Mercutio as we know has been stabbed by Tybalt, but he is trying to cover up his emotions and feelings so that the other characters cannot see him giving up we can see this when he says “ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch” he is trying to ensure his friends that it’s only a scratch his going to be ok. We then start to see Mercutio slowly fall apart especially when he says “ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man!” he is telling Romeo and Benvolio that his going to die and he will not last until tomorrow. While he is dying he repeats this phrase “a plague o’ both your houses” several times. He is making this quote very memorable by what he is saying he is trying to say you are a shame to both your families. If you could be real humans and people you would have settled your differences but because of your stubbornness I am now dead. He makes sure that the characters hear this phrase as clear as possible and as many times as possible. This phrase is extremely important throughout the play because it makes Romeo think more about what he has done over the past years, and how he really feels towards Juliet. Are they meant to be? Is it true love? Does he really love her? From the way the scene is put across to the audience we can see how Shakespeare creates suspense and dramatic irony within the scene.
My personal opinion of the play is that it is very violent. You can really see and feel the hate between the characters whilst reading and watching this play. The families have so much hatred for each other it is hard to understand how they come about being in the situation that they are in. Act 1 Scene 1, Act 3 Scene 1, and Act 5 Scene 5, have got to be the most dramatic violent scenes. I think this because in Act 1, all we are shown is pure aggression and hatred when we are first introduced to the characters. Act 3 Mercutio and Tybalt both die, very dramatically and disturbingly. Act 5 when Romeo and Juliet both kill themselves I wouldn’t really call it violent, more dramatic but it does show a violent effect to it as well. For example when Juliet stabs herself and commits suicide.
For me love was the most memorable throughout the play. The main Act that sticks in my mind has got to be Act 5. It was so powerful, heartbreaking and daunting that it just stuck in my mind. The thing that stuck in my head the most was that Romeo and Juliet’s love was so strong, and all they wanted to do was have their love accepted, and for their families to be happy for them, but their families weren’t like this at all. Even though the families didn’t know about the marriage of Romeo and Juliet you could see why Romeo and Juliet were so deceitful to their families by the way they communicated with each other. Towards the end they had both had enough of all the hatred between the families and of all the hassle that had been caused, that in the end they both ended up committing suicide. So this for me was the most memorable scene.
Personally think that Act 3 Scene 1 was the most violent scene in the play; I wouldn’t refer to it as the most powerful, but definitely the most violent. I think this because two important characters were killed both so unexpectedly and rapidly that he surprised me immensely.
My favorite scene as I’ve already said is Act 5, everything about it I loved the way the characters were towards each other the words that they said to each other, everything about that scene I loved, it was just so sad to see both of them die.
