As Tybalt enters the stage Mercutio shows his scorn for Tybalt because he says ‘By my heel, I care not’, he does not really care that the Capulet’s are here. Then Mercutio says ‘One word with one of us? Couple it with something, make it a word and blow’, Mercutio tries to Tybalt angry and tries to provoke him to be the first one to start of a fight.
Tybalt’s entrance is unexpected for the audience because Tybalt speaks a polite and respectful way he says ‘Gentlemen, good e’en.’ His language used is very different to what he usually speaks like he usually speaks in a more aggressive and intimidating way ‘As I hate hell, all Montague’s, and thee.’ We can see that it is very different and surprising to what he says when he enters the scene. Tybalt talks to Mercutio and Benvolio with respectful and civil way. His entrance is also unexpected because whenever he usually enters the stage his speech is about hatred and without respect he says ‘Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries.’ From that quote you can also see that Tybalt is very patronising. His entrance is unexpected because all of a sudden Tybalt start’s to talk with respect and the audience do not expect Tybalt to come on stage and talk to the Montague’s with so much respect. Tybalt’s attitude towards Mercutio and Benvolio is respectful at the start of the scene. Tybalt is respectful and we know this because he says ‘Well peace be with you,’ form this we can see that he has not come for a fight and he does not want there to any problems. Tybalt use of language is very different to how it is usually is he says ‘Good e’en a word with one off’. You can see that he has only come to speak to them and he does not want any fights or arguments. However he would not usually say good evening and his language is calm and respectful. Tybalt does not want to fight with Mercutio but he just wants to talk with Romeo he says ‘A word with one off you.’ He does keep calm even though Mercutio provokes him he says ‘…One word with one of us? Couple it with something, make it a word and a blow,’ and we can see that he says ‘…May peace be with you sir.’
Tybalt says ‘Mercutio thou consortest with Romeo.’ Mercutio intentionally misreads ‘consortest’ to ‘consort.’ Consort means to that you spend time with someone you do not like, so Mercutio intentionally misreads consortest to consort as an excuse to fight Tybalt. Mercutio misreads consort which is a minstrels. He says ‘consort? What, dost thou make us minstrels’, a minstrel is a very low paid musician because they are not very good at their job. So therefore he is trying to say that Tybalt called them minstrels and so he draws his sword ready to fight because we already know that he wants to have a fight.
The fact that Mercutio uses the two words ‘Consort, and ‘Minstrel’ shows us that he will do anything to have a fight. He intentionally misreads the two words to try and provoke Tybalt to start off the fight. When Mercutio says ‘Here’s my fiddlestick’, the audience know that he is ready for a fight because he draws out his sword. Mercutio pulls out his sword because he knows that if he takes out his sword then Tybalt will react. However Tybalt reacts in a very surprising way he just says ‘Well, peace be with you sir, here comes my man.’ From this we learn start away that he does not want to fight. Shakespeare does not make Mercutio say ‘Here’s my sword’ but he makes Mercutio say ‘Here’s my fiddlestick.’ He uses ‘Fiddlestick’ instead of ‘Sword’ because it makes it more interesting and a little witty.
When Romeo enters he talks straight away about love. He says ‘Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee,’ we can see that he is a very kind and affectionate person. Even though Tybalt is a arched enemy Romeo still says that he loves Tybalt. He says this because he has married Juliet and so he believes that he has to love Tybalt as well. Tybalt says so many bad things to Romeo yet Romeo still talks about loving Tybalt. Romeo starts to talk about love from the minute he enters the stage. However, Tybalt is talking of hate but Romeo keeps his cool and ignores him. Tybalt’s language is very patronising to Romeo. Tybalt says to Romeo ‘Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries,’ Tybalt’s uses of words are very patronising to Romeo. Tybalt calls Romeo ‘Boy’ and not by his name or a ‘Man.’ Tybalt says to Romeo ‘Thou art a villain’, Romeo is very insulted by Tybalt calling him a villain because Romeo has never said or done anything to be called a villain. Also when Romeo enters the stage Tybalt says ‘Here comes my man,’ that means he is trying to say here comes my main servant. Romeo is offended by Tybalt use of language because he still considers Tybalt as a friend because he says ‘...I have to love thee.’
Only the audience and Romeo know that he has married Juliet this is called dramatic irony. So Romeo does not show any hatred towards Tybalt because Tybalt is a cousin to Juliet and Romeo loves Juliet so he will love anyone that she loves. When Tybalt does call Romeo a villain Romeo refuses to act he just disagrees with what Tybalt said, Romeo just says ‘…Villain am I none…’ Mercutio then goes on to say ‘O calm, dishonourable, vile submission,’ this means Mercutio is trying to say to Romeo that he is beginning to get weak and he is becoming a ‘wimp.’ Mercutio is trying to say that why are you backing down for you can not let him get away with that. The audience on the other hand know why Romeo is not saying anything to Tybalt and this is because he has already married Juliet.
Mercutio’s language is insulting to Tybalt because he says ‘Tybalt you rat catcher,’ then he goes on to say ‘Good Kings of cats, nothing but one of your nine lives,’ Mercutio is insulting Tybalt he is calling Tybalt a cat. The name Tybalt means king of cats, Mercutio is mimicking Tybalt’s name. Mercutio is trying to provoke Tybalt to start a fight. Mercutio does not want to be the one to start the fight so he says sly comment like ‘Come sir, your passado,’ which means come on show me best move, to try and make Tybalt get angry so that he will start a fight.
Even after Mercutio has been stabbed he still uses puns and he still puts on a brave face. He says ‘No. tis not so deep as a well,’ even though he is dieing he is still acting brave and strong. He also uses another pun he says ‘Ay, ay a scratch, a scratch,’ he is still mimicking Tybalt saying that he is a cat at that and that he has scratched him like a cat. From that quote you can tell that he can not believe that he has been scratched by a cat. Then Mercutio starts to mimic and joke about his own death he says ‘Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man,’ he is even still joking about his own death. He is on the door to death yet still he is not bothered that he is going to die. Mercutio uses two words to similes to describe the wound ‘No, tis not deep as a well,’ and the other is ‘Nor so wide as a church door,’ the way in which he describes the wound makes out as if it is not bad as it looks and sounds. He tries to make out as if the wound is just like a little cut.
Mercutio puts curses on the two families before he exists the scene, ‘A plague o’ both your houses,’ he says the same curse three times and he is dieing because of the fights between the two families. He says the curse because he is dieing because of somebody else’s cause. He is angry because he believes that he is dieing and it is not his own fault. Mercutio is angry at the fact that Tybalt escaped without getting harmed and he has been stabbed.
After Mercutio’s death Romeo changes fully from being full of love to full of hate. Romeo says ‘Thy beauty hath made me effeminate And in my temper soften’d valour’s steel,’ he thinks he has lost his masculinity because Juliet’ beauty has made him turn into a feminine, and that is the reason why he did not fight Tybalt at the start of the scene. Romeo communicates with the audience saying ‘This day’s black fate on mo days doth depend: This but begins the woe others must end,’ Romeo is saying that this is only the start of it he is not going to back down now. From the same quote we can see the transformation from love to hate ‘This day’s black fate,’ you can see that his words and language used is no longer of love but now of hate. At this point Romeo accepts the code of honour, which it that if someone from your family or a close friend is killed by your enemy you get to kill the person that did the sin. The audience can see that Romeo is full of hate because he says ‘And fire-ey’d be my conduct now,’ this means that his eyes are no longer of love and affection but they are now full of hate and anger. Romeo’s language has now totally changed. Shakespeare asks the audience to imagine Mercutio’s soul rising slowly above Romeo’s and Tybalt’s heads and he does this by making Romeo say ‘For Mercutio soul Is but a little way above our heads.’ Then Romeo challenges Tybalt by saying ‘Either thou, or I, or both must go with him,’ this means that either you, me or both must give company to Mercutio.
After Romeo has killed Tybalt he realises that he is no longer in control of his own life and he reveals this to the audience by saying ‘O, I am fortune’s fool,’ he realises that his life is not in is his own hands.
When the Prince arrives at the scene he turn’s to Benvolio to give an account of the story. He turns to Benvolio because the Prince turns to Benvolio because he is the most honest person of them all. When the fight happened in Act1 Scene 1 the prince turned to Benvolio and he told the truth, so the audience know that he is an honest person. However, this time he does not give an honest account because he says that Tybalt was the one who started this fight. However the audience know that it was Mercutio was the one who started the fight. ‘Of Tybalt, deaf to peace, but that he tilts with piercing stell at bold Mercutio’s break,’ Benvolio makes out that Tybalt was the one who provoked Mercutio. This time Benvolio lies and misses out that Mercutio was the one who provoked Tybalt.
For Romeo and Juliet they can not be together ‘Immediately we do exile him hence.’ The prince said that Romeo will not be executed but he will not be allowed to live in Verona. So once again fate is playing with their lives and they can not be together again. Their lives are effected of what has happened here because there are going to be more fights between the families and they will not be able to live together in peace.
