“And if we meet we shall not scape a brawl”
Shakespeare is using here dramatic irony, because we know that Mercutio will have a fight with Tybalt. Words like ‘brawl’ and ‘mad blood’ set up a hot, heated scene. This shows that this scene is a hostile one. Mercutio’s speech about quarrelling sets up for the whole scene the feelings of heat, arguments and hostility:
“Thy head is as full of quarrels as an egg is full of meat”
“…and yet thou wilt tutor me from quarrelling?”
In the version seen in Mercury Theatre, in act 3 scene1, Mercutio is portrayed as being aggressive, when he responds to Benvolio’s jokes violently.
At the beginning Benvolio advises Mercutio and the other Montagues to leave, because the Capulets are about, and high temperatures will make tempers fray:
"I pray thee, good Mercutio, let's retire:
The day is hot, the Capels are abroad”
Another way Shakespeare creates a violent mood in this scene is by using imagery, comparing hot weather with hot tempers, which helps to create tension and suggests that something bad will happen:
“For now, these hot days, is the mad blood stirring”
Repetition of the word ‘hot’ makes the audience apprehensive about what is going to happen next and keeps them in suspense.
The structure of act three, scene one, changes as the scene goes on. This change in structure and changes from short sentences to long speeches symbolise the change in emotion. In Mercutio’s speech at the start of the scene, although he is speaking about quarrelling and how Benvolio quarrels, there is some aspect of humour because the audience know that Benvolio is not like that.
Now that the action has become a lot quicker, and the fighting has become more intense, they speak in bursts of short sentences showing that the scene is getting more heated and intense:
“Come sir, your passado.”
“I am for you”
Here Shakespeare uses a monosyllabic sentence to create impact on audience.
The audience do not know that there is going to be a fight because Romeo responds to Tybalt’s insult in a friendly way. At this point Romeo sees Tybalt as part of his family because Romeo and Juliet have just got married:
“Tybalt, the reason I have to love thee”
Tybalt is unaware of the marriage, so dramatic irony builds up as we, the audience, know something that Tybalt does not.
As Mercutio is dying he repeatedly utters the words of curse:
“A plague a’both your houses!”
This sets up a bad feeling that worse will happen to Romeo and Juliet. Romeo recognises this especially when Benvolio comes to announce the Mercutio’s death:
“This day’s black fate on moe days doth depend,
This but begins the woe others must end.”
However Romeo is so angry with Tybalt that he spits out his feelings with “fire-eyed fury”, which is alliteration and in words of one syllable:
“Either thou or I, or both, must go with him.”
When Romeo kills Tybalt, Benvolio warns that Romeo will be condemned to death by Prince as a result of the fight.
Poor Romeo feels that fate is controlling him and playing a cruel game with him by personifying fortune:
“O, I am fortune’s fool.”
The alliteration in this line adds to the tension.
When the Prince arrives on the scene, Lady Capulet goes into a hysterical outburst and wants Romeo dead, which heightens the tension further.
Benvolio tries to defuse the situation by playing down Romeo’s aggressive role.
“With gentle breath, calm look, knees humbly bowed”
Shakespeare structures the whole play very carefully. Act two scene four is full of humour and good natured banter. Romeo is happy because he is married to Juliet. This makes act three, scene one more tragic because of the happy scene that they were in before. The contrast between the previous scene and the savage events at the present moment makes this scene powerful.
