This is use of dramatic irony when the audience knows something the character is unaware of and helps to build the dramatic tension because the audience will realise that Romeo does not understand the danger from Tybalt. There is more irony here because Romeo is now related to Tybalt and does not want to create more tension between the families. When Tybalt insults Romeo, Mercutio defends him and insults Tybalt…. “Tybalt you rat-catcher” which builds tension leading to the inevitable fight. The families know that they will be punished for fighting but neither will back down because Shakespeare has built a hot-headed character into both families for this scene. Benvolio tries to reason with the two asking to “withdraw to some private place” so they can’t be seen but Mercutio refuses and replies, “Men’s eyes were made to look”. Mercutio and Tybalt refuse to show any sign of backing down. This is an example of how Shakespeare uses the dialogue to build tension instead of getting on with the story.
Shakespeare uses pathetic fallacy at the start of the scene to prepare the audience for trouble by talking about the heat of the day. Benvolio states “The day is hot, the Capels are abroad, And if we meet, we shall not ‘scape a brawl, For now these hot days, is the mad blood stirring.” The hot weather reflects the emotions of the fighters, which are hot headed and fiery. Also the fighting is in the public eye, increasing the dramatic tension, as we know this will quite likely result in death one way or another.
Romeo enters the scene after the audience has been prepared for fighting by the dialogue and when Tybalt sees him the tension rises immediately because Tybalt has already made it clear he wants to challenge Romeo. The audience knows this, as when Romeo enters Tybalt at once dismisses Mercutio and focuses his attention on Romeo… “ Peace be with you Sir, here comes my man.” Mercutio replies angrily “But I’ll be hang’d, Sir, if he wear your livery”. This means that Romeo is loyal to Mercutio and will not be Tybalt’s servant or wear the clothes of his family. This is ironic because Romeo has not yet told Mercutio that he is married to Tybalt’s cousin so now his loyalty also belongs to Tybalt. “I do protest I never injured thee, but love thee better than thou canst devise”.
At this point Romeo is the pacifier, which is ironic, as he will leave the scene as the aggressor having killed his new cousin, Tybalt. Romeo cannot explain why he will not fight ..“Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee doth much excuse the appertaining rage to such a greeting”. Then at the end of the scene when Mercutio is dead Romeo’s attitude to Tybalt has changed …“May fire-eyed fury be my conduct now”. This means he will avenge Mercutio’s death by killing Tybalt and acting on impulse instead of thinking about his new wife’s feelings. This is building dramatic tension even more as the audience know that Romeo does not want to fight but is pushed into it by Mercutio’s death. At the end of the scene when he has killed Tybalt Romeo knows that his actions will result in his death and parting from Juliet. At this point the play has clearly changed from a romantic story into a tragedy and there seems no way out for Romeo.
Romeo attempts to intervene between Tybalt and Mercutio’s fight which is fuelled by anger, rivalry and insulting each other. Shakespeare builds dramatic tension here by adding misunderstanding and bad feeling between the two friends to the tension that already exists between the rival houses. Mercutio feels he has to regain Romeo’s honour .. “oh calm, dishonourable, vile submission”. He does not understand why Romeo will not fight and thinks he is a coward but Romeo does not want either of them to be hurt.. “Gentle Mercutio put thy rapier up.” Romeo is trying to control them but they duel anyway. Romeo jumps between them to save his friend and his secret cousin from harm and insists they stop .. “For shame, forbear this outrage”, but as his intervenes Tybalt “thrusts” Mercutio and Tybalt “flies”. Mercutio is injured and blames the two families. Shakespeare uses Mercutio’s death speech to build more tension. Twice Mercutio says “a plague on both your houses” which is a curse on the Capulets and the Montagues and this hints at more tragedy to come. He does not understand why Romeo did not defend him even when Mercutio was loyal to him and this keeps up the tension because it spurs Romeo into a revenge attack on Tybalt. Mercutio blames both families even though Tybalt refused to fight Mercutio at first. Mercutio also had the option of walking away at the start of the scene without losing any honour as they had not been spotted but he chose not to...“By my heel I care not”. The death of Mercutio will provoke Romeo into an attack, endangering his life and ultimately meaning the Prince will punish him. The death of Mercutio “begins the woe that others must end.”
The characters Tybalt, Mercutio and Benvolio are very different but all needed in the scene as aspects of their personality will cause them to act in ways that are necessary for the tension to build and the fight to start. For example, Tybalt is needed as he is full of anger and wants to punish Romeo for turning up at the ball. He tries to goad Romeo into a fight with insults… “Romeo the love I bear thee can afford no better term than this - thou art a villain.” This is ironic because Romeo wanted to be the pacifier. Tybalt’s character is vital to make Romeo fight. Benvolio is a quiet character who does not want any trouble. When he sees the Capulets coming he is automatically uneasy as he knows they will cause a “fray” and they could be hung for it if there are any witnesses. “Depart, here all eyes gaze on us.” This shows the audience he is a careful man and helps to keep the audience guessing. Will there be a fight or not? The character Mercutio is different. He starts a fight with Tybalt and causes his own death through his hot-headedness. He is young and self confident as he will not stop insulting Tybalt, goading him to fight even though Tybalt is well known for his fighting ability. He tells Tybalt he wants “nothing but one of your nine lives”, which is another joke about Tybalt’s name. At first Tybalt will not rise to these insults because his quarrel is with Romeo. Mercutio becomes more and more determined to provoke Tybalt into a fight showing the audience his hotheaded determination. Shakespeare uses the character of Mercutio, Romeo’s friend, to make sure there is a fight involving Romeo. Up until that point he has avoided trouble but the death of his friend is too much and he loses control.
Act 1 and scene 3 turns the play from a romance to a tragedy as it contains the two most important murders in the play and is the turning point for Romeo and Juliet, as the audience know from the prologue “a pair of star-crossed lovers will take their lives.” The mood of the play darkens from here as the comedy and romance is lost. At the beginning of the play the Capulets were said to speak highly of Romeo and maybe he could have united the two families by marrying Juliet. Then suddenly and unexpectedly he has killed Tybalt and there is no chance of any happy ending. When Romeo is banished he feels the punishment is worse than death as he will not be able to see Juliet.
Shakespeare uses the deaths of Tybalt and Mercutio to build the dramatic tension of the play to a peak. Mercutio’s death is used to create a bad feeling between him and his former good friend Romeo as Mercutio does not die straight away his death is prolonged to allow him to curse the two families twice. The death also builds the tension between Tybalt and Romeo as Romeo feels that he has to avenge Mercutio’s death. The audience know a fight must come in this scene but Shakespeare takes time for the fight to occur and uses dialogue to increase the tension. The pace of the speech increases until finally Tybalt is dead. This tragedy seems terrible, but in only a few days Romeo and Juliet will lie with Tybalt in his Tomb.
