The writer, William Shakespeare, uses this scene for many plot twists that are unexpected by the audience. To start of with, there are the two extremely tragic deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt. This is an unexpected twist as no-one expected there to be such drama so soon after the happiest scene in the whole play, the wedding scene. By placing these two scenes right next to each other, Shakespeare makes the deaths seem so much more tragic as they are contrasting the joyous scene that precedes it. After the deaths of Tybalt and Mercutio, the Prince exiles Romeo, which is again an unexpected by the audience before the scene "And for that offence, Immediately we do exile him hence". For this to happen so soon after he has become wed to Juliet is a shock as the audience would have thought that the new couple would have more time together. This scene is also the one in which the genre of the play turns on its head, from the moment that Mercutio dies. Before this point it is seen as a comedy due to Mercutio and his quick wit. Also there have been no deaths due to fighting between the houses yet so there was no reason for it to be a tragedy. Therefore the loss of the main comedian combined with cold blooded murder between two feuding houses turns this play into a tragedy. This factor makes the play seem much more dramatic and intriguing than before.
Shakespeare uses language and symbolism to differentiate between the characters. This causes the characters’ attributes to be really clear. Mercutio speaks with puns, metaphors and repetition. Still in his dying hours he says to Romeo that if he were to ask for him tomorrow and "you will find me a grave man" relates to the detail that Mercutio will be dead tomorrow, even when he dying he uses puns and words with more that one meaning to get his point across. Repetition is another technique Mercutio uses to get his point across. The phrase ‘a plague o’ both your houses’ is repeated continuously whilst he is dying. This shows that he regrets becoming involved in the fight that was not his to be in, and he has been caught in the crossfire of two feuding houses.
In the build up to his fight with Tybalt, Mercutio also uses insults of increasing aggressiveness. He starts by simply asking for a fight “make it a word and a blow", saying that rather than just talking to Tybalt, he wants to fight him. Later he calls Tybalt "dishonourable" and "vile", with dishonourable being particularly offensive as Tybalt is well documented for being a man wishing to uphold his honour. He shows this by turning up at the scene in the first place, as he is looking for Romeo to gain revenge from when Romeo gate-crashed the Capulet masked ball. Mercutio the goes on to say to Tybalt "Tybalt you rat-catcher" Mercutio turns Tibet’s well known title ‘The Prince of Cats’ around by calling him a rat-catcher, referring to the way that cats chase rats. He then goes on to an extended metaphor ‘Good King of Cats, nothing but one of your nine lives, that I mean to make bold withal.’ Resembling the fact that cats have nine lives. Tybalt replies with insults such as "thou consort'st with Romeo", suggesting a double meaning of Mercutio and Romeo being friends, but also that they might have a relationship of a sexual nature.
An effective dramatic device that Shakespeare uses well in this scene is Dramatic Irony. This is when the audience knows what is going on in the play, but the characters are oblivious to some information. In this case this is when Tybalt arrives in the courtyard searching for Romeo in order to fight him and regain his pride. What he does not know is that Romeo has recently wed his cousin and close friend Juliet. We can see this as when Romeo enters, Tybalt says to Mercutio "Well, peace be with you sir: here comes my man", this implies that Tybalt is not wanting a fight with Mercutio, but actually wants to duel Romeo. Tybalt tells Romeo "thou art a villain" as he is unaware of his relation to him. Romeo replies "Tybalt, the reason that I love thee doth much excuse the appertaining rage to such a greeting". This adds Drama as the audience are excited to know how Romeo's love for Tybalt will affect Tybalt.
On top of dramatic irony Shakespeare uses pathetic fallacy to great effect. This is when the writer links the atmosphere and the weather to feelings. ‘These hot days is the mad blood stirring.’ Shakespeare make use of the ‘Hot days’ as motivation for more scuffles to come. ‘The Mad blood stirring’ refers to the rivalry and emotions rousing, ready to be used as the incentive to stimulate even more disagreement between the houses. This gives the audience an idea at the beginning of the scene that it will contain violence and so adds to the drama and excitement for them
Yet another precise technique used by Shakespeare is the foreshadowing of events to happen in the play by certain characters. For example Benvolio is seen to be the voice of reason in play, as he is the sensible character who tries to stop Mercutio entering the public place at the beginning of the scene, in fear of the Capulets. He warns Mercutio that, "And, if we meet, we shall not scape a brawl”, which of course happens as they meet the Capulets and a fight ensues. After Mercutio and Tybalt have started arguing, Benvolio realises the danger and sensibly suggests that they stop and take the fight elsewhere, "Either withdraw unto some private place, And reason coldly of your grievances, Or else depart; here all eyes gaze on us". This turns out to be a sensible comment as moments later Romeo arrives and the conflict kicks off. Both of these comments are sensible and reasonable, but neither have been listened to, the voice of reason is silenced by the hot-headedness of the rivalry between houses. After the fight has finished, and the Prince arrives, it is Benvolio that is consulted by him about the deaths, as the Prince trusts Benvolio as he is known to be sensible. Also, Mercutio foreshadows the end of the play in his dying moments with his last words "a plague on both your houses". This foreshadows the death of the only children of Montague and Capulet, Romeo and Juliet, and the words add suspense in the audience as they do not know what this plague will bring.
The final linguistic point used by Shakespeare is the alternation between the types of writing. Most of the Scene is in regular prose, but he decides to use poetry in the prince’s speech at the end, which grabs the attention of the audience and tell them that it is important.
This scene would also gain a huge reaction from the audience, as so many changes in such a short space of time. From the time of the two deaths, there is an instant change in mood, from the happy wedding scene to the dark pits of death. The audience would also become angry, especially at Tybalt who has just killed the most entertaining character, Mercutio. It is also likely that they would feel very unhappy with Lady Capulet, who on arrival at the scene of the deaths, urges the Prince to sentence Romeo to death "Romeo slew Tybalt, Romeo must not live". This would not be seen kindly as Romeo s a popular character in the play, especially to the female audience members as he is normally played by an attractive man. As well as this the audience would take pity on Romeo as he has been exiled, and they are shocked by the Prince's action and this adds to the drama of the play.
The main aim of the writer in this scene is to grab the attention of the audience by using all of the techniques mentioned. Shakespeare has placed this scene in the middle of the play deliberately, and it is a good place for the main turning point, the death of Mercutio and Tybalt. He also uses the scene to make the earlier balcony scene seem like a last goodbye, as this is the only time, apart from the brisk wedding service, that they spend time with each other while alive.
To conclude Shakespeare creates much excitement and drama in Romeo and Juliet Act III Scene I by using many effective of the dramatic and linguistic devices such as the use of pathetic fallacy, where the mood is conveyed through the atmosphere and weather and dramatic irony where the characters don't know what the audience do, giving the audience a sense of involvement. Brisk violent action such as the crescendo of insults and the choreographed fights add to the excitement felt by the audience. The plot experiences many twists, mainly the change in genre from comedy to tragedy which changes the audience's mood. Shakespeare uses his intentions of the plot to manipulate the audience's reactions to certain events such as the exiling of Romeo and the death of Mercutio.