The scene act 3 scene 1 fits into the play just after the couple Romeo and Juliet set off in different directions on their voyage to get married and the scene comes just before Juliet sees the Nurse mourning towards the death of Tybalt, Juliet on seeing the Nurse mourning immediately thinks that Romeo is dead when Tybalt was slain by Romeo.
In this part of the play Shakespeare uses various different dramatic devices, in order to interest, involve and affect the audience with.
At the start of the scene Shakespeare creates mood and atmosphere by the use of continual questions asked by the characters to themselves. As Benvolio encounters Mercutio of whom he fears meeting as he knows that at the instance that he meets one of the members of the Capulet family he would be in for a fight. As Mercutio mentions to Benvolio of how someone throws him a sword, Benvolio asks himself the question, ‘Am I such a fellow.’ Here it is like we are in his mind as it seems that he is talking to himself as he doesn’t reply. After this Mercutio on talking back to him, ‘What eye but such an eye would spy out such a quarrel?’ At the end of his part he asks Benvolio three questions one after the other about his quarreling, ‘Didst thou not fall out with a tailor for wearing his new doublet before Easter? With another for trying his new shoes with old riband? And yet thou wilt tutor me from quarreling?’ We can tell that all three questions are linked together as after one question there isn’t a capital letter to follow it up so Shakespeare implies here that it is like all one question broken up into three separate parts. Following up to this as Petruchio and Tybalt enter and both Mercutio and Tybalt taunt each other this seems to set the mood at the beginning of the scene, as we know that there may be a build up to something that is going to happen and all of the taunting is like a small diversion that creates suspense among the reader.
Shakespeare contrasts this scene with the previous scene Act 2 Scene 6, as there is a romantic vibe and atmosphere in the scene as they are in the Friars cell and upon the Friar advising them on moderation of love. Romeo asks Juliet to speak of her happiness and she mentions true love, upon this note they leave to get married. This is contrasted and the Romantic atmosphere changes as there is an uproar of fights in the next scene, one of which Romeo is involved in.
The previous brawls and feud between the two families are just a build up to the events and the deaths in Act 3 Scene 1. Firstly there were the Capulet servants Gregory and Sampson, who quarreled with the Montague servants upon them passing in the public place. This then leads to other members of the families getting involved, while Benvolio makes peace, Tybalt concurs up the fight; Prince Escales is forced to make a speech in which he mentions that whoever fights in public will be put to death. In Act 1 Scene 5 Romeo sets his eyes on Juliet at a Capulet party, however as Tybalt recognizes Romeos voice he is outraged at the Montague’s for gate crashing the party and he threatens retribution towards Romeo. This leads to the fight between Tybalt and Romeo in Act 3 Scene 1.
When Romeo refuses a fight from Tybalt and Mercutio steps up in defense for Romeo, he tries to make peace as he doesn’t want to harm anyone as he gently tells Tybalt that he will not kill him because he is related to Juliet, ‘And so, good Capulet, which name I tender As dearly as mine own,’ as Romeo sets between the two as they raised their swords, Tybalt stabs Mercutio and leaves. The irony here is that instead of Romeo being hurt, Mercutio is wounded and later dies, leaving Romeo to ponder that he is to blame for Mercutios death.
In the scene there are three different conflicts between the characters two of which Mercutio is involved in. First there is the conflict where Mercutio is seeking Romeo and fears of meeting a Capulet, at that he meets Benvolio and he is in for a fight. The next two are together; however in this instance Mercutio is taunting Tybalt, in sighting trouble and Tybalt seeking revenge on Romeo as mentioned before picks out a fight with him. These conflicts have various different impacts on the reader, as it makes them think whop will be killed if anyone, or will there be an agreed peace within the characters in the conflicts and if someone is killed will they be found out and be put to their death as stated by Prince Escales at the beginning of the play.
There is a dramatic impact on the exit of Tybalt when he wounds Mercutio, as he shows no sign of condolence or gratitude and doesn’t show any sympathy for killing another person and he just scuttles away, Away Tybalt (with his followers), he doesn’t care that much about his fate.
After the death of Mercutio, Benvolio can also be recognized as a character in the play as well as being a Narrator on the side. He gives the information to Romeo that Mercutio is dead, and then he acts as a Narrator to give us a different angle of the play once Tybalt and Romeo fight. He mentions as a Narrator the possible fate of Romeo and what has happened to Tybalt, ‘Romeo, away be gone! / The citizens are up, and Tybalt slain. / Stand not amazed, the Prince will doom thee death / If thou art taken. Hence be gone, away!’ Benvolio is also used as a Narrator to explain what has happened in the whole scene on lines 142-166.
There are various techniques used in this scene that develops the plot of the play and creates suspense and in some instances humour. Mercutio often uses puns, on the verge of death he says, ‘Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall / find me a grave man.’ Here there is slight humour as he is joking as he might be in an actual grave. Mercutio uses repetition, the reason why Shakespeare adds repetition into the ply as it increases the tightening tension of the plot, on lines 91 and 97, ‘A plague a’both your houses.’ This gives us a possible in sight of what we should expect to happen as the plot thickens. Imagery is created in the play as Benvolio uses metaphors and similes in what he says, he uses four different metaphors for swords, ‘piercing steel’, ‘deadly point to point’, ‘cold death’ and ‘fatal points’.
Hence in conclusion this scene is important as it is dramatic as it affects the audience due to the different emotions that run through the characters due to the conflicts between the character s in this scene. The reason why Act 3 Scene 1, is recognized as the turning point of this play is because Romeo refuses a fight from Tybalt, but as he wounds and kills Mercutio, Romeo seeks revenge to kill Tybalt. The Prince’s words at the end of the scene interest and involve the audience as the Prince mentions that when Romeo is found it will be his ‘last hour’, the audience would carry on watching as the end of the scene creates suspense of what is going to happen next.
In my opinion I think that the scene is important as it proves Romeos worthiness, as he stands up for the killing of Mercutio however he wouldn’t kill Tybalt as he is related to Juliet and he normally wouldn’t result to violence, Also at the end the Prince’s speech is a cliff hanger, that grabs the audiences attention, making them wonder what will happen next! At this point the audience would be asking themselves, will Romeo be caught? How will Juliet cope if Rome is killed? Will the feud between the families still carry on?