‘Could you not take some occasion without giving’?
From this dialogue Mercutio is asking Tybalt can you take a bit of abuse for once without giving me any back. At this point the audience would expect a bit of cheek from Mercutio as there has been rivalry between the two families for many years and would also expect it to escalate with arguments or even violence. Tybalt replies back to Mercutio with a sentence that creates a burst of energy between the two characters. ‘Mercutio, thou consortest with Romeo’. The language and structure in this sentence changes the whole atmosphere in the scene. Things start to become ‘serious’ from now onwards. Mercutio quickly twists the meaning of Tybalt’s words. Mercutio’s rage builds up to the utmost maximum and he replies with a phrase that shows that he is not joking anymore.
‘Consort? What, dost thou make us minstrels?’
Mercutio here asks Tybalt if he’s making a mockery of him. Tybalt ignores Mercutio and soon starts questioning Benvolio regarding Romeo’s whereabouts in a sort of way that offends Mercutio, maybe because Mercutio does not like to be ignored. Tension is like a ticking time bomb at this point, as Mercutio is about to erupt with anger,
‘Here’s my fiddlestick, here’s that shall make you dance. Zounds, consort’.
We have more humour here from Mercutio, by telling Tybalt to get ready but in a humorous, mocking sort of way to quicken up the pace and ready the audience for action. Mercutio is very annoyed with Tybalt right now and Benvolio tries to cool the situation being the cool, calm person that he is and cleverly tries to postpone the fight by telling Mercutio and Tybalt that they are in a public place and that everyone will see the fight and will alert others.
‘We talk here in the public haunt of men, either withdraw onto some private place, or reason coldly of your grievness, or else depart, here all eyes gaze on us’.
Mercutio being the character that he is does not pay any attention to what Benvolio is talking about by saying that he doesn’t care about who looks at him.
‘Men’s eyes were made to look, and let them gaze, I will not budge for no man’s pleasure, I’.
Here Mercutio is showing us that he is going to stand his ground from the use of his vocabulary and from the sentence structure. The audience here feels the third warning sign coming on and that something is brewing quite rapidly between the two characters. This shows us Mercutio has a second sort of personality apart from his comic joke side, the other side of his personality is an over tempered man who doesn’t take insults from any one. Up till this stage, tension has been created between the characters but mainly from Mercutio though. Mercutio has undergone a personality twist. From the start of the scene he is joking around then slowly builds up cheekiness when Tybalt arrives. Since the cruel remark from Tybalt concerning Romeo, Mercutio has made the tension escalate in the conversation between the two, resulting in a clash between Tybalt and Mercutio. The audience now can clearly see these two arguing and that something is going to happen much sooner than later; however, things slightly change when Romeo enters.
Development Part 2 - Romeo’s Entrance and refusal to fight – up to and including Mercutios death.
As Romeo enters, the pace of the Scene starts to quicken due to the fact that there is going to be a fight between Romeo and Tybalt which the audience have already anticipated. This is keeping the audience on their toes for another dramatic part in the play. Tybalt replies to Mercutio with the intention of offending him .
‘Well, peace be with you sir, here comes my man’.
Tybalt uses cheek back here at Mercutio, by firstly addressing Mercutio as ‘Sir’ and by referring to Romeo as ‘my man’ meaning a servant. This brings the atmosphere to a new level just a little bit more. Mercutio replies by working Tybalt up even more, as Tybalt goes over to Romeo, Mercutio snaps at him. ‘Tybalt then goes off to Romeo and calls him a ‘Villain’. Romeo replies by telling Tybalt the relationship he has with Tybalt and himself is only from the fact that they are family, and that Romeo has no more real love or friendship with Tybalt and explains to Tybalt that he is not a ‘Villain’.
‘Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee doth much excuse the appertaining rage to such a greeting, Villain I am none’. ‘Therefore farewell, I see thou knowest me not’.
Tybalt sill has none this and reminds Romeo of all of the bad things that he has committed on Tybalt and his family.
‘Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries that thou hast done to me, therefore turn and draw’
Here we have Tybalt is referring to Romeo as ‘Boy’, which is another term for ‘servant’. Romeo apologizes, and still refuses to fight. Romeo says that now he considers Tybalt family to him his Relationship is singed just by ‘paper’ and that in real life they shall be enemies.
‘And good Capulet, which I tender as dearly as mine own, be satisfied’.
Here Romeo is being quite wise, as he knows it’s not a good idea to fight one of his relatives however we all know that his real motives are to protect Juliet, and backs down from the challenge that Tybalt has put over. The audience at this point will have thought that the heat of the scene has finally cooled down; however, Shakespeare uses his brilliant mind to bring everything back to life. In the next line, Mercutio says a line to put Romeo in his place,
‘O calm, Dishonourable, vile submission!’
This sentence gets more aggressive after every word as Mercutio elevates the amount of anger that he feels after each word. Mercutio then goes on more hilarious comedy related lines explaining that when they fight that he’ll chop off Tybalt’s ears. Even before battle Mercutio will still taunt his enemy with humorous lines. Tybalt then says: ‘I am for you’, he draws and the fight finally gets underway. The situation escalates as Mercutio and Tybalt are at their highest level of motivation in this fight meaning neither of them cares about anything else; only to kill each other is the only thing on their minds. Tybalt and Mercutio then start to fight. Romeo is worried and steps in to stop the fight, as they stop fighting for a second, Tybalt sticks in a cheeky blow into Mercutio under Romeo’s arm. Instantly there is a problem for Mercutio as he says: ‘I am hurt’. The next sentence is repeated throughout the rest of the scene and affects both Romeo and Tybalt: ‘A plague on both your houses!’ This sentence would mean death or problems or diseases on both families. In Shakespeare’s times, a dying man curse usually comes true. Now the audience would feel sorry for Mercutio but will be more concerned over what the curse will do later on in the play.
Since Mercutio was injured from a fatal accidental stab wound by Tybalt, Benvolio asks whether Mercution is all right or not. Mercutio answers by saying:
‘Ay ay, a scratch, but tis enough’.
Mercutio is trying to cover up his wound as he doesn’t want his companions to aid him by saying it is just a scratch, but when he mentions
‘Tis enough, he knows it’s enough to kill him.
Romeo then insists that it shouldn’t be much. Mercutio answers back by saying: ‘No, tis not so deep as a well’, referring to how deep the wound is. ‘Mercutio later goes on to explaining that Tybalt can’t fight on this own and must use textbook like fighting skills in other words he is insulting the way Tybalt fights. Mercutio then turns to Romeo and asks him why he has come between them in the fight. ‘Why the devil came you between us?’ Mercutio here is complaining to Romeo saying that he had a chance of beating Tybalt in the dual. Romeo responds to Mercutio by explaining that he felt that it was the better idea. Mercutio then asks Benvolio to be transported into a nearby house and requires a doctor to look at him immediately. But just before Mercutio leaves the scene for his last time, he mutters the curse on both of the families for the fourth time. Mercutio then exits with Benvolio. Once Benvolio and Mercutio flee the scene, the play freezes and Romeo performs out to the audience a soliloquy. A soliloquy is a dramatic device which allows a character to speak directly to the audience. In the soliloquy, Romeo finally realises what’s just happened to Mercutio and explains and blames Juliet that he has lost his manliness sort of attitude due to marrying her.
Benvolio re-enters to inform Romeo of the death of poor Mercutio. Romeo replies telling us that Mercutio’s Death is only the start of the tragedies that is going to occur. ‘This day’s black fate on more days doth depend, this but begins the woe others must end’. This sentence changes the audience’s whole perception of the storyline. When Romeo say’s that this is only the start of the tragedy’s the audience is immediately shocked as we were not expecting such horrific scenes to take place in a love story that goes as well as it has so far. The pace of the scene at this point is at its lowest level in the whole scene.
Development Part 3 – Romeo and Tybalts fight and Romeo escape from the scene
As Tybalt re-enters, the scene picks up tempo once again. Romeo acknowledges Mercutio’s death and starts to build up a violent temper and rage within himself which is very surprising for a person like Romeo. ‘Away to heaven, respective lenity, And Fire-eyed fury be my conduct now!’ Here Romeo is preparing and motivating himself to fight Tybalt to avenge Mercutio’s death. Romeo then turns to Tybalt and starts to make himself look as if he’s back in charge of the situation. ‘Now, Tybalt, take the villain back again. That late thou gavest me for Mercutio’s soul is little way above our heads. Staying for thine to keep him company, either thou or I, or both must go with him.’ Excitement is built up here for the audience as we can see both Tybalt and Mercutio now are ready for battle. Romeo states that Mercutio will not be left alone in his death and it is this that creates the atmospheric tension for the audience to withstand.
Tybalt replies with an overconfident line (as to be expected of Tybalt) that sounds as if Tybalt wanted Romeo to be laughed at and also makes Mercutio sound like a fool as well. ‘Thou wretched boy, that didst consort him here, shall with him hence’, and the fight commences. Tybalt then falls in the fight.
Benvolio commands Romeo to stop and to stop gazing at the deed that he has just committed. Benvolio also tells Romeo that the authorities are on their way and that they’ll kill Romeo as well if he is found at the scene. ‘Stand not amazed, the prince will doom thee death if thou art taken. Hence be gone, away!’ Romeo replies simply by saying something short, but powerful which end the seen for Romeo with such tension and excitement, ‘O, I am fortune’s fool’, and Exits. Here we have Romeo calling himself a fool however; fortune is being placed into the line of blame as well as his own actions. By blaming fortune, Romeo Is able to say that this act of devastation was not completely caused by his own fault, resulting in what Romeo would be hoping for; a bit of sympathy. That’s one way of looking at it.
Development Part 4 – Benvolio’s account and Prince’s sentence
The public enter the scene along with the officer and the Prince, the old Montague, capulet and their wives. Benvolio informs the prince that Tybalt killed Mercutio, and then Romeo killed Tybalt. Benvolio had to be sure to put it in that order as if he said it wrong Romeo would have been executed and arrested. Lady Capulet bursts out with horror as she discovers the death of her cousin, Tybalt. Lady Capulet seems to mention that their family is now engaged into some sort of a battle. ‘For blood is ours, shed blood of Montague’. Here we see that Lady Capulet is saying ‘If you pick on one of us, you pick on all of us’, and from that, the audience can see that battle maybe over but the war has just begun. Benvolio moves on to describing the whole of the scene to the prince briefly. Lady Capulet is still fully filled with unspeakable rage and demands justice by wanting Romeo dead. ‘I beg for justice, which thou, prince, must give: Romeo slew Tybalt, therefore Romeo must not live’.
After the Montague’s discussion with lady Capulet, the prince goes on to make a brief speech on where he stands at the current moment in the situation. The prince first of all states that everyone can see Romeo being the main suspect without doubt; however, since the prince is related to Romeo, he feels the need to try to soften the impact of the tragedy down to as much as he can. The prince ends his speech by being sensible and not backing Romeo too much as he knows that if Romeo is backed by him, the prince is liable to becoming very suspicious and will start to make many enemies. ‘Mercy but murders, pardoning those that kill’. The prince wants to stress that if he let’s Romeo off with murder, what’s there to stop him for taking more lives.
We now feel as if a case needs to be fought for Romeo to clear his name. Act 3 Scene 1 plays a major role in the effect that the whole Romeo and Juliet play has to offer. A whole range of tension is built up from the start of the play and is released. If Mercutio had taken Benvolio’s advice at the start of the scene, we would have a very different ending of the story. This particular scene would also require a lot of preparation to be thought through before it is performed to an audience and would probably be one of the most remember scenes. We learn that different characters behave with different actions to each other and this compliments the heavy battle like and tragic atmosphere. The scene has been cleverly thought out by Shakespeare to produce drops and climax’s to maintain the audience’s interest multiple times throughout the scene. Slowing down and increasing the tempo adds to this.
Conclusion
Furthermore, Shakespeare has used a variety of different devices to excite and interest the audience. The development of the plot contributes to the suspense and tension leading up to the climax of the scene. The audience have experienced so much emotion and hard shed in this play. Act III, Scene I acts as a turning point in the play simply because it delivers a contrasting style and pace to the previous scene, and also because so much important happen in such a short period of time. The Prince’s words at the end of the play interest and involve the audience by saying some strong words and giving out punishments for various things, including Romeo’s banishment. He promises that someone will pay for the recent happenings, so the audience will be extremely excited to see what comes next.
