How does Shakespeare use the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt in Act 3 scene 1 of 'Romeo and Juliet' to add to the tension of the play?Use the Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann film versions to help you consider the effects of this scene on an audience.

set in and one family has dark coloured clothes on and the other has bright orange clothes which shows the family they support or belong to. One good way of adding tension to the scene is by adding music. In the Zeffirelli version there isn’t any music at the beginning of the scene but a tiny bit of music when Mercutio dies it picks up then just stops. The church bells go off when the Prince is talking to the Capulet family and the Montague family when they bring the bodies to the Prince and start arguing. The main lighting in the Zeffirelli version is from the sun so there are lots of shadows and the faces of both families are really pale.    The Luhrmann version has this part set on a crowded beach, and people are in a laid back mood. Just like in the Zeffirelli version, the Luhrmann version has one family in dark clothes and the other in brightly coloured clothes to show what family they are part of. There is much more of a presence with music in this version it has calm music to begin with but then it picks up in preparation for the fight and the beat gets a lot faster followed by a drum roll but it stops after the fight and then thunder is heard. Echoes are used in this version. When Romeo drops his gun after shooting Tybalt the sound of metal crashing on the concrete ground.    As they are at the beach Luhrmann has used lighting to make it look like the sun is blazing down on the beach but as the fight gets underway the sun sets and a storm begins to start and it gets dark very quickly. By making it dark Luhrmann add the feeling that something really bad is going to happen. When Romeo goes after Tybalt in his car the camera shot of the headlight and the fact they are blurred shows the speed and furry of the moments from Mercutio’s death and Romeo catching up with Tybalt. As the rain begins to fall after Romeo shoots Mercutio the light shines into Romeo’s eyes as tears begin to gather. When the police turn up the blue lights on the top of the police cars make the raindrops glisten.      One of the main deaths is the first one to happen which is Mercutio. Mercutio is killed at this point because it’s a turning point in the play. It gives a shock factor to the play it makes the audience realize they are watching a tragedy not a romance anymore. Mercutio is a likeable character and killing him makes the audience feel more involved. Also as Romeo is central to the story and because he is close to Mercutio the audience wants to know how Romeo is going to react to his death. Mercutio knows he is going to die but continues to joke.  He says the line: “And you shall find me a grave man.” He’s saying they will find him dead but because he says it jokingly they take it as him saying they will find him a serious person. In the Zeffirelli version Mercutio says the line as a joke also he laughs when he says it and the people around him laugh as well. In the Luhrmann version he has both laughter and pain in his voice. His dying words are:”A Plague a’ both your houses!They have made worm’s meat of me. I have it, And soundly too. Your houses!”These are very powerful and basically what he’s saying is that he’s putting a curse on both the Montague’s and the Capulet’s houses. The way he is putting it is the worms will eat him when he’s buried in the ground. These are very powerful things to say because he’s not only curing one family but his own family to. Luhrmann just keeps it in wide shots but there is a close up on Mercutio’s wound and his face when you can see he is in a lot of pain. Mercutio is injured on an old, abandoned stage but he moves onto the beach and that is where he dies but there a storm sets in and sand begins to blow over his body. In the Zeffirelli version an out of focus view of Romeo’s face is shown as if you are looking through Mercutio’s eyes. Moments before he dies he pulls himself to the top of some steps and as he dies he falls down.       The second main death is that of Tybalt, who is killed in a fight with Romeo who is seeking revenge for the death of Mercutio. The Audience knows that something is going to happen between Romeo and Tybalt because Romeo is feeling that his relationship with Juliet has made him weak. We know this when Romeo says “O sweet Juliet, Thy beauty hath made me effeminate, And in my temper softened valour’s steel!” If he is feeling like he is been made weak then he might do something to try and prove to himself that he isn’t weak. As Romeo catches up with Tybalt he says to Tybalt that someone needs to pay for the death of Mercutio. This is shown when Romeo says: “Either thou or I, or both, must go with him.”This makes the audience feel that Romeo is really upset at the death of Mercutio and he just wants to make sure his friend gets some revenge. This part of the scene is portrayed differently between the film versions. In Zeffirelli Romeo and Tybalt have a sword fight and Romeo acts injured but Tybalt goes to attack and Romeo puts up his sword which Tybalt runs onto. In the Luhrmann version Tybalt is shot by Romeo but it seems a spur of the moment thing. Romeo drops the gun after he shots Tybalt and the sound of the metal when it hits the ground echoes.  After the death of Tybalt, Benvolio urges Romeo to leave as he fears for Romeo’s life. We can see this when Benvolio says”Romeo, away, be gone!The citizens are up, and Tybalt slain.Stand not amazed, the Prince will doom thee deathIf thou art taken. Hence be gone, away!”This shows the audience that Benvolio knows that something bad will happen to Romeo if he does not leave. At the end of this scene Lady Capulet demands that Romeo must die. We see this when she says “I beg for justice, which thou, Prince must give: Romeo slew Tybalt, Romeo must not live.” The effect on the audience is that they know that things are just going to get worse for Romeo. The Prince does not order Romeo to die but he orders that, for killing Tybalt, Romeo will be banished from Verona. When Romeo finds out he’s banished it is sort of portrayed the same in both films. He just breaks down and worries about when he will see Juliet next. At this point the audience feels so sorry for Romeo because they know it’s going mess up his future with Juliet and the whole thing is going to end up in tears.          From my personal view I think that the Luhrmann version portrayed the tension of this scene most effectively. The whole point of this scene is to give the whole thing a turning point and makes the story change from a romantic to a tragedy. If this scene wasn’t in then I don’t think ‘Romeo and Juliet’ wouldn’t be as well known as it is, because it wouldn’t have the same sad ending.