In what way is Act 3 Scene 1 a turning point in the play and how does Shakespeare make it dramatic?Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is a play about "star-crossed" lovers who

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In what way is Act 3 Scene 1 a turning point in the play and how does Shakespeare make it dramatic?


Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a play about “star-crossed” lovers who decide that they can’t be apart, regardless of the consequences. They decide the rules are unfair, and they do what they please despite of their families’ feud. They choose to be with one another, and the price they ultimately pay is their lives.  

    The plot of this play is important to understanding it; however the action that happens before this scene has prepared the audience in many ways for what is to happen next. For instance in the very first scene, Act 1 Scene 1, where the friends, servants and members of both the houses, Montague and Capulet, fight in the streets. This shows the audience that the houses must really hate each other; because war breaks out at joke two Capulet servants made on two Montague servants.  Consequently the audience suspect that if a fight happens at a joke than what will happen if something serious happens between the families.      

The fight is caused because of the bitter feud between the Capulet’s and the Montague’s, which has been on going for many years. Duelling is a part of life at the time. Romeo shows up at the Capulet party to cheer himself up. Romeo being there infuriates Tybalt. Tybalt thinks Romeo is only there to mock the Capulet’s and he wants to defend his family honour. Tybalt cannot fight Romeo there so he sends a letter of challenge to Romeo. Romeo refuses to fight Tybalt and Mercutio steps in. Mercutio is killed and Romeo pursues Tybalt to defend Mercutio’s honour and in revenge.

Act 3 Scene 1 is set at midday when the sun is at its peak. In the Mediterranean the climate is hot. ‘For now, these hot days, is the mad blood stirring.’ The atmosphere refers to anger; people have a propensity to become more frustrated in the hot climate. Benvolio is quite anxious and wants to go indoors to avoid a brawl between the Capulet’s, Mercutio and himself, ‘I pray thee, good Mercutio, let’s retire: the day is hot, the Capulet’s are abroad, And if we shall meet we shall not scape a brawl,’ The youth of Verona, “gangs”, tended to wander the streets with nothing to do. At the time of when the play was set there was a tradition of duelling. The youth duelled to entertain themselves.

Shakespeare sets the scene in the street, which reminds the audience of the violence in the opening scene; the fight between the Capulet's and Montague's. The Prince told the two families if there were anymore fighting they would be sentenced to death.

Shakespeare contrasts the fight scene with the previous one – the marriage of Romeo and Juliet, as there is a complete difference in the mood, setting, language and theme. The previous scene is set in a church with a romantic mood; the fight scene is set in the street where the duelling takes place and there is an uneasy, angry mood. The language in the previous scene is loving, caring and pleasant. The language in the fight scene is filled with hatred and fight talk. The theme in the previous scene is love opposed to the fight scene where there is a theme of hate, revenge, family honour and culture.

The individual characters involved in the scene are Benvolio, Mercutio, Tybalt, Romeo, Officer, Prince, Lady Capulet, and Montague.

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The key characters in the scene are Benvolio, Mercutio, Tybalt, and Romeo.

Shakespeare uses each of the key characters to create drama. The way in which he does this is by using them to cause conflict and tension between each of them. For example Mercutio has no need to quarrel with Tybalt but he wants to stand in to defend Romeo’s honour. This later leads to his own death and Romeo is angered and fights Tybalt in revenge. This causes drama as it changes the expectancy of the audience.

Benvolio is the cousin of Romeo. He is ...

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