Mercutio’s anger is also aggravated by the intense heat in Verona. Benvolio senses that there is impending trouble and says “The day is hot, the Capels are aboard, /And if we meet we shall not scape a brawl, /For now, these hot days, is the mad blood stirring.” This gives the audience an indication that there is going to be conflict as well as conveying the atmosphere of intense heat. The whole ambience in this part of the scene is very ominous and Shakespeare creates a lot of tension by giving indications that extreme violence will follow for example Mercutio’s long speeches about quarrelling which are written in prose to accentuate how the madness and disorder of Mercutio’s thoughts, as prose is normally only used for the speech of lower class characters such as servants.
This part of the scene sets the tone for the whole scene and shows the audience just how strongly Mercutio despises Tybalt and how unpredictable his violent mood is.
As Tybalt and Mercutio meet, Romeo enters and is totally unaware of the tension between the characters. He is in a romantic, carefree mood, which is completely incongruous with the situation of fury of Mercutio and also unaware that he had aggravated Tybalt at the Capulets’ ball and now Tybalt desires a duel with him. Shakespeare creates a lot of dramatic irony in this scene such as Romeo’s ignorance to the anger of the other characters and Tybalt’s use of the word love, “ Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford no better term than this: thou art a villain.” Tybalt use of the word “love” is in a totally different context than the way in which the word “love” was used earlier in the play. It is also ironic because Mercutio and Tybalt are both unaware of Romeo’s marriage to Juliet whereas the audience are; Shakespeare does this in order to make the audience feel more involved in the plot. Throughout the play, but particularly in this scene; Shakespeare juxtaposes the two antitheses of passionate love and intense hatred, this emphasises the contrast between the two main themes of the play and shows how the two extreme emotions take place alongside each other.
Romeo also inadvertently exacerbates the fury of Mercutio by turning down Tybalt’s duel, Mercutio views this as “ dishonourable, vile submission,” and it gives him the excuse to challenge Tybalt. Mercutio was already in a turbulent mood; he had been angered by Tybalt’s pretentious tone of speech and in turn provoked Tybalt by intentionally misinterpreting his words for example his deliberate misinterpretation of the word “consortest” as an insult. During this part of the scene Shakespeare uses this idea as an extended metaphor by repeatedly referring to a minstrels fiddlestick and comparing it to a sword. An example of this is on line 45 when Mercutio draws his sword and says “Here’s my fiddlestick, here’s that shall make you dance.” This extended metaphor creates an image of violence and suggests to the audience that Mercutio’s temper is so vile that something as innocent as a fiddlestick could remind him of violence and combat.
When Tybalt first approaches Mercutio he speaks in a very formal, controlled manner. Mercutio on the other hand speaks in a snappy, tense tone and brings in a suggestion of violence by responding to Tybalt with, “make it a word and a blow.” This creates suspense amongst the audience and suggests that the violence will occur very soon.
The actual clash between Mercutio and Tybalt takes place after a series of puns referring to fencing made by Mercutio such as line 80, “Come sir, your ‘passado’”. Mercutio often makes puns on the subject of fencing; another example of this is when he compares a fiddlestick to a sword. These puns show the audience that the subject of violence is always present in Mercutio’s thoughts. Mercutio loses the duel due to Romeo interrupting the fight; although Romeo has good intentions, as in the rest of the play, he is rather unrealistic in his outlook and therefore ended up making the situation a lot worse for Mercutio. Mercutio is fatally wounded during the fight and after he has been wounded he makes numerous references to death such as line 93, “ Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man”. He still uses puns but now his humour becomes a lot darker and more morbid for example he uses the word “peppered” which is a humorous word but nevertheless it is referring to death. Shakespeare uses a lot of unpleasant imagery of death such as “They have made worms meat of me”. This evokes a sense of horror amongst the audience as it makes them realise just how dire Mercutio’s predicament is. The phrase “ A plague a’ both your houses” is repeated three times as Mercutio is dying this emphasises the amount of damage that this feud between the two houses has done. Just before his death, Mercutio utters the words “ your houses”, this is quite emotive as it show the audience that Mercutio is weakening and he does not even have enough strength left to articulate a full sentence. The use of the word “Zounds” also is very effective in revealing just how serious this situation was; it would have created feelings of shock within the audience as the word “Zounds” was a considered to be a very powerful blasphemy at the time in which “ Romeo and Juliet” was set.
Throughout the scene, Shakespeare keeps the pace very rapid in order to make it more dramatic and more exciting for the audience. The stage directions state that characters enter and exit the stage quite often; this enhances the fast pace of the scene and keeps the attention of the audience. Another feature of interest for the audience is Romeo’s sudden change of heart about fighting Tybalt; he refers back to Tybalt’s previous insult by saying “Now, Tybalt, take the ‘villain’ back again”. Mercutio’s death has a great impact on Romeo and forces him to become more responsible and take up Tybalt’s challenge. This change in Romeo indicates the magnitude of this fight to the audience.
This hectic scene becomes even more action-packed when citizens and officers of the watch enter the stage, however the chaos is interrupted by the prince. The prince’s role in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is that of a fair and just ruler. He has absolute power over this small medieval town and therefore all of the characters will respect and obey him. Shakespeare’s audience could relate to this as the monarchy had a lot of power in Britain at the time when the play was written. Throughout the play the price represents law and order and justice; he seems to have an immense calming influence at the end of act 3 scene 1. The rhyming couplets of his speech accentuate the composed formal way in which he speaks. The words that he says also have great impact on the audience, as they are very dramatic and thought provoking. The rhetorical question, “Who now the price of his dear blood doth owe?” on line 179 for instance, is very emotive and significant as it causes the audience to contemplate the consequences of this fight, it provokes them to think, “Who else is going to die?” The prince’s speech is fair and without bias but also final and concluding; Romeo’s fate is decided and none of the characters attempt to question this judgement.
Another way in which Shakespeare evaluates this scene is Benvolio’s speech, which summarizes the events of the fight. Shakespeare does this to inform the audience of anything that they may have overlooked during the frenzied scene of the fight and gives them a chance to take in all that has happened. Benvolio is chosen to tell the prince what has happened as he is considered to be a reliable, honest character and he gave a truthful account of the first brawl earlier on in the play. On the whole, Benvolio’s account of the fight was reliable however there was a slight amount of bias as he fails to mention Mercutio’s provocation of Tybalt as well as exaggerating Romeo’s lack of aggression. This shows that this fight has affected even Benvolio who is normally calm and fair.
This scene has significant impact of the play as a whole. As Romeo has been exiled it is extremely difficult for Romeo and Juliet to see each other consequently their attitudes and personalities are forced to develop. Romeo becomes more realistic in his outlook and cannot afford to be so wistful and romantic anymore. Juliet becomes totally isolated as all her family and even the nurse betrays her; this forces her to become more mature and resourceful. She goes to see Friar Lawrence, as he is the only person left for her to turn to; he gives her some help but ultimately she is alone. Such developments in the personalities of Romeo and Juliet would be very noticeable and thought provoking to the audience. This scene is very much a turning point in the play as the whole tone changes after it. Instead of being light-hearted and romantic it becomes a lot more sombre and severe. There is little humour in the rest of the play and the whole ambience becomes solemn and grim. The situation of the protagonists becomes more and more desperate until in the end the only way out for them is to take the drastic step of taking their own lives.
