Compared to Act 2 Scene 6, Act 3 Scene 1 is going to be very fast moving with lots more happening and lots of entrances and exits. This makes the Act 3 Scene 1 more compelling and exiting for the audience to watch as it is unexpected after the slow moving scene before. A lot happens in a short time in scene with two deaths and one banishment. Furthermore, the fight scene has lots more props and uses varied styles such as blank verse, prose and rhyming verse.
Act 3 Scene 1 contrasts dramatically with the scene before and after as they are both quite slow and both have religious artefacts in them. It is dramatically ironic because for Act 3 Scene 1, the audience know that Romeo and Juliet have just got married, where as none of the other characters in the fight scene do. Act 3 Scene 1 is important because its events affect the audience’s response to the next scene. In Act 3 Scene 2, the audience know that Romeo has killed Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin and Juliet is sitting in her room praising her husband, ‘he will make the face of heaven so fine..’, not knowing what has just happened, the big fight, the death of her cousin and the banishment of her husband. Juliet actually starts Act 3 Scene 2 off by saying how she can’t wait to see her husband and make their marriage legal, and saying how much she loves him in a very passionate soliloquy. This would be ironic and get the audience wondering what will happen. This would make this scene very powerful and very, very dramatic.
This scene is made more dramatic to the audience because of its setting. The play is set in Italy, Verona for many reasons. Some of these are because Italy is known as the city of romance which makes Romeo and Juliet meeting at a party and falling in love much more realistic and believable. Also, Italy is a hot country and according to the Elizabethan beliefs, heat is known to promote madness and Italian’s are supposed to hot blooded and easy to anger. This is very relevant to Act 3 Scene 1 because both Mercutio and Tybalt are looking for a reason to start a fight which links in with the theory that Italian’s are hot blooded and easy to anger. Also the time of day of the fight scene is near mid-day and it says “the Day is hot”. When Benvolio says this line the audience would automatically think of the heat and a fight will start which is reinforced by Benvolio saying
“And if we meet we shall not scape a brawl,
For now, these hot days, is the mad blood stirring”.
When Shakespeare was writing the play, he changed his source and moved the action from spring to summer so it would tie in with the heat and the theory of Italian’s being hot blooded.
In this scene, the stage directions don’t state how to fight; just says ‘they fight’. This would be an opportunity for the actors to display and show off with their fencing skills. The audience in Shakespeare’s day would really get involved in the fights and it would have a huge impact on them. They would all be looking out for who was the best fencer and they would be watching closely for what was going to happen and who was going to slip up. In the modern film, Baz Luhrmann’s version of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ , instead of sword fights and using the stagecraft fencing, the use guns with the word ‘sword’ written along the side of all the guns. This was visually exciting but didn’t necessarily work in the context of the whole play. Because in modern times, fighting in the street with the guns, isn’t that realistic. It would lead to an arrest. The audience in Shakespeare’s time would recognise the expected ‘duel of conduct’ because they would all be very familiar with it as it was they way squabbles and arguments between people were sorted out. One person would insult another, and then they would respond with another insult and challenge the first person. They would then fight to the death. This would create suspense and tension.
During this scene, Benvolio is seen as the peace maker who is trying to stop any arguments from happening and is trying to stop people responding to insults and not to respond when faced with a challenge. This is very contrasting with Mercutio who is the one who is looking for a fight and at the beginning of the scene is preparing for what he knew would come, the Capulet’s and they would be looking for a fight as well.
At the beginning of the scene the characters use informal language and the setting is calm. The humour and jokes used would seem outdated to an audience now as the language has changed and humour isn’t based around social status. Recent productions present Mercutio as a happy and fun person, who is friendly to everyone. An example of this is that fact the he doesn’t stick with one family during the feud and is a friend to both the Capulet side and the Montague.
Mercutio’s death is unexpected and would shock both contemporary and Shakespeare’s audience. This is very dramatic as he says ‘A plague a’ both your houses’ three times to emphasise the seriousness of what’s just happened. This is the turning point in the play where the audience realise that it is now going to be a tragedy and not a love story. Mercutio’s death is also ironic because he is a friend of both families and not a member of either. So, in result of a feud between two families, an innocent life has been taken.
At the end of the fight scene, there are two deaths and Romeo is banished which makes this scene very dramatic.
Benvolio makes a speech at the end of the scene explaining to Lady Capulet what had happened. In this speech he emphasises Tybalt’s role in the fight and tries to cover up his and Romeo’s part in it. ‘Tybalt, here slain, whom Romeo’s hand did slay. Romeo, that spoke him fair, bid him bethink how nice the quarrel was, and urged withal your displeasure.’ Here he says that Romeo tried to stop Tybalt and asked him to reconsider fighting. This makes it look like it was Tybalt’s fault and Romeo was innocent. But it doesn’t work because Lady Capulet is angry as she replies, ‘Romeo slew Tybalt, Romeo must not live.’ Tybalt’s body then remains on stage as a visual reminder of Romeo’s crime. The body creates even more tension along with Lady Capulet and the Princes speeches.
The importance of this scene is emphasised by the central themes, destiny and fate. People in Shakespeare’s time believed that things happened because of fate and they believed in astrology to. ‘Two star-crossed lovers take theirs lives’. This gives the impression that all that has happened was meant to happen due to fate to make the two families realise what their arguments were doing to everyone.
This scene is the most important in the play as it contains some of the key messages and moments from the play as a whole. This is the scene where the play changes from a comical love story to a serious tragedy. It has a huge impact on the audience. The events that happen in this scene are some of the most important to the overall story. Two of the main characters die (one innocent) and Romeo is banished. It is a fast moving scene which is dramatically effective to audiences in both contemporary and in Shakespeare’s time.