Romeo and Juliet

This makes us think that Mercutio has a rude and witty side to him. This is important for when the Capulet's come because we know that he will be rude to them. When Benvolio says " By my head, here come the Capulet's" Mercutio replies with "by my heel I care not". This is showing disrespect towards the capulet's.

When Tybalt arrives the audience are expecting trouble because the Montague's and the Capulet's don't get on. Therefore every time they are together there is trouble. The audience are very surprised by the tone Tybalt uses with Mercutio, as he is being overly polite. That is until Mercutio makes a sexual joke, "you shall find me apt enough to that sir and you will give me some occasion". Tybalt is showing he has some authority; he is also at the same time trying to keep calm and not lose his temper.

Tybalt isn't throwing insults at Mercutio are trying to pick a fight with him because he didn't come to see Mercutio, he came to see Romeo, but Mercutio doesn't care about who Tybalt came to see or about what he has to say. He just carries on insulting Tybalt. Mercutio is being very disrespectful to Tyablt by saying "could you not take some occasion without giving" This shows us that Mercutio is being impolite and rude to Tybalt.

The atmosphere suddenly changes when Romeo arrives, because Tybalt is no longer interested in Mercutio he is fully focused on Romeo. As soon as Tybalt speaks to Romeo, he starts insulting him.

"Romeo the love I bear thee can afford" and "boy this shall not excuse the injuries". These two quotes tell us that Tybalt hates Romeo and that he is still angry at being humiliated at his uncle's party in front of his friends and family.

Romeo responds to Tybalts challenge calmly and politely. This is shown when Romeo says "and so, good Capulet, which name I tender as dearly as mine own". This shows us that Romeo isn't an aggressive person and wont accept Tybalts challenge because he has just married Juliet, which means Romeo, is now part of Tybalts family.

Mercutio thinks that the reason Romeo wont fight Tybalt is because he is scared of him. This makes Mercutio angry, so he jumps in and starts making fun of Tybalt. "Will you pluck your sword out of his pilcher by the ears? Make haste, lest mine be about your ears ere it be out" This shows us Mercutio is angry with Tybalt and is willing to fight him. Mercutio was forced to do this because Romeo wouldn't fight Tybalt and Mercutio doesn't want to see his friend being out done by Tybalt.

Mercutio's death is shocking for the audience because he is a significant character who is killed off halfway through the play, which is unusual and it leaves the audience not knowing what to expect later in the play.

When Tybalt returns after killing Mercutio, Romeo has a change of tone he is very aggressive and uses threatening language towards Tybalt. This is surprising for the audience because just before Mercutio's death Romeo was calm and was trying to keep the peace, it is also surprising because Romeo is now part of Tybalt's family. "And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now" this quote tells us that Romeo is angry and wants to get revenge for Mercutio. "Either thou or I, or both must go with him" This tells us that Romeo is now willing to fight Tybalt, which is a shock for the audience because when Tybalt challenged Romeo earlier, Romeo would not fight him.

Tybalt says to Romeo " Thou wretched boy, that didst consort him here, shalt with him hence" This tells us that Tybalt is still angry, so angry in fact that he ignores Mercutio's death. This builds tension for the audience and they are left feeling anxious and wondering what will happen next.

Tybalts death is shocking for the audience because Romeo is normally very calm and patient. They don't really expect Romeo to fight Tybalt, so when he kills Tybalt the audience are left stunned. Shakespeare uses sensible Benvolio to remind us of what the Prince threatened at the beginning of the play. "The prince will doom thee death" this tells us that now Romeo has killed Tybalt the prince may carry out his threat.

After killing Tybalt, Romeo says "O I am fortunes fool" The significance of this line is it leaves the audience worried and wondering what the future holds for Romeo. This suggests that the play is going to be bleak and that it is unlikely that there will be a happy ending for Romeo. This might be worrying for the audience because they could be thinking about the princes death penalty and wondering whether Romeo will get killed or not.

Shakespeare is a playwright, so the audience's reaction is important to him because if the audience doesn't like his plays then he wouldn't be able to be a playwright anymore. So on the whole the audience is his life. Shakespeare uses his characters throughout the play, to remind us of what the prince threatened at the beginning. This is shown when Benvolio says "here all eyes gaze on us" He did this to keep the audience on the edge of their seat wondering weather anything will come of the threat. This is an example of how Shakespeare uses his characters to control what the audience think and feels.

Shakespeare created a number of different characters that all have different types of personalities. The language of each individual character is important because it gives the audience a clue to what the character is thinking and how he/she is feeling. For example after Romeo has killed Tybalt he says, "stand not amazed". This tells the audience that he is horrified by what he has done.

The same amount of tension could probably not have been created without it because we wouldn't see the characters in the same way. For example we see Tybalt as an evil and aggressive person, so if Shakespeare tried to make him nice it would wreck the play.