Romeo and Juliet How has Shakespeare made Act 3 Scene 1 dramatic and exciting for the audience?

Authors Avatar

Romeo and Juliet

How has Shakespeare made Act 3 Scene 1 dramatic and exciting for the audience?

        The pace and action of act 3 scene 1 is swift and dramatic. The scene begins playfully with Mercutio jesting with Tybalt, but the joke turns sour when Tybalt accuses him, saying he ‘consortest with Romeo’. Mercutio and Tybalt then start to ‘brawl’. When Romeo enters he tries to stop the fight in defense to his new loyalties to Juliet’s family, but he gets in the way and Tybalt stabs Mercutio under Romeo’s arm. Romeo then blames himself for Mercutio’s death and wants revenge. Romeo and Tybalt begin to brawl and Romeo kills Tybalt.

        Act 3 scene 1 is a very important scene in the play for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is the last appearance of Tybalt, Mercutio who die and Benvolio. After this scene the play concentrates on Romeo and Juliet, as their tragedy speeds to its close. Secondly, after this scene the feud between the two families is enhanced, this is mainly due to the fact that Tybalt has been killed by one of the Montagues. Also after this scene, the play become more intense, as Juliet’s wedding to Paris has been brought forward to try and cheer her up. This make the audience feels more anxious, as they want to see how Juliet will overcome the problem. It is also an important scene to try to get the audience more interested in the play. As with two deaths, five fights and honour and loyalty at stake, it is this scene that has the most action in it. The scene also includes dramatic irony, which means only the audience and Romeo known of his love for Juliet and their marriage but the other characters on stage don’t. This is yet another thing that Shakespeare has included to interest the audience.

        Shakespeare has made this scene dramatic and exciting through many different ways. Firstly he made some of the characters very aggressive and hot headed. He also made the pace of this scene very fast so the audience would not lose interest. The pace is indicated by the actions of the characters and the stage directions.

There are three different themes explored in Act 3 Scene 1, this has been done to try to make the scene as exciting as possible, to try and grip the audience. The main theme is love. Love influences Romeo a great deal in this scene as he has just married Juliet and does not wish to fight Tybalt because of this. He feels like fighting Tybalt as he says

‘Tybalt, the reason I have to love thee  

          Doth much excuse the appertaining rage

          To such a greeting.’

This makes the audience feel that Romeo does want to fight Tybalt but his love for Juliet is so strong that he can resist the temptation. It also shows the audience that Romeo now has love for Tybalt as he is now part of Tybalt’s family. The phrase ‘appertaining rage’ also portrays the feeling that it is the tone of a warning, to the audience. The word ‘much’ also suggests that he does not fully excuse Tybalt for wanting to ‘brawl’.

Join now!

        Perhaps the most important theme in the scene is honour. Honour was very important in Verona where the play was set. Tybalt has honour throughout this scene and Romeo is also honourable, towards his new wife at the start of the scene when he tries to stop the brawl and at the end of the scene, when Mercutio dies he revenges Mercutio. The language shows the audience that Tybalt believes strongly in honour and would do anything to sustain his status, even if it meant killing someone. This also shows the audience that Romeo values love above personal honour. It ...

This is a preview of the whole essay