Romeo and Juliet satisfy this desire as in Shakespeare’s time the audience enjoyed getting emotionally involved in the play. They loved humour, love stories and especially fight scenes. Romeo and Juliet opens with a fight scene which would have the Elizabethan audience intrigued straight away. Audiences enjoyed multiple deaths which Christopher Marlowe and Ben Johnson performed often although Shakespeare didn’t perform many but still had a huge impact on the effects of the play.
Act 3 Scene 1 is crucial to the play as a whole as it changes everything resulting in tragedy. There is a huge contrast between scenes as the scenes before and after are love scenes, which contrasts to the fight scene in the middle. Leading into a love scene with Juliet in it, from a fight scene, creates sympathy for Juliet from the audience. The fight scene altars the way we think of Romeo and Juliet’s love, we think that its just young love and maybe it’s not a good idea. This scene suggests regrets of their love, as it seems tainted; Romeo says that Juliet has made him soft and effeminate, as he will not fight back at first. If this scene hadn’t happened the outcome of the play would be a lot different, the thought of Romeo and Juliet killing themselves might not of took place. Also killing Mercutio and Tybalt puts the focus back onto Romeo and Juliet as she seems slightly quiet at first. Mercutio appeals to the audience, as he’s a joker and Tybalt as a villain, so these two were upstaging Romeo. So another reason why Shakespeare thought it would be a good idea to kill them off was to put the main characters back in the limelight. This fight scene being in the middle of two love scenes is effective and fits in well.
A method Shakespeare use to create mood and atmosphere at the start of the scene is he creates tension with the characters talking about a fight that is going to happen. Although Benvolio under estimates the fight to create tension to the audience, so they don’t expect that death will be the outcome of the fight, which will shock the audience. This will put them in a false sense of security but will leave room for tension to rise. Benvolio opens the scene by saying,
“If we meet we shall not scape a brawl.”
Him saying this already creates an apprehensive mood and apprehension by saying there will definitely be a fight. Shakespeare also makes the setting tense by Benvolio commenting,
“The day is hot, the capels are abroad.”
Shakespeare use a character to comment on tension, saying the day is hot meaning that everyone is sweaty and annoyed and at their end of their tether. Also the Capels are abroad means the Capulet’s are around however today it means you’re away which shows a difference between language today and in Shakespeare’s time.
There is a huge mood contrast between Act 3 Scene 1 and Act 2 Scene 6 as in Act 3 Scene 1 has a lot of violence, tension and action where as Act 2 Scene 6 has none of these themes and is a romantic love scene where Romeo and Juliet get married. Romeos mood in Act 2 Scene 6 is very happy he is on a high when getting married but when he enters the next scene his mood drops when he sees Tybalt, while the other characters are building the tension. You can see Romeos change in mood in both scenes in Act 2 Scene 6 he says,
“If thy measure of thy joy be heaped like mine.”
This shows how he is about getting married. Using the word heaped is an imagery word as it creates a picture that there is a lot of happiness so he is ecstatic. However in Act 3 Scene 1 he starts to show regrets of his of marriage and love to Juliet he says,
“Thy beauty has made me effeminate.”
This means that Juliet has made him soft, as he wouldn’t fight? In contrast at the end of the scene he’s left heaped with guilt and regret because of his actions. Also in Act 2 Scene 6 is very private and secretive, as they want no one to know about their marriage yet. However Act 3 Scene 1 is public and is in view of everyone diverges to the previous scene.
The scene links to previous events in the play with the feud between the Montague and Capulet families it builds up tension with their rivalry at the start of the play. Also Romeo goes to a Capulet party which gives Tybalt an even more reason to be angry with him although the head of the Capulet family isn’t bothered. This arguing links to the scene as the two families children get involved and it leads to the big fight scene where Tybalt and Mercutio are killed. Romeo refuses to fight, seeing that he is now family of the Capulet’s as he married Juliet in a previous scene that day. This links to this scene as his marriage to Juliet results in him declining to fight, which makes Tybalt angry and confused however Mercutio fights for him causing his own death. Romeo says to try and stop the fighting,
“Gentlemen, for shame forbear this outrage!”
Romeo acknowledges the law of the Prince which contrasts to Tybalt. Romeo mentioning this shows that they have already been warned about their arguments which link to this scene. Tybalt says
“Here comes my man”
He says this when Romeo enters the scene this is a personal remark as Tybalt is annoyed that he attended their party. This scene is very important as it ties up previous events and shows the outcome of them.
Dramatic irony is just irony but in a play. Irony is a situation or speech, which has two meanings to it. One meaning is the literal meaning and beyond that another meaning which is deeper, which you have to think about more to get it. There is a lot of dramatic irony used in this scene although it might not be obvious at first. Romeo says after called him a villain,
“I see thou knowest me not.”
The literal meaning being that Tybalt does know him but not enough to call him a villain. However the dramatic irony, the deeper meaning is they are actually related. This works as Romeo and the audience both get it. Mercutio also says,
“Make it a word and a blow.”
The irony is that Tybalt kills him with one blow, although the irony doesn’t emerge till later unlike first example. Mercutio calls Tybalt,
“King of cats”
As cats have nine lives which is like Tybalt as he has a lot of fights but is never killed, the irony is that he is killed anyway. Using dramatic irony is useful in this scene as it engages the audience and makes them think more about the play.
In this scene there is a lot of conflict between characters, mostly between every character. Tybalt says,
“Here comes my man”
Which undeniably is conflict as Tybalt means this is the man he has been waiting for to fight. Romeo and Mercutio also have conflict although they are friends. Romeo says,
“I thought all for the best…”
Romeo is torn between Mercutio and Tybalt although he is an enemy, but he wanted to avoid fighting with him as he is now family. Romeo not sticking up for himself and fighting back leads to Mercutio’s death and regret as if he fought back maybe Mercutio wouldn’t of been killed. Mercutio has conflict with Romeo and Tybalt as he says,
“A plague o’both your houses.”
Mercutio saying this means he has cursed both houses because as a result of their fighting he has been killed. Also there is dramatic irony in this line as both houses lose a child. The scene isn’t just about them fighting it goes much deeper to the two families.
There are some unexpected entrances and exits in this scene, not least the exit of Mercutio, before he exits he says,
“Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch.”
This is said to underestimate the seriousness and that it will lead to death. He exits after cursing the houses. Benvolio re-enters to confirm that Mercutio is dead. He dies of stage so his death is quiet and not dramatic, so the audience will feel sympathy. Also Shakespeare chose to have Mercutio to die of stage so he wouldn’t take the spotlight of Romeo. Tybalt also exits cowardly after killing Mercutio; he didn’t even stay to see the damage he’d done. He re-enters which shocks the audience as after killing someone you wouldn’t have thought he would come back. Benvolio says,
“Here comes the furious Tybalt back again”
Which shows that he is angry and isn’t back to apologize, he wants more. With Benvolio saying this it must be true. If Tybalt hadn’t come back it might not have resulted in his own death, as it just inflames the situation and makes Romeo angrier. In this scene there is a lot of violence but there is a lot of drama behind it and sadness.
The use of Benvolio as a narrator is useful as the audience can catch up if they missed or misunderstood anything in the scene. So him explaining what happened helps as the audience back then watching the play would most probably miss parts as it would be very noisy and difficult to hear. Using Benvolio to sum up what has happened and break the news to the families, is a good choice of character as everyone trusts him as he is honest and not a biased character. As he says
“This is the truth, or let Benvolio die”
The comma in the line is a caesura, which emphasizes the pause as the truth is set apart, making the line balanced, like his character. Also using Benvolio as the narrator doesn’t distract the attention away from the drama, it just takes a quite moment for the audience to reflect on the scene.
The development of this scene involves a modulation of tension. At the start of the lay there is some light-hearted banter between Mercutio and Benvolio, as Mercutio is teasing him. When Tybalt enters the mood is serious, tension rises as words are exchanged between him and Mercutio, the atmosphere is heated. The arguing steps up when Tybalt makes a sneaky sly move and stabs Mercutio. Tension rises, if Mercutio will live. Mercutio blames Romeo, as he feels betrayal and that Romeo was disloyal to him, as he wouldn’t fight. After Mercutio is killed Romeo is angry by Tybalts actions and in revenge kills him. The heads of the houses then enter which gives a slight relief in tension, except there is anticipation to see how they will react, and what the consequences will be. When they are there Benvolio sums up what happens and the Prince passes judgment which makes them reach a conclusion.
Shakespeare using the phrase
“A plague on both your houses”
Is said repeatedly not just to exaggerate the phrase, every time it is said it has different meanings. The first time it’s said is Mercutios first reaction to pain when he’s stabbed is almost like swearing just letting off steam. The second time he says it, it is to Romeo which is more personal and a direct attack to him as Mercutio is betrayed by him. The third time is the worse as Mercutio means it as a curse, when he has realization of his mortality. Also it is his last words and his breaking his friendship to Romeo.
Conclusion
The Prince’s final pronouncement immediately grabs the audience’s attention by taking centre stage, as he takes authority by exiling the main character, Romeo, and he shows he is angry, by using stressed syllables. Him using stressed syllables shows his anger as through out the play Shakespeare writes in iambic pentameter so him changing the Princes speech into stressed syllables Although he has modulations in tone, as he starts of angry, but softens and goes quieter as he reveals that he is also personally involved with this. However this creates suspense as he says,
“My blood for your rude brawls”
He is saying that someone has died in this fight that he is related to, which leaves the audience wondering if it’s Tybalt or Mercutio. The audience will think it can’t be Tybalt he’s related to, as he’s a villain in the play, so it must be Mercutio as he isn’t related to anyone, but still leaves the audience feeling perplexed. He ends being angry again but fairly troubled and sad, as he doubts himself, vacillating between his job to cast judgment and personal concerns.
This scene affects the audience in many ways it gives them an array of emotions throughout, as a lot of dramatic events happen. I have shown the audiences reactions from the scene in my essay. The audience display lots of emotions for example fear, confusion, sadness etc. A main factor in the scene that the audience feel is tension this plays a main part in the scene, as there is a lot of tension in the arguing and fighting. Act 3 Scene 1 changed my opinion on the whole play it turned a romance into a tragedy. Although Shakespeare didn’t use multiple deaths in his scene it was still effective and an emotional scene. I thought this scene just twisted and went off track I predicted a relatively normal ending for a romantic play and that all arguments would be resolved with a happy ending. However this scene changed that, an expected small fight lead to two deaths, which changed the outlook on the play. There is a lot of “ifs” in this play for example if Romeo didn’t marry Juliet he would have fought for himself and Mercutio might of not been killed. Also, if Mercutio wasn’t killed, Romeo wouldn’t have killed Tybalt and then be banished. However it may not be a happy ending but it finishes the play perfectly. This scene overall makes the play contain more action on a whole and fits in to the tragedy genre well.
