Para 3
We will discuss the plot of the story and how it adds dramatic impact to the play. The fact that they are from feuding families, they are opposites, adds a sense of tension to the play as a whole, and it is also a theme of the play. Also where there are conflicts there must be resolutions and the resolutions could be good or bad depending on what the writer decides. In this play the outcome is positive and negative, the families stop their feud but lose a child due to the conflict. Tybalt shows that the feud between the families is still there, “What, drawn and talk of peace? I hate the word, as I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee.” Here Tybalt shows he is very violent and hates peace of any nature. He wants to fight and doesn’t like Montagues with drawn swords to talk of harmony between them. This adds to the drama of the play because swords have been drawn and we realise he’s a violent person. In modern day life there aren’t any feuds that end in a death match between rival families whereas in Elizabethan times this was quite common. There are also some references to fate by Juliet, “Prodigious birth of love it is to me, that I must love a loathed enemy.” She uses the word “must love” which hints that there’s a theme of fate; it also suggests that she has no control over the situation. She uses the word enemy only because her parents have brought her up to believe that but she has no personal experience of the Montagues so she may start to think they’re not the enemy.
Para 4
We will now examine how the characters contribute to the dramatic impact in this scene, Mercutio’s aggressiveness or the dramatic irony of when Romeo changes from pacifist to “fire-ey’d fury”. “By my heel, I care not.” is an example of Mercutio’s wits, “Tybalt you rat-catcher, will you walk?” is typical of his aggression towards Tybalt. These examples are illustrative of Mercutio’s creative word play and his willingness to goad Tybalt into fighting him. Turning now to Romeo, at first he tells Tybalt that he does not want to fight as he loves him and his family, “And so, good Capulet, which name I tender as dearly as mine own, be satisfied” he uses the word tenderly as he has just married into the family, which Tybalt is unaware of, however this could be considered an insult by Tybalt. However after Tybalt kills Mercutio, Romeo changes his mood to very aggressive, which is unexpected and sudden and adds to the dramatic impact” And fire-ey’d fury be my conduct now! Now, Tybalt, take the ‘villain’ back again.
” This quote is pivotal to the scene as prior to this Romeo was a peace-loving person this has changed along with his view from loving Tybalt to calling him ‘villain’. We can surmise from these that Mercutio was going to start a fight as he was being very aggressive and Romeo would try and stop any fighting. However when Mercutio was killed under Romeo’s arm, this makes Romeo mad with rage and he goes on to kill Tybalt.
Para 5
Now we will be analysing the language used and how it creates dramatic impact, for example Mercutio’s quick wittedness and Benvolio’s eloquent defence of Romeo when speaking to the Prince. When Mercutio says something quick witted or aggressive it adds a bit more to the dramatic impact. Benvolio’s speech defending Romeo creates dramatic impact because he adds a bit of poetry into it, “And as he fell, did Romeo turn and fly, this is the truth or let Benvolio die”. The poetry makes it more interesting and contrasts with Mercutio’s aggressive wit. This adds to the tension because if the Prince does not believe him then he will die. Furthermore the audience can relate to the character by their style of speaking and the contrast between each character adds to the drama. Shakespeare uses linguistic techniques such as similes, metaphors, for example “And to’t they go like lightening” and personification for example “Tybalt you rat-catcher” to produce contrast and emphasis and this too increases the dramatic impact. Overall the language is very important to the play as a whole.
Para 6
We are turning now to the setting of the play on the dramatic impact. The opening of the scene is a public place on a hot afternoon. The open space could have resembled a battle field to the audience, who would be expecting another fight. The heat of the day is emphasised adding an oppressive atmosphere. These aspects of the setting would have increased the dramatic tension for the audience, expressed by Benvolio in the first four lines of the scene. It is worth noting that this play is based on a Greek tragedy which the audience would have been fully aware of and therefore they would be expecting loss of life. In the Bas Lurhmann production of the film the setting shows how important Mercutio’s death is as a turning point of the play. The weather starts off sunny however when he dies it turns to a big storm. Benvolio tries to get them to go to a private place if they want to fight so that no one will be caught fighting in the streets. However Mercutio wants to be seen as he wants to show off to the public. This would increase the audience’s expectation of a fight breaking out and would add to the dramatic impact of the scene. The weather is a big factor too because in those days people would go home in the middle of the afternoon as it got very hot but Mercutio and the others are still outside and so may get hot headed and it may lead to them doing something rash.
Para 7- The themes we will discuss now, including fate in the context of the play. Throughout the play there are many references to fate, when Mercutio says,” A plague a’both your houses!” This essentially dooms Romeo and Juliet to their deaths and as the audience now know their fate it enhances the dramatic impact because people are expecting some deaths. The theme of death is important to the play because without any deaths, the impact of the tragedy would be reduced. Romeo and Juliet is based on a love story, it could even be interpreted as a forbidden love story. It is a constant theme throughout the play like Mercutio defending Romeo as well as Romeo coming back from being banished to see Juliet’s body. Division is another theme, the fact that Romeo and Juliet’s families hate each other, and when they are separated after Romeo’s banishment. This leads to conflict which needs to be resolved and so it is a good build up of tension for the drama. Passion is a major theme in the play, and it is passion to the highest degree is on show in this scene by so many characters including Mercutio, Tybalt, Romeo and others.
Para 8
We are now going to look at the tragedy of the play. What creates tragedy is how two young lovers have had their lives cut short by no fault of their own; it is only because they come from two feuding families. Although at first it looks like its going well for them, it almost immediately turns sour when Romeo kills Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, and is banished. Then shortly after that Juliet’s father arranges, without her consent, to marry Paris. This adds to the drama of the play because the audience does not know how she will get out of marrying him. However, subsequently it seems like Romeo and Juliet work out a plan to stop her from marrying Paris and this would make the audience feel there is a small bit of hope for their futures. On the other hand that makes the next part even more tragic as their deaths could so easily have been avoided. The audience already know it is a tragedy as this is confirmed in the prologue, “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes a pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life; whose misadventur’d piteous overthrows doth with their death bury their parents’ strife.” Furthermore the waiting for this to happen just adds to the drama and expectation.
Para 9
My personal response to the dramatic impact of the scene and the play as a whole is that it is the first major pivotal moment of the play. It separates Romeo and Juliet who have only just been married and two characters die, Mercutio and Tybalt, which leads Romeo to being banished. Before this scene nothing tragic had happened until Mercutio starts to fight Tybalt and is killed. In the Bas Lurhmann film version, 1996, Mercutio’s death is shown as the start of a big change in the course of the play. He did this by making the weather sunny when Mercutio was alive, but when he dies the weather very suddenly changes to a big storm. I think he, Bas Lurhmann, has done this to show how the whole film has changed as a result of Mercutio dying. I also think that Mercutio’s death is a more pivotal point than the death of Tybalt.
Overall Shakespeare uses many techniques to make Act 3 Scene 1 a scene notable for its dramatic impact. It is a pivotal point for the plot and development of many of the key characters and is one of the highlights of the play in my opinion.