In act 3, scene 1 Tybalt goes looking for Romeo in order to get revenge on him for attending his party. He finds Mercutio instead, however he does not want to fight Mercutio and when Romeo enters he makes it clear that Romeo is the one he is after. ‘Well, peace be with you, sir, here comes my man’ (Tybalt, Act 3, scene 1) this shows that he has nothing against Mercutio and his problem is only with the Montague. Tybalt is only obsessed with Romeo because he is a Montague as Mercutio was at the party yet Tybalt doesn’t have a problem with him. He does not think before he acts, he is short fused and gets angrier when he approaches his uncle, Capulet, about the situation and Capulet ignores it and tells Tybalt to let him enjoy the party even though he wasn’t invited.
Tybalt is also quick-tempered and volatile which is seen in the party scene again. Even before he is sure that the masked man is Romeo he is ready and willing to fight him. ‘Fetch me my rapier, boy. What dares the slave come hither, covered with an antic face to fleer and scorn at our solemnity? Now by the stock and honour of my kin, to strike him dead I hold it not a sin.’ (I, V) he is angrier at the fact that Romeo has attended the party when he is aware of the feud between the two families. This event triggered the violence because at first Tybalt wanted to fight Romeo to ‘honour his kin’ but after that night he had held a personal hatred towards him.
Tybalt’s violent acts lead to Romeo and Juliet’s death because after that he goes to look for Romeo to fight him. Although Mercutio tries to start trouble with his sarcastic remarks Romeo does not want to fight him because he is in love with Juliet who is Tybalt’s cousin. Tybalt still tries to bring Romeo down ‘Romeo, the love I bare thee can afford no better term than this: thou art a villain’ (Tybalt, act 3, scene 1) he is saying all these things even though Romeo has never personally harmed him he just want to start trouble. He makes this clear to Tybalt ‘Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee doth much excuse rage to such a greeting: villain I am none, therefore farewell. I see thou knowest me not’ (Romeo, Act 3, Scene 1) by this he means that he has nothing against him and Tybalt doesn’t know him, so he can’t call him a villain. These events show that Tybalt is very violent and very pushy as he was just looking for Romeo to fight him and even when Romeo didn’t want to fight he still tried to cause trouble. This is similar to the party scene where Tybalt is pushing towards violence, but that that moment in time his uncle was there to stop him causing any trouble.
Mercutio believes Romeo is acting like a coward and is willing to fight Tybalt himself, when Tybalt and Mercutio fight Romeo tries to stop them and whilst aiming to protect his best friend it results in Mercutio getting killed. Romeo wanted revenge on Tybalt for killing Mercutio so he takes Tybalt’s life into his own hands and is therefore banished from Verona. So Tybalt’s actions of wanted to start trouble ended up with him and Mercutio getting killed and Romeo being banished from the city. Romeo’s banishment eventually led to the deaths of him and Juliet.
After analysing all the evidence the only conclusion is that not only Tybalt, but also everyone is guilty. Although Tybalt is the main cause, because he should have obeyed his uncle instructions and left Romeo alone. It is also partly Romeo and Mercutio’s fault, as they should have not gone to the party uninvited, as they knew there would be consequences. A big part of the blame lies on the parents of both families because as the eldest members of the families they should have settled the feud before it came to a tragic ending like this.
I believe that Tybalt’s traits led him to cause violence in the town. He fused all the main events that occurred and these resulted in the tragedy. He became over-obsessed with hating his enemies that he would take it to any level because he was so short-tempered and volatile his hate was pushed even further, he was even prepared to kill. He started many of the major acts in the play, but his actions resulted in him getting killed.
_____________________________________________________________________Neha Bharadia