The death of Mercutio will have a big impact on the play as he would be a popular character not only with the audience but with the other characters in the play. His death is private and dignified as one would expect for a distinguished character. His death causes mood and the mood of the play to change to one of a more somber degree where as the death of Tybalt would present a different reaction completely. The audience would consider his death a just payment for that of Mercutio’s and may even to be glad that an evil character was removed. The consequences of his death however would cause worry as to the future of Romeo and whether his safety is at risk.
Back in Shakespearian time (around 400 years ago) these plays would have been performed in the Globe theatre. In this particular seen there is a lot more action than words spoken with little stage direction. The violence and high emotion in this seen would require the director to use lighting, props, music, character positioning etc to create the moods of the characters. The fights would have to be very well choreographed and done in a such a way that the audience can watch it and still appreciate what is happening within the scene. Weapons are counted as props but what weapons are used are up to the director. This can be seen in the two film versions by Franco Zeffirelli in 1968 and by Baz Luhrmann version in 1997. the former choosing to use swords the latter preferring the modern approach of firearms for example in the beginning of the play one character says “give me my long sword” actually referring to a shotgun, although this is easier to portray in a film than it would be when presented on stage. In the films it is easy to show a change in weather etc to depict moods, the globe however was an open top theatre, with no ability to host special effects of the same magnitude that would be expected in a film. It would have some benefits though for example if it was a hot day then the audience could really get a feel for what its like in Verona in this scene and how it may cause tempers to flare more than usual plus when a brawl would take place it would seem more real to be able to watch it unfold before your eyes.
The language in which the play is written is obviously that of older times but the play is written in verse and when characters such as the Prince speak it is also in verse due to their high status in the fictional place of Verona. The significant proportion of this play is written in prose to exemplify the fact that the language is the kind found used commonly in street often accompanied with slang, cursing and provocation “Good king of cats, nothing but one of your nine lives; that I mean to make bold withal”. This all adds to create a more believable setting in which these characters and the play is set, it is just as effective as lighting and other stagecraft at setting the scene and the emotion of individual or groups of characters. Mercutio utilizes a clever use of language to mock Tybalt
“’Tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church-door; but tis enough”. Tybalt picks his words carefully to get at Romeo in the best possible way “Thou, wretched boy, that didst consort him here, Shalt with him hence”. Romeo puts across his strong feelings by using very expressive language “Love thee better than thou canst devise”. There are references to both fortune and fate in this scene which is a main ploy of this play.
This scene comes directly after Romeo and Juliet’s wedding and immediately before the scene in which Juliet is imagining her wedding night. This is done to show the contrast between the atmosphere and the mood of what is going on and what was going on. This helps to build up the tension mentioned above and cause the audience to feel worried and shocked at the developments that have and are unfolding in front of them. This scene holds the most violence than any other scene with many deaths taking place due to the result of bad tempers and violent natures. Before this scene the general feeling of the play was that of happiness and hope, a sense of light and beautiful things to come but after this scene takes place the whole play swerves and heads towards the other end of the spectrum with a feeling of dark times ahead, hopes dashed and tragedy.
As mentioned above fortune and fate play a big part in this play and the lives of the characters. It is stated that Romeo and Juliet are “Star crossed lovers” in the beginning of the play showing that their fates are intertwined with feud between the houses. Although this is stated, Shakespeare also leads us to believe that the characters are also responsible for their own fate and how it turns out in the end. Had Romeo took a moment to consider the consequences of his actions instead of acting without thought then maybe things could of proceeded to turn out differently. The marriage of the Romeo and Juliet could have ended the feud of the two families and ultimately joined the two houses. Also if Tybalt had kept his temper in check and accepted that Romeo and Juliet were to be wed then he might of survived and Mercutio may have lived to see another day to but again due to the violent nature of Tybalt both lost their lives. Before Mercutio died he placed a curse on both the houses Montague and Capulet “A plague o’ both your houses”. This would have worried the audience which would have been very superstitious. Ultimately this curse comes true with the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Romeo, who was banished for what he had done, would have heard of the Friars plan had he not got himself banished from Verona. If he had got word of this plan he would not taken his life and Juliet the same. Romeo claimed to be “fortunes fool” as to say this was the doing of fate and could of maybe been avoided had he thought things through rationally.
