Romeo, heir to the Montague estate, in both scenes, does not appear until quite a way into the fight or after it. He is described by Lord Capulet as ‘a virtuous and well governed youth’, yet in the first scene, he is found by Benvolio, and is presented as a love-struck teenager. He is not interested in the fight, ‘what fray was here? Yet tell me not’, and he shuns life; ‘Many a morning hath he there been seen, with tears’, ‘locks fair daylight out’. He is very melodramatic, using oxymorons, such as ‘loving hate’ and ‘feather of lead’, which were very fashionable in love poetry, and illustrate his confused emotions. He would appear to be in love with Roseline, yet his mind is quickly distracted by food: ‘where shall we dine?’- this could show Romeo’s love is rather lust than love, and he ‘loves’ her more now she has sworn herself to chastity. Another interpretation of this is that he could be avoiding Benvolio’s questioning. The audience may respond to Romeo at this point as nothing more than a lovesick teenager, as he seems too overdramatic with his poetic language, and is moody and obsessive.
Shakespeare creates dramatic interest in this scene by creating a fast tempo. There is very little meaningful talking before swords are drawn, and this rhythm creates a sense of urgency, building up the momentum to when Prince Escalus threatens them with death; ‘If ever you disturb our streets again, your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace’, ‘three civil brawls bred of an airy word’, these quotes show the audience that the feud between the Montagues and Capulets is an ongoing one, and that there is no real cause for the hate to exist between the household. Prince Escalus plays an important role in the first scene as he is a non-partisan character, contrasting him entirely with all the rest of the characters. His part in the play is to act as a mediator although he does not successfully reconcile the two households.
Shakespeare uses violence to great effect, contrasting with the battle of words previously fought, and also for visual effect. The idea of the conflict between the two families provides a capturing storyline throughout the performance.
He also uses a lot of contrasts, from smaller ones such as the oxymorons that Romeo uses, to the more dramatic ones, such the calm and quarrels, particularly noticeable in this scene where the tempo switches from fast during the servant’s and Tybalt and Benvolio’s fight, to Romeo and Benvolio’s conversation where it slows to a lazy tempo, and the love of Romeo and Juliet and hate of the Montagues and Capulets. There is not only romantic love shown in this scene, however. Lord and Lady Montague caring for their son is parental love, as is Benvolio caring for Romeo’s wellbeing.
The second violent scene in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is act three scene one, where Tybalt comes looking for Romeo, following Romeo’s unwanted appearance at a Capulet ball. Prior to this scene, a new character has been introduced.
Mercutio is Romeo’s friend, and although he is not of the Montague bloodline, he does feel loyal to Romeo and his family. Mercutio is primarily portrayed as a boisterous character, who is quite carefree; ‘by my head, here come the Capulets. By my heel, I care not’. He is a joker, who accuses his friends of having faults that he himself has; ‘thou hast quarrelled with a man for coughing in the street’, ‘thou wilt quarrel with a man that hath a hair more…in his beard than thou hast’, hinting as Mercutio’s own slightly more provocative side, and regularly plays on words. Later on in the scene, his mood changes, and he dies because of his eagerness to start a fight with Tybalt.
Benvolio still holds the same characteristics in act three scene one as in the opening scene. He suggests that he and Mercutio should retire home, as ‘now these hot days is the mad blood stirring’; Shakespeare uses very creative imagery in this quote. Benvolio also encourages Tybalt and Mercutio to talk about their concerns away from the public, ‘withdraw into some private place’, which Mercutio promptly ignores, ‘I will not budge for no man’s pleasure, I’.
Tybalt, arrives at the scene looking to start a fight with Romeo, but his attention is redirected to Mercutio, who takes an opportunity to tease Tybalt while Romeo isn’t there. Although Tybalt begins politely and graciously, Mercutio plays on Tybalt’s ‘consortest’ and implies that Tybalt is saying that he and Romeo are minstrels. Since the opening scene, Tybalt has developed into even more of a pugnacious character, but now he is focussed on one person, Romeo, rather than the Montagues in general. He seems even more determined to maintain family honour as he feels that the Montagues have made a mockery of the Capulets by attending one of their masquerade balls. Mercutio, in this scene, is shown more as a provocative character, unlike the buoyant character he is introduced as, showing he is reckless and irresponsible and very much to blame for the events that follow.
Romeo, once again, arrives at the scene late. He approaches just as Mercutio begins to suggest a fight with Tybalt. At this point in the play, there is a sense of dramatic irony, as only Romeo and the audience know that Romeo will not fight with Tybalt because he is now related to him, through his marriage to Juliet. When Romeo won’t fight with Tybalt, and begins to explain why not – ‘the reason I have to love thee doth much excuse the appertaining rage’ – Tybalt assumes that Romeo is joking at his expense. This heightens tension as it is not possible to see how Romeo will go without fighting Tybalt whilst not explaining his new relations.
After they have fought, it is revealed that Mercutio has suffered fatal wounds from the sword of Tybalt. Mercutio still jokes about his situation, even though he has realised that he is dying. Shakespeare makes the death of Mercutio highly dramatic, by carefully choosing Mercutio’s final speech and forcing guilt upon Romeo; ‘why the devil came you between us? I was hurt under your arm’, and ‘a plague on both your houses’, not just blaming the Capulets, possibly because so far in the play, the Capulet household has started all the fights. This makes the Montagues seem at blame also. Mercutio’s drawn out final speech prompts a change in Romeo’s mood, showing a more volatile, dangerous aspect of him. Romeo partially blames Juliet, ‘thy beauty hath made me effeminate’, and takes his opportunity for revenge when Tybalt returns. They fight, and Tybalt falls. Romeo, realising what the consequences of his actions will be cries aloud ‘O I am fortune’s fool!’. The audience could react to Romeo’s words in a couple of ways – the first is that he has had his fate taken out of her hands, and that he is not to blame, stirring sympathetic emotions. Another way to consider Romeo’s statement is that passes the blame to destiny. This would make Romeo seem very immature and irresponsible, only considering the consequences of his actions after they have been carried out.
Shakespeare creates dramatic interest in this scene by incorporating fighting again, but this time makes it much more meaningful because the fight includes some of the main characters. He makes is visually entertaining, keeping audiences in suspense with the swordfights, and Mercutio’s puns and jokes adds a battle of wits once more. The rhythm of this scene is somewhat slower than that of act one scene one, possibly because Romeo arrives late rather than never, and there is more talking than fighting. Mood, in this scene changes rapidly too; Mercutio changes from carefree to serious very quickly, and Romeo arrives calm and polite and leaves an avenging murderer.
In conclusion, I think that both these violent scenes add to the story greatly, not just for the storyline but to strengthen and add new aspects to characters. The second scene incorporates a dilemma, which would bring out the best in some characters, but the worst in Romeo, making us realise that he is not so much a moping teenager any more, but has matured to a married man who is thoughtless when he should be responisble. Tybalt, it could be perceived, was the maker of his own death, because he was too cocky, self-confident and, quarrelsome, whilst the same could be said of Mercutio.
The first scene is needed to introduce the audience to the idea of authentic loathing between two groups, with large amounts of people being loyal to a particular household, and from people of all classes. Shakespeare uses contrasts to great effect in the very first scene to catch the audience’s attention, and expertly secures it until the very end of the play. Both of these scenes are vital to the storyline and without either of them, Romeo and Juliet would not have nearly the same tragic effect.
