Act 3 Scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet. How does Shakespeare make this a tense and exciting scene for the audience?

ge/To such a greeting, Romeo). The audience are on the side of Romeo- positive feelings towards Romeo- and they do not want him to fight. This shows insight into Romeo’s character, tells the audience that he is a good person. The audience know about Romeo and Juliet secret marriage whereas (I do protest I never injuried thee/ But love thee better than thou canst devise, Romeo). Tybalt does not know anything. Then Tybalt orders Romeo to take out his sword and fight because he cannot excuse the harm done to him (Romeo had gate-crushed the Capulet party and flirt with Juliet). Romeo is honest and doesn’t want to break the law and fight in the streets(the prince expressly hat Forbid this bandying in Verona streets, Romeo). This is a reminder to the audience and the characters themselves that a fight would be a disaster. There is suspense and the audience suspects the danger/treat to Romeo and Juliet, it is an external threat to their love.

Paragraph 2: Theme of death, curse by Mercutio, all negative themes that foreshadow the tragic ending. The audience expects that something bad will happen to both families. Mercutio uses very strong language to remind the audience of the unnecessary hurt they caused him. This makes us realize that something bad will happen and both families will be affected in a catastrophic way. Repetition (curse by Mercutio)(a plague a bothy your houses, your houses, Mercutio) binds the curses to both families. Mercutio's death makes the audience want revenge When Romeo appears, Tybalt insults him by Violence leads to the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt. Theme of friendship and loyalty of Romeo to his friend. Recurring theme of the enmity between the two families. The audience feels agony about what is going to happen later. The future will be affected by today’s terrible events. Today is the start (future problems) (this day’s black fate on moe days doth depend, This bur begins the woe others must end, Romeo). This is the beginning of the end, a countdown to the final day. Romeo is like a puppet now, he is the hands of fate. When Romeo sees that his friend is dying his mood changes and he becomes very angry but also embarrassed. Then he decides to take revenge and kills Tybalt because he does not want to see Tybalt being alive whereas his close friend Mercutio is dead. Romeo blames himself for Mercutio's death because he placed his love for Juliet before consideration of his friend. Romeo thus attacks Tybalt to assuage his guilt. However, by doing so, he disregards any effect that his choice may have on Juliet. His action is impulsive and reckless. Mentioning the Prince before he appears, prepares the audience for his severity, so the audience expects the Prince to impose a strict punishment. As a result of the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt, the Prince declares that Romeo must be exiled or killed. These consequences are terrible for Romeo because it means that he has to leave the city immediately or if he is found he’ ll be killed so he cannot be with his wife Juliet. Romeo has a very bad luck-this is a very powerful statement and tells the audience the seriousness of Romeo’s situation. He has no control over his actions anymore, he is just moving towards his fate (O, I am fortune’s fool, Romeo). We have a more crowded stage now, everyone is involved so it has gone from personal to public (for blood of ours, shed blood of Montague, Lady Capulet). This builds a lot of tension/suspense/excitement to the audience, because we do not know what Romeo will do next. When the Prince decides to exile Romeo, in the beginning the audience is relieved because Romeo is not going to be executed but at the same time the audience feels sadness and disappointment because of the couple’s predicament (Immediately/ We do exile him hence, Prince). Also curiosity because this leaves many questions in the audience’s mind what will Romeo do now?How will Juliet react? This builds curiosity/suspense/tension all leading to the climax.

Unfortunate events and bad luck for Romeo. Recurring.

Theme of revenge for the death of Romeo’s friend.

Conclusion: General summary of the most important parts mentioned, emphasize a final message that “Violence can only bring negative results”. Tragic events started unfolding. This scene occurs immediately after Romeo has married Juliet - which explains his friendliness to Tybalt. The general contrast of love and hate in the play is explicit (very clear) in this scene. Benvolio tells Prince what happened. The Capulets demand that Romeo be executed, while the Montagues argue that Tybalt was to blame. Prince banishes Romeo from Verona.