How does Shakespeare build and create tension in Act 3, scene 1 to make it an interesting and important scene?

Authors Avatar

Sam House

“Romeo and Juliet” GCSE Coursework

How does Shakespeare build and create tension in Act 3, scene 1 to make it an interesting and important scene?

“Romeo and Juliet” is a well-known romantic tragedy, written by the playwright William Shakespeare. Until Act 3 there is no real sign of tragedy, it appears simply to be a pleasant story of the romance between Romeo and Juliet, with family feuds going on in the background. There are other characters, though, for the fighting, such as Mercutio, the Prince’s cousin and Romeo’s best friend, and Juliet’s cousin Tybalt. Act 2 finishes with a marriage, one which should have ended the hatred between the houses of Montague and Capulet. The story could have ended here, and all would have ended happily. Yet, in Act 3 the story has a terrible twist. Within minutes both Mercutio and Tybalt are slain, the former by the latter, and Tybalt by Romeo’s own hand. On the same day that he marries Juliet, he murders her cousin and is exiled from Verona.

Act 3 begins with Mercutio and Benvolio talking. Benvolio, with his foresight and desire to keep the peace, asks to “retire”, for “the day is hot” and there are “Capels” about. This setting itself conveys the unease in the air, an almost pathetic fallacy whereby we see the heat of the day reflecting the boiling temperament of Mercutio.  Benvolio can see that “the mad blood” of his fellows, especially Mercutio, longs for a fight. From Mercutio’s response, describing Benvolio as “as hot a Jack” as any in Italy, and following with reasons for which Benvolio would quarrel, which is really a more apt description of himself than Benvolio, the audience begins to sense this tension that Benvolio speaks of. Benvolio says that, were he such a man as Mercutio describes, he would be dead within “an hour and a quarter”. The great irony of this is that Mercutio, who is such a man, is dead within an hour and a quarter. The audience do not know this, but for those who have made the link it will greatly increase the tension of the scene.

Tybalt’s arrival is an excellent example of the tension Shakespeare creates simply through a change of characters on stage, showing an excellent use of stagecraft and manipulation of the audience, as it instantly heightens the tension, for beside from anything else, both he and Mercutio are quite explosive characters, and the audience know Mercutio to be in the mood for a fight. His first words to Tybalt are a provocative jest at Tybalt, asking him to “couple” his words “with a blow”. They continue this repartee, Tybalt insulting Mercutio by saying that he “consortest with Romeo”, implying that Mercutio is low-class and no better a companion than the consorts of musicians that might be hired for any price. Playing off this, Mercutio calls his sword his “fiddlestick… that shall make [Tybalt] dance”. All this builds the audience’s sense of tension and anticipation; they are expecting a fight now, as much as the characters within the play are desiring one. I feel that Shakespeare’s next move is very clever. He shifts the focus of the tension, and adds to the bustle of the play again, just shortly after bringing Tybalt on. By now bringing in Romeo, Shakespeare puts the tension between Mercutio and Tybalt on hold, and Tybalt says “peace be with [Mercutio]”, neither increasing nor decreasing it, but allowing it to hang in the air. At the same time, the audience are aware of the grudge Tybalt bears against Romeo, and the challenge which he sent to him, but of which Romeo is unaware. Dramatic irony is combined with this entrance to make it even more effective, for we as the audience know that Romeo is now tied to the Capulet family through his marriage to Juliet, this being “the reason that [he] have to love [Tybalt]” which “doth much excuse the appertaining rage” that Tybalt shows him, but none of the characters on stage know. If they had, this would certainly have changed the course of events in this scene. The audience are waiting for Romeo to tell the others of his marriage, increasing the expectation and nervous energy yet more.

Join now!

Mercutio himself, as a character, builds the tension within the scene, for every one of his lines is like a spark to the tinder, and the audience are constantly waiting for one of them to set everything alight, and for the battle to begin. Lines fourteen to twenty-six give the impression of his frustration and desire for a fight, with each scenario building on top of the other, and his pace and wit quickening. He speaks of quarrelling with a man for having “a hair more or a hair less in his beard than [Benvolio has]”. He shows quite ...

This is a preview of the whole essay