At the start of the scene Benvolio is being a peacemaker and he has always been a peacemaker. Here Benvolio is telling Mercutio to ‘retire’ which means that he wants him to go home. It is hot and they are all hung over. Benvolio is saying that the Capulets are coming. He says ‘And, if we meet, we shall not ‘scape a brawl,
For now, these hot days, is the mad blood stirring.’ He foreshadowing of what is going to happen and he realises the event of Mercutio and Tybalt meeting will result to someone getting hurt or even dying. This is an early clue to tension. At line 5-9, Mercutio is surprised at Benvolio’s suggestions and ironically accuses him of being hot tempered and quarrelsome. At lines 16-18 Mercutio is saying that Benvolio is the argumentative type. This scene is the start of more animosity. At lines 29-30 Benvolio at last manages to reply angrily. Mercutio description of Benvolio is more of a portrait of himself. Again foreshadowing comes again in lines 32-33 as Benvolio says ‘by my head, here come the Capulets,’ and then Mercutio say ‘By my heel, I care not.’ Tybalt has now entered and he is being provocative. Tybalt says the word ‘you,’ which is consider to be aggressive, informal and insulting and the word ‘you’ is considered bad in Elizabethan times. Both of them are being aggressive to each other and pretty much soon there will be a fight. Straight after Mercutio has called Benvolio an argumentative person Mercutio is now arguing with Tybalt. It is just insult after insult. Mercutio taunts Tybalt, but Tybalt ignores his insults, because he is seeking Romeo. Mercutio says ‘Consort! what, dost thou make us minstrels? and the And thou make minstrels of us, look to hear nothing but discords. From the start this means that he is not a music player, in Elizabethan times the musician would often be a servant, and if he plays all who hear is discords which is harsh noises. He then says ‘Here’s my fiddlestick, here's that shall make you dance. 'Zounds, consort!’ this means that he has his sword out and Mercutio is being cocky as he is practically saying that he is better than Tybalt because Mercutio says that he’ll make him dance. But we all know after the hard fought battle it is Mercutio that is injured. Mercutio is asking for a fight, tension has been built up by Mercutio and Tybalt arguing and in some ways they are provoking each other. But Tybalt ignores Mercutio because he has his attention on Romeo. The audience know that Romeo has not been home so he does not know that Tybalt has sent him a letter challenging him to a duel. Romeo does not know that Tybalt had recognised him at the masked ball and Tybalt felt angry and humiliated that Montague's have come to the Capulet’s masked ball. Tybalt does not know that Romeo is married to Juliet and now he is related to Romeo by marriage. Even when Tybalt is trying to ignore Mercutio, Mercutio is still provoking him and he is being facetious to Tybalt. When Mercutio say ‘your worship in that sense may call him man,’ he is being sarcastic and there is a quibble over the meaning of the word of ‘man.’ Again Tybalt ignores Mercutio and turns his attention on Romeo and confronts him. Tybalt call Romeo a villain but Romeo reaction is different. Romeo is happy he say he ‘I have to love thee.’ He says this because Tybalt is now recognised as family to Romeo and all Romeo does is love. Tybalt is being patronising by calling Romeo ‘boy’. Tension is created by insults are being thrown at each other and sooner or later this will result into a fight. What Tybalt say on lines 62-63 is because Romeo illegally enters the party and Tybalt got told off for wanting to get rid of him. Romeo again being all loving it is starting to annoy Mercutio. Mercutio wants Romeo to attack Tybalt and it is just no happening. Romeo is being nice and happy for more than one reason. It could be that he is in love as he is just married, doesn’t want to make Juliet unhappy by attacking and fighting with a member of her family, and he remembers what the prince has said. Dramatic irony has been made as the audience are aware the full story whereas the people on do not. Mercutio now says the worst insult , ‘vile submission,’ Tybalt is furious now. Mercutio is asking Tybalt will he fight. Mercutio after he has said this starts using fighting talk. Now Tybalt is ready to fight. After all these insult and this argument there is a fight. All the tension that has been built up has been to start the fight. This fight has started because Romeo did not stand up for himself and now Mercutio has stepped in to help Romeo becoming more of an embarrassment. Tybalt and Mercutio start fighting. Romeo, trying to be a peacemaker, calls Benvolio to help him ‘beat down their weapon… forbear this outrage.’ Romeo also says ‘Tybalt, Mercutio, the prince expressly hath Forbid bandying in Verona streets.’ Romeo is saying that we should not fight because the prince has told us not to. But we all know that he goes against what he and the prince have said. Romeo then steps between them trying to be the peacemaker. Tybalt then under Romeo’s arm thrusts Mercutio. Tybalt then flees. Mercutio say he is hurt then the he says a curse, ‘a plague on a ’both houses.’ In Elizabethan times it is believed that if you said a curse three times it would become true. we all know that Mercutio eventually says the curse three times and it does come true as Romeo and Juliet end up dying. When Mercutio says ‘I am sped,’ it means that he is mortally wounded. But then when someone asks is he hurt he says ‘ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch,’ he is being almost like a class clown and he acting brave. When he say ‘a scratch’ he is being sarcastic and it is a putdown on Tybalt. Mercutio then gives a little speech. At the start joking around and being courageous, unlike Romeo, by saying his wound is ‘not do deep as a well, nor so wide as a church-door,’ but then he starts getting more serious. He then says ‘you shall find me a grave man,’ this could mean that he will be dead and in a grave tomorrow or a solemn man. And now again he says again for a second time ‘a plague a ‘both your houses!’. If he says this one more time it will become true. Mercutio starts getting more upset. Then he blames it all on Romeo and he say that he was hurt under your arms. If it wasn’t for Romeo’s cowardliness and if he didn’t intervene his best friend would have been alive. Mercutio is dying because of his best friend. Romeo replies ‘I thought all for the best,’ Romeo thought he was doing the best thing he could but this ended up him causing Mercutio’s death. Mercutio attention then turns to Benvolio, nothing to Romeo. Mercutio wants to go to some house. He does not want to go a Montague or Capulet house. He then for the third and final time says ‘a plague a ‘both your house!’ the curse is now complete, from now on it looks like if it’s only going to a tragedy. Mercutio now near enough dead exits with Benvolio. Romeo now is annoyed and angered with himself because in a way he has killed his best friend, but Tybalt who is now is his relative has stabbed his friend and now Romeo has a grudge against Tybalt. This is when Romeo attitude changes. From being a calm peaceful person he turns into a angry, aggressive person. Benvolio re-enters saying that Mercutio is dead. Benvolio has foreshadowed the outcome and now the outcome has happened. Romeo then says ‘This day's black fate on more days doth depend, this but begins the woe others must end.’ The theme of fate has reappeared; every action will have its consequence. Mercutio death is a catalyst of the rest of the play because everything was fie and good until his death, now it can begin with the tragedy. There are major changes in Romeo now as his attitude changes what he says also change. Romeo says ‘and fore-eyed fury may be my conduct now. Now Tybalt take the ‘villain’ back again.’ He says that he has turned violent and Tybalt should take ‘villain’ back as he has killed Mercutio. He then says ‘Is but a little way above our heads, staying for thine to keep him company. Either thou, or I, or both, must go with him.’ This is a threat to Tybalt and he says that one of us, Romeo or Tybalt, will die. Before Tybalt was going after Romeo but now Romeo is going after Tybalt. There are shifts in people and in the play. Tybalt again call Romeo ‘boy,’ which is again mocking him. They fight to the death and in the end the person who had died was Tybalt. After been called a boy he has just killed a man. Romeo from being a peacemaker he has turned into a murderer. Benvolio is insisting that Romeo should flee quickly as the citizens and people of Verona are coming. Just before Romeo exits he says ‘o I am fortune’s fool!’ Fate has pushed him to this situation. When Romeo has killed Tybalt , he realises the likely consequence of his actions. The prince, Montague’s and Capulet’s all enter to see and hear the situation that has occurred. The prince asks what has happened and Benvolio basically tells him that Tybalt has been slain by Romeo and Mercutio has been slain by Tybalt. Lady Capulet acts typically as she would defend her family to death. She is being melodramatic in what she says. Benvolio tell the truth but lady Capulet does not believe him as he is a Montague. Lady Capulet want to kill Romeo and it is vengeance for killing Tybalt but now due to the marriage Romeo is lady Capulet’s son-in-law. The prince banishers Romeo from Verona and if he comes back again ‘that hour is his last.’ This is irony because he means it and it comes true but not the way he meant it to. Previous this scene everything was good and optimistic but this scene is the turning as there are two deaths.
