Despite Tybalt's insults, calling him a villain, Romeo refuses to respond antagonistically to him. For Mercutio, this is almost unbearable, as he cannot stand to see his best friend take insults without retaliating. To Mercutio, this is a sign of the utmost cowardice. In reply to Tybalt's insults, Romeo says “The reason I have to love thee Tybalt, Doth much excuse the appertaining rage, to such a greeting.” In this brief speech, Romeo refuses to respond to Tybalt's insults, saying that he loves him. This is a case of dramatic irony because only the audience and Romeo know of the reason for Romeo’s “love” for Tybalt; they are now kinsmen due to his marriage with Juliet. Tybalt does not know that he can no longer consider Romeo to be his enemy because of this. As a result, he is bewildered and because of this he does not even attempt to try and interpret the hidden meaning in Romeo's mysterious speech; instead he reacts violently, and continues to try and stir Romeo into fighting him.
When Romeo next says “And so, good Capulet, which name I tender as dearly as dearly as mine own”, Tybalt seems to find it almost insulting that the man he blindly considers to be his enemy is refusing to fight him, and claims to love him in a brotherly fashion. To Mercutio, Romeo's “vile submission” is proof that his obsession with love has made him effeminate. He goads Tybalt into fighting him, referring to his rival as a “rat catcher”. This shows Mercutio's wit, as he is able to carry on joking when his temper is high, and is referring to Tybalt's reputation as “the king of cats”. He goes on to challenge Tybalt on Romeo's behalf, saying that he would be satisfied with nothing less than one of his “nine lives”. The tension in the scene has been steadily escalating up to this point, and Tybalt and Mercutio are inevitably going to fight, unless Romeo and Benvolio prevent them from doing so, which Romeo attempts. However, as he comes between them, beating down their weapons with his own, Tybalt slips a blow in from underneath Romeo's arm. It is as though all the tension in the scene so far has been leading up to this point, but with the almost disappointing underhand blow the tension almost immediately shatters.
Mercutio's wound seems to be light and harmless, and so the audience may be lured into believing that nothing is truly wrong. However, as Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy, it may seem to the audience that it is inevitable that Mercutio's wound will be fatal. This is another case of dramatic irony, as only Mercutio himself can tell that his small wound will be the end of him. However, Romeo and his friends are not aware of the extent to which Mercutio is wounded, and cannot understand why he acts as though he has been grievously wounded. When Romeo asks him why he agonizes over such a small wound, Mercutio replies with his usual jesting, “…’tis enough, ‘twill serve. Ask for me to-morrow and you shall find me a grave man.” By this Mercutio means that he will not be jesting for much longer; he is dying. As Mercutio dies, he curses both the house of Montague and Capulet with a “plague”. This is a chilling omen of the tragedy that will soon befall both houses. However, Mercutio's death was more a result of his own rivalry and loathing of Tybalt, as he persisted in trying to start a duel. However, he perceives clearly that it is the feud that has caused his death. After the dieing Mercutio is helped off stage by Benvolio, we see Romeo left contemplating what has happened. He blames the incident on himself, saying that his “reputation (has been) stained”. By this he means that his masculinity is dubious as he did not respond violently to Tybalt's attempted provocation. However, we can observe that this is incorrect as Mercutio, who persisted in pursuing violence, has been killed. Later Tybalt, also aggressive, is killed by Romeo. In turn, Romeo hastily commits suicide as he believes Juliet to be dead. All these main characters acted hastily and in most cases, violently. In turn, they were all killed. Romeo himself did try to make peace after his marriage to Juliet, but Mercutio's death caused him to act hastily, and as a result, violently. In contrast, Benvolio the Prince, and the Friar, all survive to witness the end of the feud. These three, particularly Benvolio and the Prince, are all fair, just and peaceful men. This proves that Romeo was wrong in believing that he had to take maters into his own hands and kill Tybalt not just to avenge Mercutio, but also to prove his own masculinity.
When Benvolio returns to the scene, he informs Romeo that Mercutio is dead. When they see Tybalt returning, Romeo makes up his mind to kill him, saying “fire-eyed fury” will be his conduct. The alliteration in this phrase makes it stand out from the rest of the speech, and indicates Romeo’s sudden change in temperament. He tells Tybalt to “take the villain back again”, meaning that he intends to restore his reputation by getting personal revenge on Tybalt for his former insults. However his main purpose seems to be the avenging of Mercutio's death as he says to Tybalt “Either thou, or I, or both must go with him!”, meaning that either him or Tybalt must keep Mercutio company in death. His meaning could not be made clearer than this; he intends to fight Tybalt to the death. The tension at this point in the scene is especially high due to Romeo's recklessness and disregard for the safety of his own life. The audience can clearly see that Romeo is ready to die to avenge his friend’s death and to prove his manliness. However, in his haste he has forgotten his recent marriage to Juliet. The audience is held in suspense as they do not know whether or not Romeo will survive this fight as Tybalt is an established and respected swordsman.
Once Romeo has slain Tybalt, Benvolio urges him to flee, saying “The prince will doom thee death if thou art taken!” meaning that if Romeo is found, the prince will order his execution for killing Tybalt. At first Romeo is too shocked by what he has done to respond. He cries out”Oh I am Fortunes fool!”. This shows that Romeo realises that he is doomed, as he says here that his life is not under his own control, but that he is the plaything of some greater power. As Romeo flees from the scene of his crime the Prince arrives with the rest of the Montagues and Capulets. As soon as the Prince sees Benvolio, who he knows is one of Romeo's friends; he asks him what took place. Benvolio describes the fight fairly, but Lady Capulet, distressed at the death of her kinsmen, demands that the Prince order Romeo's execution for his crime. At this moment tension is high because Romeo's future is once again in danger. However, the Prince assesses the situation justly and says that as Romeo only retaliated to avenge Mercutio's death, he will only be banished.
Romeo's “luck” in this scene, winning his fight with Tybalt and escaping a death sentence is ironic as the audience knows that Romeo is destined to die in the end anyway. This almost makes it seem bitterer when he actually dies, as he has managed to evade death on several occasions during the course of the play, but in the end he commits suicide in vain.
The tension is high throughout the whole of this scene, due to the fact that there is almost always somebody's life in danger. This scene mirrors the opening scene of the play, in which two servants of the Montague family, Sampson and Gregory, can be seen joking in a vulgar, masculine way. They tease and jest with each other, each claiming to be braver than the other. This is mirrored by Mercutio's joking with Benvolio at the beginning of act three scene one. Both scenes end with a brawl, and the Prince has to intervene. These similarities in the two scenes may be to emphasise the turning point in the play that is reached in act three scene one.
There is almost constantly a piece of information in act three scene one that the audience is aware of but not all the characters are. At the beginning, only Romeo is aware of his marriage to Juliet, and of the new relations between himself and the Capulets, particularly Tybalt. When Mercutio is wounded, only he and the audience can tell that the wound is fatal. And throughout the whole of the play, only the audience are aware that Romeo and Juliet are both doomed to die.
Both the dramatic tension and the dramatic irony serve to make this scene much more effective. Because the audience is aware that Romeo is now lawfully related to Tybalt, they are uncertain as to how he will deal with Tybalt's challenges and insults. If Mercutio had known that Romeo and Tybalt were both kinsman, he may not have been so disgusted by Romeo's “vile submission” and as a result may not have challenged Tybalt himself. The audience is forced to watch helplessly as many characters make fatal mistakes simply because they have been ill informed, or do not know of one of the many secrets that go on in the play. If Tybalt had known that Juliet was married to Romeo, he may have killed him on the spot and the play would have taken a completely different route. But in this scene Shakespeare has masterfully used dramatic irony to make the play seem more credible, and dramatic tension to make the scene more engrossing.
In Zefferelli’s 1968 film adaptation of the play, Mercutio’s death is portrayed as an accident, as he stumbles onto the point of Tybalt’s sword during what is intended to be a gentlemanly and non-fatal duel. As none of his friends notice this, Mercutio's wound serves as another chance to emphasise the dramatic tension in the film. Mercutio’s death is made even bitterer by the fact that none of his friends realise that he is fatally wounded until the moment of his death. This causes Romeo to be far more stunned as he only becomes aware of what he has caused just as Mercutio’s last breath leaves his body.
One of the reasons why Romeo and Juliet is made to seem so tragic is that from the moment the curtains are raised the audience is aware of the fact that the two lovers area inevitably going to die. This makes the audience feel frustrated and sad as they know what is going to take place but are powerless to stop it.
