What impression have you formed of Tybalt? What can his character contribute to the play in only three acts?

The play Romeo and Juliet is based on the intense feud between the Capulet and Montague families. Tybalt’s domineering character holds the audience throughout the play as he challenges Romeo to a duel, slays Mercutio and tragically falls into his own death trap, resulting in the eventual death of the two lovers Romeo and Juliet.

There are three main themes that run through the play, of which Tybalt is hugely passionate about; his family honour, which Tybalt defends strongly, love vs. hate; which shows Tybalt’s love for fighting and his pure hatred for all Montagues and lastly loyalty which carries an important part throughout the play. Finally, as Tybalt is an extremely authoritative character, most of the play revolves around him, although only speaking less than 40 lines this makes him one of the most important characters in the play.

We first meet Tybalt in Act 1 Scene 1 where Shakespeare displays Tybalt’s character as arrogant and obnoxious, as Tybalt enters, the audience are struck by his arrogance, ‘What art thou drawn amongst these heartless hinds?’ (Line 60) This shows Tybalt does feel superior to his servants and does not believe in treating people equally as he has an arrogant belief in his own superiority, we know this by him referring to the servants being ‘heartless hinds’: courage less servants. This may give the audience a feeling that Tybalt is egotistical. A further point may be that Tybalt may not believe in an equal society and may believe that socializing between the two classes is unacceptable. Tybalt’s referral to ‘heartless hinds’, which also means female deer without a leader, shows that Tybalt is mocking Benvolios leadership skills, this line also shows Tybalt is shocked to see Benvolio fighting, with Tybalt’s own servants. Tybalt finds this insulting and this leads to a fight in the near future of the play. Tybalt loves a fight and his becomes evident in his next line.

In Tybalt’s following quote he expresses his violent and aggressive nature to the audience ‘Turn thee Benvolio, look upon thy death’. In this quote Tybalt is certain Benvolio will die, as he tells him to face his death which is in fact Tybalt himself, this shows Tybalt’s pride in himself and his fighting. This is only Tybalt’s second line in the play and his mood has changed so abruptly, which shows Tybalt’s impulsive nature. With just this line, the whole plays mood is suddenly serious, therefore showing the audience that Tyablt is a dangerous character who shouldn’t be messed around with.

Finally, Tybalt’s sheer hatred for the Montague family is shown to the audience in the following lines of the scene: ‘Peace? I the word as I hate hell, all Montague’s and thee’, Tyablt is comparing the Montague’s to hell, which may well be an extremely terrible thing; this makes the intensity of the hatred very obvious to the audience. Tybalt also hates the word peace, so this may be a reason why Benvolio and Tybalt had such a violent relationship with each other as Benvolio was trying to make peace at the beginning of the play. This again shows that Tyablt loves conflict.

Looking at Act 1 Scene 1 as a whole, Tybalt brings a matter of strong importance to the play. Tybalt entertains the audience with his violent nature, as the beginning of the play starts as a comedy, however as soon as Tybalt enters it immediately reminds the audience it is not a comedy but an intense tragedy. Entertainment was especially important in the Elizabethan times where the audience were very honest to whether they enjoyed the play or not and often threw rotten vegetables at the actors if the play did not meet their standards.

Tyablt’s character ...

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Tyablt’s character develops further in Act 1 Scene 5, Tybalt has just spotted Romeo at the party and immediately has the urge to kill him, ‘Fetch me my rapier, boy’, this volatile behaviour has occurred only a literal second after Tybalt has seen Romeo, as he finds this situation purely shameful that a Montague has dared enter a Capulet party. It has also taken me by surprise at how soon he has made the decision to fight, which may mean this may be his natural way of reacting to such a situation. In addition Tybalt has been known to thinking and feeling superior than others and this shows just that, Tybalt has referred his servant as ‘boy’, his inferior. Thinking back to Act 1 Scene 1, Tybalt also treats his servants badly, referring them to ‘heartless hinds’. I feel he does this as he feels his servants don’t have the power to answer back to him.

Despite Tybalt’s arrogance, he also has loyal respect for his family as he truly lives up to his family honour ‘Now by the stock and honour of my kin, to strike him dead, I hold it not a sin’. This quote brings a new idea about Tybalt to the play: even tough he may still himself to be superior to others; he still has genuine respect for his family. Moreover it shows passion for his family honour, as he again, similar to the previous scene, finds it offensive that Romeo a Montague has come to a Capulet’s part. I feel he is also passionate as he is willing to kill in the name of his family, furthermore this quote also implies that Tybalt is vengeful, as he wants to kill Romeo as revenge.

Finally Tybalt’s respectfulness is soon forgotten as he articulates his next line ‘Tis he, that villain Romeo’. In Elizabethan times the word: villain was extremely offensive. Tybalt’s loathing for the Montague’s is now further emphasized to the audience, as he also portrayed his hatred in Act 1 Scene 1 ‘ I hate hell, all Montague’s and thee’ This quote portrays the true hatred for Romeo. I feel Tybalt affronts people in such a way, as he wants to provoke his opponent to fight him, as he knows he will never lose a fight.

Concluding Act 1 Scene 5, we now know that Tybalt’s mix of emotions and moods are both unexpected and unnecessary. However Tybalt also brings a sense of suspense and tension to the play ‘But this intrusion shall now seeming sweet, turn to bitterest gall’ this now engages the audience as to what is coming next in the play, Shakespeare has done this as it was very important to do so, as we have discussed the consequences of this not happening earlier in the essay. This quote also shows Tybalt was one of the main sources of entertainment in the play. This quote also shows Tybalt’s vengefulness as he also brings conflict to the play as he does in Act 1 Scene 1.

Act 2 Scene 4 mainly demonstrates Tybalt’s excellence at his fighting proficiency. It is the morning after the party and Benvolio and Mercutio are discussing Tybalt’s pledge to kill Romeo, they then go on to talk about Tybalt himself. ‘More than a Prince of Cats’ this complimentary remark indicates Tybalt’s agile yet barbaric fighting style as he is being compared to a cat. This could also mean he fights similarly to cats. Tybalt is categorized as a ‘Prince’ possibly implying Tybalt is an unrivalled fighter. Furthermore the word cat could also imply Tybalt being a lion, so could this quote be stating that Tybalt is fearless; hunting for his opponent, searching for a fight? I feel this may be true as lions are in control and so is Tybalt.

Despite Tybalt’s hunter like fighting style, it may come to surprise that he is also a perfectionist, ‘very butcher of a silk button’ this proves that Tybalt is a quick fighter who shows accuracy and precision. In my opinion I feel the quote ‘butcher’ means fighting with pride and strength. I also think Tybalt is compared a butcher as he doesn’t think much before he fights and treats it as it is his job as he frequently it. The language in this quote is metaphorical and gives the audience more emphasise on the quality of Tybalt’s fighting. Overall the ideas Shakespeare explains to us about Tybalt are abundantly clear as we get a clear picture of just how great a fighter Tybalt was.

Finally overlooking all the mishaps of Tybalt’s arrogance and insults, funnily enough some may say he can be remarkably gentlemanlike ‘gentleman of the very first house’ Mercutio announces that Tybalt is a gentleman, and of the very first house which more or less means: best of the best. This may also illustrate that Tybalt is a fair fighter who plays by the rules. This gentleman like attitude also reflects earlier on in the play to Act 1 Scene 1 where Tybalt has also shown a similar attitude ‘Have at thee coward’ this is exact proof of what Mercutio is articulating as Tybalt is giving Benvolio a fair warning before he strikes and giving a chance for Benvolio to retaliate.

Over all we have understood plenty from Mercutio’s viewpoint on Tybalt as Mercutio is a Montague and from what I know, for a Montague to compliment a Capulet may not be the simplest of things. To conclude I feel Tybalt must be a extremely distinguished fighter for people to admire him however conceited and patronizing he may be.

Act 3 Scene 1 is where the play goes horribly wrong, with twists and turns leading the audience in all directions you wont know what to believe , however at the end of the scene the audience are unnerved, finally leaving then in an awe-striking silence. Firstly we will view Tybalt’s attitude before Romeo arrives ‘Gentlemen, good den, a word with one of you’, this demonstrates Mercutio’s compliments to Tybalt in Act 3 Scene 4 as Tybalt is living up to Mercutio’s good words. This also shows that Tybalt is polite; this links back to Act 1 Scene 5 as well as Tybalt is respectful to others ‘I will withdraw’ this attitude also surprises the audience as Tybalt does not usually behave in such a humble manner, especially to two Montague’s.

Tybalt’s gentlemanlike behaviour seems to change as he lays eyes on his true opponent Romeo ‘Well, peace be with you sir, here comes my man’ as he declares line, it makes you aware again that Mercutio’s words were indeed correct and also implying that all Tybalt was concerned about what fighting Romeo. Also, however much hatred he is feeling towards Romeo, Tybalt is continuing to be polite to Mercutio, which shows he can control even the strongest emotions at times. Nevertheless, in this quote Tybalt suggests that peace be with Mercutio, however hadn’t Tybalt spoken in Act 1 Scene 1 that he hates peace? ‘Peace? I hate the word as I hate hell’ here Tybalt is sending a entirely diverse message to Mercutio and is in fact being discourteous to him. However this goes much unnoticed, as to the great ordeal which takes place next.

Finally, after all Mercutio thought Tybalt to be, his words are soon proven wrong as the audience witnesses a truly ironic death. Tybalt is determined to fight Romeo, but he doesn’t fight, Mercutio then defends his fellow Montague and fights Tybalt however Romeo tries to stop the fight when an unexpected death strikes…Mercutio is murdered. Tybalt kills Mercutio slyly a very un-gentlemanlike thrust under the arm of Romeo sends Mercutio to his death. This death also shows Tybalt can be distracted easily ‘I am for you’ Tybalt had spoken these words to Mercutio and says he that he himself is his to fight, this shows Tybalt can get sidetracked easily as he at this point in the play has forgotten about his main aspiration which is to kill Romeo and is now focused of killing Mercutio. This also shows that Tybalt’s love for fighting has got the best of him. However Tybalt’s lack of focus then leads to an undeserved death as Mercutio is the one to fall to his death and Romeo to walk away unscathed.

However later on in the play, Tybalt does return to the scene of his crime to accomplish his goal and kill Romeo. This also leads to the next point that Tybalt is in fact remorseless as he returns to Romeo and Benvolio ‘Thou wretched boy, that didst consort him here shall with him hence’ this shows Tybalt is remorseless as he is insulting Romeo even after he has just lost a best friend, this also illustrates that Tybalt has no shame as he is blaming Romeo for the death of his best friend as well, even though he himself single-handedly committed a foul and sneaky murder. I feel Tybalt also says this to provoke Romeo to fight him, which again shows as in Act 1 Scene 1, that Tybalt looks for a fight.

Furthermore as Tybalt murdered Mercutio in such a ghastly manner, it then shatters Tybalt’s reputation that he so proudly lived up to, this murder also contradicts entirely to what Mercutio said in Act 2 Scene 4 where Mercutio was actually saying how fair a fighter Tybalt was. Mercutio’s death also illustrates that Tybalt will go to any lengths to defend his family; this form of loyalty also links to Act 1 Scene 5 where Tybalt refrains from fighting Romeo as his uncle tells him not to.

There was also irony in Mercutio’s death; it was highly ironic that after Mercutio praised Tybalt in Act 2 Scene 4, he is killed by the same person.

Finally at the end of the scene Tybalt and Romeo duel, and to add to the irony Tybalt falls by the hands of the man he was so sure he would kill: Romeo.

To conclude this scene I feel it was most certainly the turning point in the play where the most unexpected ordeals confound the audience.

In conclusion to my essay Tybalt was proven to be an extremely abstruse character to understand and analyse as he had many conflicting emotion and outlooks towards people. Despite this I have managed to create a clear understanding of what Tybalt brought to the play in only 3 acts and if it was a good or bad idea to remove such an important character after all.

Firstly Tybalt brought many emotions to the play, however most importantly he kept his audience engaged, in this sense he was an essential character, Tybalt drew his audience into the play with the suspense he created, and his fiery outbursts entertained. However, as we all know, in accordance to the play itself Tybalt did not bring an equal amount of enjoyment at all.

Moving on to Tybalt’s thought to be, much deserved death, we are now all asking the same question ‘should Tybalt have been killed or not?’, there are many reasons why Shakespeare did this, as I will now prove:

There are many disadvantages burdening Tybalt’s death, which have made removing Tybalt from the play a controversial issue. Some say Tybalt was too important of a character to be lost only half way through the play, as he brought excitement to the audience and impelled them to the edge of their seats. Many may have thought that now that Tybalt had died, all entertainment had been lost and it would have more or less been uneventful without him.

On the other hand there were also some advantages to Tybalt’s death, during the majority of the play Tybalt was the focus, however after his death the focus then turned on to Romeo and Juliet the main characters of the play, his unexpected death also brought and sense of sadness, which reminded the audience that the play was actually a tragedy. It would also be repetitive if Tybalt was not killed as then the play would continue with the same storyline, that is why Shakespeare decided to remove Tybalt, as the play needed a new focus.

In addition, as Tybalt killed Mercutio by cheating, the audience are then pleased with his death, which causes a sense a of satisfaction to the audience and therefore, will contently watch the rest of the play, as if they were not pleased with his death, they would then express themselves completely, in a very rude manner!

However as some have to understand, even though Tybalt was killed, his death carried a story, which then lead the play from then on…

To conclude, I feel killing Tybalt was the right thing to as it gave Romeo and Juliet’s story space to develop, I also feel it was the right decision as if Tybalt was still alive he would carry on troubling others and causing conflict. Moreover, Shakespeare decided to remove Tybalt from the play as the play is a tragedy and this tragic death reminds the audience of just that.

By Farhin Bhatti