Benvolio a Montague, enters and draws his sword in an attempt to stop the confrontation “ Put up thy sword or manage it to part these men with me..”.
Tybalt makes his first appearance here and within a few lines of his insulting, provocative and aggressive language he starts a fight, an example of his words would be “as I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee. Have at thee coward...”
The consequences of the fight in the first scene was that the Prince uses his authority and says “If ever you disturb our streets again, Your lives shall pay the forfeit of peace.” This builds up the tension between the two families as the most powerful man in town has spoken against them.
Tybalt was built up to be a fearsome character in the film version by Baz Luhrmann with using certain camera shots like the ones of just his black boots and how I throws his cigar down and twists his foot down on top of it creates a sinister effect, also as he enters the pop/rock music stops and some old wild west type music came on.
The Lord Capulet demands one of his servants to deliver invitations from a list however the servant is illiterate and asks Romeo for help however as a dare from Mercutio, Romeo gatecrashes the party where he falls in love Juliet. As soon as Tybalt sees Romeo he says “this, by his voice, should be a Montague. Fetch me my rapier, boy. How dares the slave” which is immediately insulting and aggressive, Tybalt tells Lord Capulet of this but the Lord Capulet wants to keep the peace so he says “content thee, gentle coz, let him alone” but Tybalt is strong willed and stood up to his uncle replying “It fits villain when he is such a guest: I'll not endure him.” but Lord Capulet shows him who the master is by insulting him and Tybalt agrees to keep the peace.
Tybalt evidently felt embarrassed and angered after the party as Romeo had made a fool of him and as Tybalt likes to be known as very loyal to the Capulet family after being told not to attack the enemy of the family, he must have been ashamed of himself but still bewildered by anger directed at Romeo.
The morning after the party, the day is hot, Montagues are in a public place where Mercutio is convincing Benvolio that they need not retire even if the Capulets are out as Benvolio fears that by meeting the Capulets a fight would start “And if we meet we shall not scape a brawl” but when Mercutio finally convinces him otherwise, Tybalt enters with his two henchmen and asks for the whereabouts of Romeo,Mercutio replies “by my heel, I care not” Benvolio is alarmed, but Mercutio is tough; his "by my heel" implies that if it comes to a fight he's the one who's going to put his opponent under his heel. Tybalt is prepared for a brawl and will not be satisfied until he has had at least one fight, he was immediately confrontational towards Benvolio and Mercutio.
Given what we know of Tybalt, it seems a little odd that Mercutio isn't able to provoke him to a fight, but the reason becomes clear when Romeo shows up. Tybalt is totally focused on Romeo, as soon as he sees Romeo, Tybalt blows off Mercutio, saying, "Well, peace be with you, sir: here comes my man" Tybalt ignores Mercutio to confront Romeo with the ultimate in sarcastic disrespect: "Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford / No better term than this: thou art a villain". However, Romeo doesn't react at all as expected. He answers, "Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee / Doth much excuse the appertaining rage / To such a greeting" . "The appertaining rage" is the anger anyone would be expected to feel at being insulted. Romeo is saying that he has a reason to love Tybalt and therefore he's going to overlook the insult.
Despite Tybalt's efforts to provoke Romeo into a fight, Romeo refuses as he knows that his love, Juliet would not forgive him for fighting her cousin, this makes Tybalt think that Romeo is in fact being sarcastic with him.
Romeo adds that he loves the name "Capulet" as dearly as his own, and asks Tybalt to be satisfied with that, Which makes Mercutio feel as if Romeo is cowed from Tybalt's tough guy act, which makes Mercutio want to fight Tybalt even more so he tries harder to provoke Tybalt by calling him a “rat-catcher” referring to Tybalt's apparent nickname the king of cats. Tybalt asks what Mercutio would want from him and this just gives him another chance of an insult "Good King of Cats, nothing but one of your nine lives; that I mean to make bold withal, and as you shall use me hereafter, drybeat the rest of the eight" which roughly means "What I will have of you, Pussy, is one of your nine lives, and if taking that life away from you doesn't make you treat me right, then I'll just have to humiliate your other eight lives.”.
The fight between Mercutio and Tybalt is very one sided to begin with as Mercutio is a trained kinsmen until when he thinks Tybalt is down when he gets up and Romeo gets in the way which somehow results in Mercutio still getting stabbed in the gut.
Mercutio says “"I am hurt. / A plague o' both your houses! I am sped. / Is he gone, and hath nothing?” as he dies. This makes Romeo realise that his love for Juliet has blinded his conception of the matter at hand.
In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the supporting character Tybalt is essential to every aspect of the story. Through his challenge of Romeo, Tybalt increases the conflict and suspense in the plot and exemplifies the tensions between the Montagues and Capulets. His death reveals Romeo’s rash and caution less side as well as Juliet’s firm resolve to be true to her husband. His actions during the play support the theme of breaking tradition for loyalty and honour. Tybalt’s role in the play as the main antagonist of Romeo and as the closest cousin of Juliet causes him to be the main cause of the star-crossed lovers’ strife.
