Act 3, Scene 1 of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

732 Words2 Pages

Act 3, Scene 1 of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet The scene is ‘dramatic’ because it includes plenty of action, suspense, surprise, misunderstandings, changes of mood and changes of fortune. Lots of unexpected things happen in this scene. The scene starts off with friendly conflict, with Mercutio arguing with Benvolio. Benvolio tries to prevent a fight twice, but Mercutio takes no notice of him. He makes fun of him instead. This is not a surprise because it’s what he’s always done. He is just like a child and mucks around with everything. He takes everything as a joke and is preparing himself for a fight- perhaps because he believes he is indestructible? But also because he is jealous of Tybalt’s reputation. There is suspense in that Benvolio will be proved right. He warns that someone will die- he is right. We in the audience know that Tybalt will try to pick a fight with Romeo- we have known this from the banquet scene as the Capulets and Montagues hate each other. There is an on-going feud and honour is important to both families. But Romeo doesn’t know- he is too in love with Juliet to think of anything else and for the time being has forgotten all about the fighting families. There is a surprise entrance when Tybalt arrives- and a change of mood. Everyone knows when the Capulets and Montagues get together it means destruction. The effect that Mercutio has on Tybalt is that he says the kind of things that would start a fight. He provokes him. Romeo’s reply to Tybalt takes everybody by surprise. There are many reactions. He says he loves Tybalt, an answer which is likely to be misunderstood. It is dramatic irony. At this moment he is thinking about his recent marriage. He came to see his friends and tell them the news- he didn’t realise Tybalt was there, and he was the only one who didn’t realise Tybalt wanted to challenge him. Tybalt doesn’t take this for any sort of excuse- and draws his sword.

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