Presenting Act 3 Scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet for a 21st Century Audience

Presenting Act 3 Scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet for a 21st Century Audience

I chose this scene because of its mixture of violence and at the same

time love, which is typical throughout the whole play. It is an

interesting scene because violence is started out of love and almost

stopped out of love.

In this scene Romeo is confronted by Tybalt who outs him under

pressure to fight him. Out of his love for Juliet, Romeo refuses to

fight and tries to keep everyone else from fighting. Ironically a

fight is then started out of Mercutio's love for Romeo. Then Romeo,

because he loves both Juliet and Mercutio, tries to stop the fight

with the help of Benvolio. But as each of them try to hold Tybalt and

Mercutio back, Tybalt stabs Mercutio from under Romeos arm and runs

off. At this point Romeos love for Mercutio causes him to fight Tybalt

and kill him, resulting in Romeo getting banished from Verona.

The main Character in this scene (and the whole play in general) is

Romeo. When Romeo tries to stop the fight it shows that his love for

Juliet is too strong to allow this rivalry to continue. When Mercutio

is killed under Romeos arm, his attitude changes. He realises that

Mercutio could still be alive if he hadn't interfered. Romeo fights

Tybalt and wins causing him to get banished. This makes Romeo very

upset because he won't be able to see Juliet again and because he

loves Verona.

Mercutio plays a vital role in this scene. He takes Romeos place in a

fight with Tybalt and dies doing so. Mercutio is always joking. Even

as he dies he says "Look for me tomorrow and you will find me a grave

man." This is a pun. It means that tomorrow when they see him he will

be both a grave i.e. serious man and that he will be in a grave.

Mercutio is from neither family and has no reason to feud with the

Capulets other than he loves Romeo.

Benvolio plays an important role in this scene towards the end when he