Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Act 3 Scene 1
Mercutio's Death
- This confrontation scene starts in a similar way to Act
1 Scene 1 with verbal sparring
- This perhaps lulls the audience into a false sense of security
as it makes the deaths even more unexpected. From this
point the tragedies in the play continue - and very quickly
- HONOUR
- VIOLENCE
- Benvolio says to Mercutio
"For now, these hot days, is the
mad blood stirring"
- Benvolio is Romeo's cousin and is
generally a peaceful person. He wants
to go home and avoid confrontation
- LOVE
- Mercutio is joking with with Benvolio by
describing him as someone who likes to argue-
when really he is describing himself
- FATE
- Romeo says "O, I am fortunes fool"
- FATE
- Mercutio is fatally wounded by Tybalt
- Tybalt is the aggressive cousin of Juliet
- Shakespeare has chosen to put
this scene directly after Romeo
and Juliet have just got married.
Why is this?
- Even when Mercutio dies the audience is still left
unsure about whether he is still joking
- He says "Ay, ay a scratch, a scratch, marry
tis enough. Where is my page? Go villain
fetch a surgeon"
- Romeo then kills Tybalt in retaliation
- He says to Tybalt just before "Either thou or
I, or both, must go with him" (meaning
Mercutio's soul)
- This shows they are now fighting to the death
certainly not just sparring with their words
- Before this he says "O sweet Juliet , Thy beauty hath made me effeminate"
- This means ...
- HONOUR
- Are Mercutio and Tybalt fighting to demonstrate their skills or fighting
to kill? Does Tybalt intend to kill Mercutio or is it an accident?
- Tybalt: Mercutio, thou consort'st with Romeo
Mercutio: Consort! what, dost thou make us minstrels?
- Consort has a double meaning here - a consort is someone you send in place of
yourself (this is insulting because Mercution has agreed to fight in Romeo's place
- It also means a travelling musician who is low class - which is also offensive!
- HONOUR
- Tybalt wants to fight with
Romeo as he is still angry
that he went to the
Capulet's party in disguise
- Tybalt insults
Romeo and tries to
provoke him into a
fight
- Romeo responds by saying "I do protest I never
injured thee, But love thee better than thou
casnt devise, Till thou shalt know the reason of
my love; And so good Capulet, which name I
tender As dearly as mine own, be satisfied!
- Dramatic Irony
- The audience knows what Romeo is eluding to here but
Tybalt is unaware that he is now effectively related to Romeo
- Contrasting theme of LOVE vs HATE
- Remember - earlier in the play the the
Prince had threatened death upon anyone
who distrurbs the peace again in Verona
- Because Tybalt had also committed a murder he
declares that Romeo is exiled from Verona
- HONOUR
- VIOLENCE
- Mercutio takes Tybalt up on his offer of a fight
- We already know from earlier in the
play that Mercutio doesn't like Tyblat
- VIOLENCE