ROMEO AND JULIET Act 3 Scene 1

1
ROMEO AND JULIETAct 3 Scene 1

• Hints and Ideas
• Important? Exciting? Interesting?
• Textual evidence?

2
The law of the streets

• Here in these streets, it is the law of the sword
  that prevails

3
Its a mans world

• Romeo and Juliets love takes place in a highly
  masculine world

4
A delicate flower

• Shakespeare uses this scene to emphasize how
  fragile the lovers romance is, and how outside
  forces will act to destroy it

5
Romeos cry

• The fight scenes are chaotic and it is clear that
  passion outweighs reason, and the deaths are
  needless. Romeos cry is in desperation and
  frustration due to his misfortune in having to
  kill his wifes cousin and getting himself
  banished. Romeo blames fate for his misfortune
  whereas Mercutio in his dying speech curses the
  two families rather than a larger force. His
  curse will soon come to fruition on both houses.

6
Manliness

• Shakespeare enforces a belief of the times that
  too much love makes a man lose his manliness,
  this being echoed by Romeo at the death of
  Mercutio

7
Duelling

• Despite all the laws against it, everyone was
  intimately familiar with the rules of duelling.
  To decline a challenge is to declare ones loss
  of manhood and nobility. To call someone a
  villain was a very strong form of challenge.
  Romeo here is making a tremendous sacrifice for
  his love, but it looks to the bystanders like
  cowardice.

8
Mercutios death

• Why would this be a stronger scene if we were to
  witness Mercutios death?

9
Romeo as lover

• Romeos desire for revenge triumphs over his love
  for Juliet. Can you make out an argument that
  this does not necessarily make him an unworthy
  lover?

10
Fatal speed

• How is the theme of fatal speed illustrated by
  this scene?

11
Contrast

• The hopeful tone of Act 2 changes dramatically at
  the beginning of Act 3 as Romeo becomes embroiled
  in the brutal conflict between the families. The
  searing heat, flaring tempers and sudden violence
  of this scene contrast sharply with the romantic,
  peaceful previous night. The play reaches a
  dramatic crescendo as Romeo and Juliets private
  world clashes with the public feud with tragic
  consequences. Mercutios death is the catalyst
  for the tragic turn the play takes from this
  point onwards.

12
Insults

• Tybalt at first ignores Mercutios insults
  because, ironically again, hes saving his blade
  for Romeo. Would an audience recognise this? What
  effect would it have?

13
Irony

• Romeo, by contrast, is as passionate about love
  as Tybalt and Mercutio are about hostility. Romeo
  appears, cheerful and contented with having wed
  Juliet only hours before, and unaware that hes
  even been challenged to a duel. Until Mercutio
  dies, Romeo remains emotionally distinct from the
  other characters in the scene. Romeo walks atop
  his euphoric cloud buoyed by blissful thoughts of
  marriage to Juliet, peace, unity and harmony. In
  response to Tybalts attempts to initiate a
  fight, Romeo tells Tybalt that he loves thee
  better than thou canst devise. Ironically,
  Romeos refusal to duel with Tybalt brings about
  the very acceleration of violence he sought to
  prevent.

14
Extraordinary love

• Romeo and Juliets love embraces a transcendent,
  intensely unified concept of love. Their
  extraordinary love removes them from the
  animosity that drives the feud however, that
  love is also flawed by Romeo acting out of anger
  rather than out of his love for Juliet. What if
  he hadnt reacted?

15
Ensnared

• In a moment of profound irony, Romeos attempt to
  stand between two combatants his act of
  benevolent intervention facilitates Tybalts
  fatal thrust that kills Mercutio. Thus, Romeos
  gesture of peace results in Mercutios death and
  Romeos becoming ensnared in the family conflict
  after all.

16
Guilt

• Romeo thus attacks Tybalt to assuage his guilt.
  However, by doing so, he disregards any effect
  that his choice may have on Juliet. His action is
  impulsive and reckless. Romeos rage overpowers
  his sensibility, and his fortunes are sealed. By
  attacking Tybalt in a blind fury, he has become
  one with fiery Tybalt, one with quick-tempered
  Mercutio and one with the embittered patriarchs
  who originated the feud.

17
Fate and destiny

• Tybalts death brings a moment of clarity as he
  realises that he is the helpless victim of fate
  O, I am fortunes fool he cries, struck deeply
  by a sense of anger, injustice and futility. The
  speed at which Mercutio and Tybalts deaths
  occur, together with Romeos marriage and
  subsequent banishment, all contribute to a sense
  of inevitability that a chain of events has
  been set in motion over which the protagonists
  have no control. Mercutios dying curse upon the
  houses resonates as the voice of fate itself.

18
Love vs Hate

• The general contrast of love and hate in the play
  is very explicit in this scene

19
Our own lives

• Another theme of the play that is strong in this
  scene is that we are not in control of our lives

20
The feud

• Yet another theme that appears is that of the
  feud and how innocent lives are harmed by it

21
Puns

• This scene (like this whole play) has lots of
  patterns and wordplay. Much of it is from
  Mercutio. See for example his claim that Benvolio
  (a very peaceful person) would quarrel with a man
  for cracking nuts as he (Benvolio) has hazel
  eyes.

22
Jokes

• A more developed series of jokes is in his
  response to Tybalts claim that he consortest
  with Romeo. This is the cue for a series of puns
  about music (minstrels and dance leading to
  fiddlestick).