All men in the world do not appreciate their masculinity to be challenged, which goes against their own code of honor. In the play The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Romeo, Tybalt and Mercutio disrupt each other’s codes of honor by their actions in Act III, scene i. These three men’s codes of honor contribute to the tragedy of the play because of their views on masculinity, such as when Tybalt kills Mercutio and when Romeo kills Tybalt.
Here, Tybalt mocks Romeo’s masculinity, leading Mercutio to duel him in order to honor Romeo. In doing this, Mercutio is killed by Tybalt all because Mercutio tried to honor Romeo. In this quote Tybalt shames Romeo for not accepting his challenge for a duel. “Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford No better term than this:
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When Romeo ends up killing Tybalt, not only is this a tragedy in itself, but it leads to other events that cause the overall tragedy of the play in which Romeo and Juliet kill themselves. In this quote Romeo reestablishes his masculinity once again by fighting Tybalt. He also honors Mercutio by avenging his death. “Alive in triumph, and Mercutio slain! Away to heaven respective lenity, And fire-ey’d fury be my conduct now!” (III,i). Although the death of Tybalt is tragic, the consequences Romeo faces for following his code of honor lead to the most tragic event of all. In this quote, the prince decides to exile Romeo for killing Tybalt. “And for that offence Immediately we do exile him hence” (III,i). Because Romeo just has to follow his code of honor and kill Tybalt, he is now in exile, making it hard for him to communicate with Juliet. When Juliet and Friar make a plan to fake Juliet’s death, Romeo does not receive the information, setting up a tragic disaster. Romeo then thinks she is truly dead and then soon the two end up dead from killing themselves over a