Romeo and Juliet is a play written by William Shakespeare, in the 16th century. The narrative of the play is about two star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, who fail to understand the consequences of hate between two families. Romeo and Juliet-who are great admirers of each other- are from two different families; The Capulets and The Montagues. These two clans have been violent rivals for years and are bitter enemies. In this day and age- when the play was set- honour and pride was given great importance; it was worth sacrificing a life to defend your dignity. The play has certain characters who are portrayed as impulsive, two of them include Tybalt and Romeo. Tybalt-Juliet’s cousin- is an aggressive, rude and arrogant individual of the Capulet …show more content…
This is shown in the first scene, when he throws these words at the Montagues, ‘’…Peace? I hate the word… all Montagues, at thee. Have at thee, coward’’. This quote shows Tybalt’s extreme animosity towards the Montagues. It also implies how belligerent Tybalt is by attacking the Montagues without trying to know what had happened previously in his absence. This is an example of dramatic irony, as we as readers are aware of the previous actions, but the character in the play is not. The quote, ‘Peace? I hate the word’ comes across as outrageous as peace is what the humanity is striving for, but Tybalt makes an unlikely statement to show how strongly he dislikes peace. This makes the readers get a negative and hateful impression of Tybalt. He calls his opponent ‘coward’, and at the time, it was a big insult to make such remarks about someone. His words were highly …show more content…
He recognises Romeo in the Capulets party and says, ‘’he by his voice should be a Montague, fetch me my rapier boy’’. His words suggest, that he is quick in identifying his opposition and will not stay back from acting against them. He makes abrupt decisions that could have disastrous end. Tybalt’s immediate response to Romeo’s presence in the party was to start a fight and that suggests that he is rushed without thinking of the outcome of his actions. Romeo’s existence is taken as an insult by Tybalt, and as usual he is driven into thinking that it’s his responsibility to defend his and the Capulet’s honour. His words ‘’fetch me my rapier boy’’ comes across as very violent, threatening and antipathetic. However this was understandable in the 16th century; as a young man he was passionate and finding an enemy on the Capulet’s property, him acting in such manor was acceptable. The audience would empathise with Tybalt as Romeo in first place should not have been