Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

How Does Shakespeare Present the Characters of Tybalt and Benvolio

Good Essays
1020 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Does Shakespeare Present the Characters of Tybalt and Benvolio
Tybalt
The character of Tybalt is that he doesn't like peace, the way he talks makes it seem as though he always wants to have trouble or fight. Mercutio, who hates Tybalt, gives him the "catty" nickname the "Prince of Cats" , but when his uncle Capulet prevents him from beating up Romeo for crashing the Capulet's masked ball, he's not too pleased, and really just wants payback which is that he just wants a fight. Tybalt's aggressive behavior seems possible that he's eager to fight because he wants to defend his reputation as the toughest of the Capulet's, A Capulet, Juliet's cousin. useless , fashionable, supremely aware of politeness and the lack of it, he becomes aggressive, violent, and quick to draw his sword when he feels his pride has been injured. Once drawn, his sword is something to be feared. He hates the Montague's
Tybalt is the nephew of Lady Capulet. As a young man, he seems to represent what Capulet must have been in his young days; but he has none of the redeeming features of his uncle and is more like his aunt. With his quarrelsome nature, Tybalt is like a fireball, ready to explode at any moment. When he hears Romeo’s voice at the party, he calls for his sword and is ready to kill his enemy on the spot, completely unmindful of place and time. He persistently rejects his uncle’s remonstrance to stay calm at the dance. He discourteously leaves only when he is threatened with disinheritance, and even as he does so, he vows vengeance on Romeo in the future.
He later sends a letter to Romeo challenging him to fight, merely because he has dared to enter the dance hall. He walks about the street seeking his enemy. When he finally meets Romeo, he insults him by calling him a villain. Romeo, because of his new found love, refuses to fight with him. When Mercutio interferes, Tybalt fights with Mercutio and kills him. He flees for the moment, but after some time returns to face Romeo again. Romeo fights and slays him. The death of Tybalt snowballs the crisis for Romeo and Juliet. quotes on Tybalt
Benvolio asks Tybalt to help him keep the peace, but Tybalt answers, "What, drawn, and talk of peace! I hate the word, / As I hate hell, all Montague's, and thee: / Have at thee, coward!" (1.1.70-72)
In the streets of Verona, looking to fight Romeo, Tybalt approaches Mercutio and Benvolio, saying "Gentlemen, good den: a word with one of you" (3.1.38), but Mercutio immediately insults and challenges him. Before Tybalt can respond, Romeo appears, and Tybalt tries to provoke him to a fight. Romeo declines, but Mercutio picks a fight with Tybalt. Romeo tries to stop the fight, but Tybalt gives Mercutio a deadly wound as Romeo is trying to restrain Mercutio. Tybalt then runs away, only to return moments later, fight Romeo, and die.

Benvolio Montague’s nephew, Romeo’s cousin and thoughtful friend, he makes a genuine effort to calm violent scenes in public places, though Mercutio accuses him of having a nasty temper in private. He spends most of the play trying to help Romeo get his mind off Rosaline, even after Romeo has fallen in love with Juliet.
Benvolio is Romeo’s cousin and close friend and Lord Montague`s nephew. His name, Benvolio, means well wishing, which is reflective of his character throughout the play. In the very first scene, Benvolio establishes himself as a peacemaker as he tries to stop the fight between Abraham and Samson. He also means well by Romeo and tries to prod him out of his romantic dreams about Rosaline through gentle reproof. He encourages Romeo to go to the Capulet party, for it will be an opportunity for him to see Verona beauties other than Rosaline. At the party, Romeo does spy another beauty that makes him forget Rosaline, just as Benvolio had hoped.

Benvolio is again pictured as the peacemaker after the Capulet party. Before Romeo joins them, he urges Mercutio to withdraw from the street before the Capulet's find them. When Tybalt arrives and draws his sword to fight Romeo, he begs them to settle the quarrel with a quiet talk. He stands helpless when Tybalt kills Mercutio and Romeo kills Tybalt. At that moment, he advises Romeo to seek safety in hiding. When the Prince asks for an explanation of the fighting, Benvolio tells him how Romeo had done his utmost to prevent the fight between Tybalt and Mercutio and how he himself had tried to stop Romeo and Tybalt from fighting. He disappears from the play after these failures, for fate has now taken over and he can serve no purpose against it. quotes on Benvolio
When Benvolio sees Sampson and Gregory fighting with Abraham and Balthazar, he immediately tries to stop the fight, saying, "Part, fools! / Put up your swords; you know not what you do" (1.1.64-65). However, Tybalt enters, calls him a coward, and attacks him, so Benvolio is quickly a part of the fight that he tried to stop.
The afternoon of the day after Capulet's feast Benvolio is hanging out on the streets of Verona with Mercutio, to whom he says, "I pray thee, good Mercutio, let's retire: / The day is hot, the Capulet's abroad" (3.1.2).
Mercutio jokingly claims that what Benvolio really wants is a good excuse for a fight, because Benvolio is the most quarrelsome fellow in Italy. Then Tybalt shows up, looking for Romeo. Mercutio challenges him and Benvolio tries to get them to calm down or at least take the fight off the street, out of the public eye, but he's not successful. Romeo appears, Tybalt challenges him, Romeo refuses to fight, Mercutio fights Tybalt, Romeo tries to stop the fight, Tybalt fatally wounds Mercutio, Tybalt runs away, Mercutio dies, Tybalt comes back, Romeo kills Tybalt. All of this happens so quickly that Benvolio is little more than a bystander. After Tybalt is dead Benvolio gets Romeo to leave the scene and stays behind to explain everything to Prince Escalus

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Tybalt wanted to fight Romeo and started calling him a villain and other things like that. When he was calling him that Romeo didn’t lose his cool or anything, he just stays calm and tells Tybalt he doesn’t want to fight. Tybalt says “No better term than this: thou art a villain.”(3.1.57-63) That is when Tybalt gives his reason he wants to fight Romeo. When Tybalt kills Mercutio that’s when Romeo loses it and that is the reason Juliet faked her death. And after Romeo finds out that’s when he wants to kill himself also. Tybalt had a very big impact on the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.…

    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Tybalt-Romeo Feud

    • 118 Words
    • 1 Page

    The Tybalt-Romeo feud continues in Act 3 Scene 1 during a public brawl. Where Tybalt is still mad at Romeo from his intrusion at the Capulet party. Romeo tells Tybalt that he loves him. Mercutio, appalled by Romeo's resistance to fight, he contests on his behalf, which leads to his decease. “Alive in triumph—and Mercutio slain! /Away to heaven, respective lenity, /And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now. /Now, Tybalt, take the “villain” back again” This quote conveys Romeo’s anger through imagery as the words “fire-eyed fury” picture Tybalt of being devil-like. The death of Mercutio leads to an impulsive decision by Romeo to kill Tybalt without thinking about the consequences it would have on his new marriage.…

    • 118 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Another way Tybalt is presented as mentally perplexed is that he is irrationally aggressive. For example Tybalt says: “What, drawn, and talk of peace! I hate the word, as I hate hell, all Montagues and thee!” This means that he strongly dislikes peace, and that he encourages violence. This means he is disturbed because he has no valid reason to be aggressive. Shakespeare uses the tripartite sequence “hate hell, all Montagues and thee!” to convey how angry Tybalt is and how desperate his hatred of the Montagues is. It also conveys how much he wants to fight, which again, shows how disturbed he is. However, one could also argue that Tybalt has a good reason to outright hate the Montagues. Maybe he has been so deeply affected by the two families’ feud that he has an undying need for Montague blood.…

    • 524 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    According to an interview I had with Benvolio Montague, an eyewitness of the tragic passage, Tybalt was the one who started the fight. Apparently, Tybalt has always had a strong desire to fight Romeo and demanded to duel with the young male. But Romeo being the ____ man he is refused to duel with Tybalt which made Mercutio feel morally obliged to take Romeo’s position and fight Tybalt. This quarrel ends In Mercutio…

    • 233 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, was the living embodiment of the feud between the Capulet and Montague families. He represents the hatred the families share towards each other, showing how he has learnt from birth to hate the Montague family. He is seen as the instigator of countless events with Romeo and his friends, even killing Romeo’s best friend, Mercutio. After killing Mercutio, in an act of revenge Romeo kills Tybalt. Juliet, regardless of being related to Tybalt, even knows that Romeo “lives, that Tybalt would have slain, And Tybalt’s dead, that would have slain [her] husband” (Shakespeare 3.2.115-118).…

    • 288 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the first quatrain Tybalt expresses his hatred for Romeo and everything about him by saying “thou art a villain” (3.1.58), which is considered a serious insult meaning that Romeo is a pleasantly scoundrel. Tybalt also expresses his power and authority as well as his love for violence when he compares himself to the mighty hero Hercules who overpowered and killed the villainous Giant Antaeus, in this case Romeo. Tybalt also mocks Romeo for loving love more than love should be loved, as Romeo can only be satisfied with love and his love is ever changing. In the second quatrain Tybalt displays how lowly he thinks of Romeo who has seemingly fled from his challenge. Tybalt also expresses how ridiculous he thinks his uncle (referred to as coz), who thought that Romeo was a “portly gentleman” (1.5.65) and therefore stopped him from confronting Romeo at the party. In the third quatrain Tybalt demonstrates how much he loves conflict and fighting and “[hates] the word [peace]”…

    • 448 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In an interview with Benvolio Montague, an eyewitness at the scene says; “ Tybalt wanted to fight so he taunted Romeo to do so. Romeo refused to fight. I am unsure why Romeo didn’t fight with Tybalt, he was instead trying to be at peace with him. But Mercutio felt honour-bound to stand up for Romeo and fight. Romeo tried to stop the fight but failed, Tybalt stabbed Mercutio under Romeo’s arm and ran away from the scene."…

    • 464 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Romeo And Tybalt's Death

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages

    (act 3),(scene 1) Romeo is mad at tybalt because tybalt killed mercutio and romeo felt like he needed to do something. Tybalt becomes even angrier; he does not know Romeo cannot fight him because they are now relatives. ... Romeo tries to stop the combat by rushing between them, and Tybalt then stabs Mercutio under Romeo's arm. Mercutio dies. Enraged, Romeo duels and kills tybalt in return, leading to his own exile by the prince.…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He is the Capulet that always angry and like to make trouble. His temper make him just think about get revenge on Romeo and make the bloody fight happens. He make the two families feud become more harsh and harsh that it feel like never end.“ What drown and talk of peace. I hate the word as I hate hell, all Montagues and thee.” ( Act 1, scene 1, pg 8). He never listen to everyone like in the story that the Friar had say mad men don’t listen to advice. He breaks Romeo and Juliet apart after that bloody fight. Romeo have to live in Mantua and that fact leads to the letter doesn’t arrive to Romeo. The fact that Tybalt can’t control his temper and leads to the death of Romeo and Juliet we can’t not leave…

    • 716 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    However, Lord Capulet says that there is no need for a quarrel. This leads to Tybalt being extremely angry, knowing that he is a violent character this is foreboding of the fact that this will torment Tybalt, eat him up in a way &he will want to do something to Romeo to give him pain. The quote, ‘I will withdraw’ foreshadows that a fight will break between Romeo &Tybalt later in the play. However, Shakespeare makes the audience think that Tybalt is going to kill Romeo but in fact later on in the play Romeo kills Tybalt. Romeo shows lack of conflict, even when he discovers that Juliet is a Capulet, it only takes him a few moments to get it in his head then he realises that it is not an issue to him. However, Juliet sees this as the main problem &it takes her longer to realise that it is not an issue. The main conflict in this scene is that both of the lover’s families hate each other and this is the beginning of the ‘Star-crossed’ love that is mentioned in the…

    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tybalt is a man whose anger dominates his behavior. He would much rather fight than work problems with others out. He actually says he hates peace to Benvolio during the beginning of the play when Benvolio was trying to make peace between Montague and Capulet attendants; Tybalt exclaims,” What, drawn, and talk of peace! I hate the word, as I hate hell, all Montagues, and…

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    These deaths that occur appear in, and greatly impact, both the Montague and Capulet families. When Romeo first appears at the Capulet party, Tybalt instantaneously notices him, and becomes quite angry. Tybalt runs to Lord Capulet, to see he can be granted to permission to remove of Romeo. Lord Capulet responds surprisingly well to the news of Romeo arriving at the party. “Content thee gentle coz. Let him alone.” States Capulet in act 1 scene 5. However, Tybalt has a different opinion on what should happen to Romeo. Because of Tybalt’s differing opinion, he later, in act 3 scene 1, finds Romeo and proceeds to throw insults around. Mercutio, Romeo’s best friend, becomes angry at Tybalt for insulting his best friend, and decides to fight with Tybalt. Romeo disagrees with this decision and tries to break up the fight. Mercutio ends up being stabbed by Tybalt, and then out of anger Romeo kills Tybalt. Because all of these characters had differing opinions, lives were lost, leaving long lasting effects on both…

    • 581 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Romeo And Juliet Blame

    • 1057 Words
    • 5 Pages

    People may think that Tybalt is to blame because he got into a fight with Romeo ultimately causing Romeo to be banished. Tybalt did actively and willingly go to battle with Romeo in the streets. He also did kill Mercutio and caused Romeo to seek revenge for his friend. However, Tybalt attacked Romeo because he was raised to hate the Montagues. All that Tybalt knew was his family's hatred for the Montagues. Due to this, Tybalt got into a fight with Romeo, causing Romeo to get banished, and ultimately causing Romeo and Juliet to kill themselves in the end. In the play when Romeo comes to the Capulets's party, Tybalt says, "This, by his voice, should be a Montague." Quoted from pg. 1014. Tybalt said this because he gets angered that Romeo has snuck into the party unannounced. This causes Tybalt to grow even more of a hatred to Romeo specifically. Due to Romeo coming to the party without being invited and just for being a Montague, Tybalt's instincts tell him to fight Romeo. Were it not for the family feud, Tybalt would have little to no reason to hate Romeo, causing him to do battle with Romeo, ultimately causing Romeo and Juliet's deaths. Tybalt is not a major factor into the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. His hatred for Romeo and the Montagues was taught and grown into him, and due to the secrecy of Romeo, he felt offended by the uninvited Romeo to the Capulet…

    • 1057 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    You could tell that Romeo was furious that one of his best friends had died because of Tybalt. They both started to fight one another, but after a few minutes Tybalt finally fell to his death.”…

    • 253 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    When a grudge has been held on for so long, a hatred will form. Tybalt starts his grudge by saying, “Patience perforce with willful choler meeting Makes my flesh tremble in their different greeting. I will withdraw, but this intrusion shall Now seeming sweet, convert to bitterest gall” (1.5.88-91). In this quote, Tybalt is talking to himself saying that he will never forget when Romeo barged into a Capulet party. Romeo is a Montague, the rival family to the Capulets. The hatred that would lead to his own death started with this grudge. Romeo didn’t do anything to hurt the Capulets, but Tybalt didn’t like his presence. Tybalt got angry at a party over nothing. Tybalt sent a letter to Romeo’s home challenging him to quarrel. A fight that Tybalt would start and Romeo would finish. If Tybalt didn’t want to die, why would he send a message for a duel? A fight all started with a grudge that should never have happened. None of the other Capulets cared that Romeo was there, but Tybalt did. He wanted to fight, and Romeo didn’t. Tybalt pressed on with aggression, which would lead to his own death, with only himself to blame. Grudges don’t lead to anyone's well being, especially…

    • 703 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays