Statement of Intent: The purpose of writing this piece is to unravel the mysterious character of Tybalt and elucidate his under-recognized impact on the play. Many argue the cause of the demise of the lovers, some blame the friar and some blame the nurse, but this piece proves the true culprit to be held accountable for the lover’s death. The piece analyses the use of numerous techniques used by Shakespeare to glorify the role of Tybalt, despite his minimal dialogue contribution.
In the play Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare touches upon several themes and their implications which display the impact of foil characters on the outcome of the play. The character of Tybalt is one such foil character which reveals the themes of death and kismet. Through the effective implementation of diction and dramatic irony, Shakespeare depicts the impetuous Tybalt’s fiery persona, which foreshadows the inevitable fate of the lovers.
Shakespeare illustrates the unique foil character Tybalt whose vengeful and fractious personality leads to his own demise. This character is a contrast to Romeo, who attempts to keep peace and promote love, however Tybalt is the quintessence of an antithesis to these traits. Tybalt is termed “King of Cats” by Mercutio and “fiery” by Benvolio, which shows the other characters were aware of his cantankerous nature. It is clear that Tybalt is impulsive and wouldn’t think twice about the repercussions of his actions, as he affirms “To strike him dead, I hold it not a sin”. His aggressive and irascible attitude leads to never-ending brawls in Verona, as suggested by his statement “What, drawn, and talk of peace? I hate the word, As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee”. Shakespeare’s writing style differs when describing Tybalt, especially the pace and diction. The pace is far faster and many critical events in the take place quickly. As soon as the play starts, without any reason, Tybalt quickly initiates a fight with Benvolio. Further, at the Capulet ball, Tybalt is swift to catch Romeo and issue death threats. Lastly, most importantly, Tybalt hastily murders Mercutio in broad daylight before anyone can comprehend the severity of the situation. Shakespeare has intentionally given shorter lines to Tybalt, which bring out his impulsive nature and create a larger impact with fewer words. Even in the few words Tybalt utters, there is very specific use of diction. Tybalt shows a demeaning and disrespectful attitude with word choice, such as “heartless hinds”, “slaves”, “villain” and “wretched” to describe the Montagues. Due to his bloodlust, Tybalt does not hesitate to initiate a fatal duel, which would evidently not benefit either. Tybalt’s ornery personality built up by Shakespeare determines a brawl with Romeo, which conclusively lead to his own demise, and has a grave impact on the characters of Verona even after his death.
The death of Tybalt is the transition between the themes of love and death, which consequently has a huge impact on all the characters. The nurse is traumatized by the news of Tybalt’s death, and instantly shares it with Juliet as she claims in distress, “he’s gone, he’s killed, he’s dead”. The confusion caused by the event leads Juliet to believe that Romeo has died and she falls into a paroxysm of weeping. Her father misunderstands her emotions and decides it is best to marry Juliet off immediately. This encourages Juliet to immediately devise a plan to reunite with her lover. The death of the lovers and the duel which lead to it is continuously foreshadowed, as in the prologue, “civil blood makes civil hands unclean”. The civil blood is symbolic for the death of Tybalt, and leads to Romeo’s hands becoming “unclean”, which is a metaphorical comparison to his banishment. The foreshadowing is persistent throughout the acts, starting from the first scene where Tybalt reassures his desires to “look upon thy death” of the Montagues. It is ironic how Tybalt, who was considered the most powerful and dangerous character, is simply murdered by Romeo. It is also ironic how both the duelists knew the consequences for the winner and loser yet chose to indulge in a fight. This gives the reader the impression that the world revolves around Romeo and Juliet. In the prologue, Romeo and Juliet’s love is referred to as “star-cross’d”. The phrase literally means “against the stars”, and the stars were considered to hold one’s fate. This suggests that everything that could possibly go wrong, went wrong and destiny did not consent to their relationship. The aforementioned stylistic devices and themes are used via the character of Tybalt to alter the attitude of the characters, which lead to graver consequences.
The confusion created by the trauma of Tybalt’s death consequently results in a larger, deeper, unforgettable tragedy for the people of Verona. Although Romeo emerges victorious from his duel, the victory was short-lived. Even though Tybalt had been eliminated, his character’s death’s impact would not be disregarded. Recalling the death sentence for anyone who breaks the peace of Verona, declared by the prince in Act 1 Scene 1, Romeo was forced to flee in banishment to avoid the death penalty. This caused a separation of the lovers, which neither of them could live with. For this reason, Juliet devised a plan with the help of the friar in which she would fake her own death in order to escape. During this process, a misunderstanding occurred, Romeo believed Juliet was dead as he notices her lying lifeless. Without a second thought Romeo took his life beside his lover. When Juliet woke up, she realizes what Romeo had done and decides to take her life too. In conclusion, both the “star cross’d” lovers of Verona lay dead, as a result of Tybalt’s actions.
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet plays seamlessly like a song, where Shakespeare is the guitarist, and the course of the play is the melody of the song. However, when the irascible string of Tybalt is struck too hard, he snaps and breaks, rendering the entire instrument useless and putting a tragic end to the song. In conclusion, Shakespeare has efficiently extolled the role of Tybalt, despite his lack of dialogues, carefully used numerous techniques such as dramatic irony, metaphors and structure to highlight that Romeo and Juliet’s cause of death was not suicide, but rather Tybalt’s murder.
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