2.4.1

Scene 1

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Summary of Act 3, Scene 1

Here's a summary of what happens in Act 3, Scene 1:

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Fight brewing

  • In Scene 1, the weather is incredibly hot. This makes the characters feel very irritable and foreshadows (warns of) their anger and hot-headedness (bad tempers) later on in the scene.
  • Tybalt enters with a group of his friends and Capulet servants.
  • Tybalt approaches Benvolio and Mercutio and asks to speak to them.
  • Mercutio makes fun of Tybalt’s words and taunts (teases) him.
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Romeo's refusal to fight

  • Romeo enters and Tybalt turns to him. He calls Romeo 'a villain' (evil character).
  • Tybalt tries to provoke (encourage) Romeo into fighting him.
  • Romeo refuses to get annoyed by this because he is now related to Tybalt. Tybalt orders Romeo to draw his sword. Romeo tells Tybalt 'I have to love thee' but does not explain why.
  • Tybalt does not know that Romeo is now his kinsman (relative).
  • Tybalt continues to try to provoke (encourage) him to fight. He grows angry because Romeo won’t fight.
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Mercutio's death

  • Mercutio becomes angry that Romeo will not defend himself or his honour. He says that he will fight if Romeo won’t.
  • Mercutio and Tybalt begin to fight.
  • Romeo throws himself between the two men to try to stop the fighting.
  • Tybalt stabs Mercutio under Romeo’s arm. This badly wounds him.
  • Tybalt and his men run away.
  • As he is dying, Mercutio curses the Montague and Capulet families. He puts a 'plague o’ both your houses'.
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Tybalt's death

  • Tybalt is still angry when he comes back onto the scene.
  • Romeo draws his sword and attacks Tybalt. He tells him 'either thou, or I, or both must go with' Mercutio.
    • He has lost all sense of calmness. This is very different to how he is at the start of the play.
    • At this point, he is furious and is not thinking straight at all. Instead, he is willing to risk everything to get revenge on Tybalt.
  • Romeo and Tybalt fight. Romeo kills Tybalt.
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Romeo's flight

  • Benvolio tells Romeo to run away before he is caught.
  • Romeo leaves.
  • The Prince enters.
  • Benvolio tells the Prince all about the fight. He says that Romeo, Mercutio and Tybalt were involved in the fighting.
  • Lady Capulet orders the Prince to kill Romeo. She says he must give them 'justice'.
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The Prince's verdict

  • The Prince listens to Benvolio’s explanation.
  • The Prince decides to banish Romeo (send him away from his home country) and exile him (force him to live away from his homeland) to Mantua.
  • He says that if Romeo is found in Verona again, then he will be put to death.

Key Quotes - Act 3, Scene 1

Here are key quotes from Tybalt and Romeo in Act 3, Scene 1:

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Tybalt

  • 'Thou art a villain.'
    • When Tybalt approaches Romeo, he continually tries to annoy and provoke him (encourage him to fight).
    • He insults him to try and encourage him to be violent.
    • The noun 'villain' was an incredibly insulting term in Elizabethan England. This insult builds tension and suspense as audiences wonder how Romeo will react to this aggression.
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Romeo

  • 'Good Capulet – which name I tender as dearly as my own – be satisfied.'
    • In contrast to a central focus of the play (the hatred between the Montagues and Capulet), Romeo is the first character to push these feelings of anger aside.
    • In fact, when he is trying to calm the angry man, he uses the adjective 'good' to refer to Tybalt.
    • But Romeo’s attempt to calm Tybalt actually angers him more. Romeo asks him to 'be satisfied' and stop the fighting.
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Romeo

  • 'O, I am fortune’s fool!'
    • Romeo feels that the powers of fate and destiny are playing with him. He met his true love and is happy for a little while, but then fate causes him to kill Tybalt.
    • Romeo knows this means that he can never actually be with Juliet. He can never build a life with her, can never have a family with her, and can never be happy with her. Although fate and fortune brought Juliet to him, he can now never be with her.

Jump to other topics

1Context

2Plot Summary

3Key Characters

4Key Themes & Concepts

5Writing Techniques

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