Discuss and Evaluate the Importance of the fight scene in Romeo and Juliet Essays

Discuss and Evaluate the Importance of the fight scene in Romeo and Juliet Essays Discuss and Evaluate the Importance of the fight scene in Romeo and Juliet Paper Discuss and Evaluate the Importance of the fight scene in Romeo and Juliet Paper The fight scene in Romeo and Juliet is a very important set piece. This scene is very much used be William Shakespeare as a way to connect to the reader viewing it. He tries to allow the reader to have mixed emotions. Some of the emotions the fight set piece is trying to display are Hate, Horror, Excitement, fear and tension. The reason why the reader feels these emotions are because there are many points in the fight scenes where the main character could have and almost does get killed.The context of this set piece is very much heading towards the dramatic time in which William Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet (1595). This is because the why that all the characters would carry swords around with them and it was seen as the norm. There are many things that make us accept this. One is the way that Mercutio calls his sword a Fiddlestick.The main reasons which make us anticipate the fight between Tybalt and Romeo; one thing is that Mercutio shouts before he die s:A plague on both your houses.Three times and this really changes the mood of the scene. Also Tybalt returns and taunts Romeo about Mercutios death.2William Shakespeare sets this scene at the beginning to really make the reader sense that there is going to be s fight of some sort between the Montague and Capulet. He does this by having the characters saying things like:And if we meet, we shall not scape a brawlFor now, these hot days, is the mad blood stirringThis concludes to us that Benvolio is anticipating a fight. But Mercutio seems to ignore this with witty puns and play on words.Thou! Why,Thou wilt quarrel with a man that hath a hair moreOr a hair less in his beard than thou hastAnd this means that Mercutio is saying to Benvolio that, he will fight with anything or anyone about anything. By this time the reader is sure about the fight, because Romeo has just got married to Juliet and is yet to tell Tybalt.3The two characters Mercutio and Tybalt have very different personaliti es and also act in very different ways.The two are very good swordsmen and are considered Duellists.One the one hand Mercutio is a witty person who puns a lot and the people around him enjoy his company but may not understand what he is feeling. Mercutio is one of the most unique characters in Shakespeares Romeo Juliet. His language is always powerful and imaginative. He represents many different things in the story and holds an important role. Where as Tybalt, will find it a rare occasion that he tells a witty joke of any sort and often seems very serious. His appearance also seems to show off a strong and bigger body that Mercutios. He is also a very willing duellist. Yet before their all important fight scene they act different to each other yet stereotypical of their personalities. First of all when Tybalt arrives on the scene he acts like he just wants to lash out on someone and as Mercutio is the there he start to pick on him.On reason for this would be that the name Mercutio comes from the word Mercury. So this could mean that Mercutio has a temper that rises quickly, just like Mercury rises when it is hot and it just so happens to be very hot that day.But before Tybalt approaches Mercutio and Benvolio, Benvolio notices them coming and says to Mercutio and tells him that they should leave. But Mercutio simply responds by saying:By my heel, I care notBut when Tybalt comes over Mercutio still seems not to care. Even when Tybalt is over (A strong and powerful man) and yet still seems to joke about Tybalt and in front of his fellow Capulets and friends. Tybalt seems to have the lower status in this conversation because things like this happen:TybaltMercutio, thou consorts with Romeo-MercutioConsort! What, dost thou make is minstrels? AndThou make minstrels of us, look to here nothing butdiscords. Here my fiddle-stick;Tybalt after this forgets about Mercutio as soon as Romeo enters and says:Well, peace be with you, sir. Here comes my man.The reason why Tyba lt says this is because earlier on in the story he saysWhat, drawn, and talk of peace! I hate the word,As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee:Have at thee, coward!So when Romeo arrives on the scene of course Tybalt is going to change his attention towards Romeo. Also we find out that Tybalt sends Romeo a Challenge, This challenge is to a Duel.When Romeo confronts Tybalt, he is trying to tell him that he cannot fight it him because he is now part of the same family. But strangely Romeo seems to try and tell Tybalt in some sort of code. Tybalt really doesnt pick up on this code and sees it as Romeo is insulting him and shows even more hatred towards him. Seeing this Mercutio stands up for Romeo, yet he may not be a Capulet but he is still very loyal to Romeo and will always defend him no matter what. The way that Mercutio stands up for Romeo is very much the style that you would expect him to, he really uses his wittiness to make fun and make a fool of Tybalt and knowing Tybalt, he g ets outraged at this and this is how the whole fight between him and Mercutio starts.4When the story of Romeo and Juliet is staged the directors of the productions dont always stick to the script when staging the fight between Mercutio and Tybalt. I personally would stage the fight as an honourable one. In which the fight have their honour at stake. Both fighters will be using the Duel as a way to show off to their friends. So they will be showing off and using all their skill to make themselves look good. During the fight they should be showing sportsmanship towards the competitor. The two duellers will be laughing and seeing the whole thing as a chance to express themselves.This fight however would stick very close to the rules of fencing. In which the winner would be the first on to hold the opponent to the ground. When fighting the two fight would not intend to hurt each other in anyway apart from their morals and credibility. We can understand this at one point when Tybalt thro ws back Mercutio sword.I feel that the song should really go on for too long before Romeo steps in and causes the fight to change path. When Tybalt stabs Mercutio, I think that this should be an accident and not deliberate as showed in some versions of the story display. The stabbing should happen when Romeo moves to the side and Tybalt lunges towards him, in a sportsmanship manner and accidentally stabs him.This is very much like Zeffrelli version of Romeo and Juliet. However this varies from the Baz Lurman version of it. When the fight is very intense and Mercutio falls onto the blade of glass.5When Romeo arrives on scene the audience feel relived because they think that Romeo has come to sort every thing out between the two families.During the fight between Mercutio and Tybalt. Things get a bit heavy hand between the two Duellers. So Romeo steps in too stop Mercutio, he does this by standing between the two fighters facing Mercutio. But while this is happening Mercutio is trying to get past, and Tybalt keeps lunging towards Mercutio. But after a while Romeo notices this and moves to one side and Tybalt stabs Mercutio. The audiences reaction to this is that Tybalt has stabbed Mercutio and gone against the fencing rules. However after we see Tybalt face and he looks at the end of his sword and sees the amount of blood, and you can tell that, that wasnt necessarily meant to happen. So the audience feel that something quite tragic has just happened and will effect the whole story and characters.The reason why the audience feels this is because when the sword is removed from Mercutio the facial expressions on all of the characters change to concern.After Mercutio is stabbed he plays the game a bit by sayingAy, ay, a scratch, a scratch; marry, tis enough.Where is my page? Go, villain, fetch a surgeon.The people around think that he his alright but when he actually does die; this causes Romeo to change his behavior in an angered human-being who is raring to hunt d own and destroy Tybalt. But once Romeo does get to Tybalt and kill him this starts a revelation in the story. First of all Romeo gets banished and cant see Juliet anymore. This totally changes Romeo and Juliets outlooks to life.6It is a very crucial point in the story when Romeo cries outI am fortunes foolWhen considering the destruction of Romeo and Juliet the most significant fact you must think about is fate. Fate, above all, destroyed Romeo and Juliet. Many instances in the play reveal that the love of Romeo and Juliet would end in death. Pair of star-crossed lovers take their life. From the very beginning it is evident that they were destined by the stars to bad fortune. Some people may think that there is no way to control fate or change what is in the stars. It could be that the love of Romeo and Juliet was destined for death so that their parents feud would be over. Also, in the prologue it states that the dreadful course of their love was destined for death. The fearful pas sage of their death marked love. Both of these quotes show us that the love of these two was destined to end tragically. The masquerade party was above all the most important aspect of fate. The fact that Romeo was wearing a mask and his face was hidden allowed Juliet to fall in love with him before she saw who it was. If Juliet had known who Romeo was she would probably have not fallen in love with him. Fate could not have been changed whatever was meant to be would happen and no one could change that.7There are many reasons why William Shakespeare places the fighting set piece in the middle of Romeo and Juliet and all of them are very important.One of the reasons is that the story Romeo and Juliet is a love story and most love stories have plot twists. Now this scene is a major plot twist because two of the co-main characters are killed off. Having this scene is very, very important because it affects pretty much the rest of the story.First of all with the death of Tybalt, Romeo g ets banished and is not allowed to see Juliet and with this Juliet fakes her own death and then sends Romeo a letter telling him about how she isnt really. But Romeo doesnt get the not in time and finds out from his friend that Juliet is dead. So kills himself just as Juliet wakes up. So she kills herself, and all of this happens because of Tybalts death. If that wasnt Romeo also losses his best friend Mercutio.Not only that but Juliet also losses her cousin Tybalt which causes even more heartache.8ConclusionIn conclusion this scene is important really because of the way it was designed by William Shakespeare.A lot can be said about the dramatic effect this scene has on both the story and the reader. First of all the scene shows the hatred of the feud between the Montague and the Capulet really well, with both families fighting for what they believe in and as you see they fight till the death. This is very dramatic and changes the mood of all the remaining characters.This scene effe cts the audience a lot because the see Mercutio a very unique and likable character meet his death. This can really upset the reader. Not only has this but we see Romeo change his attitude towards fighting and take on Tybalt. The reader may not like this Romeo a lot and may well find it very dramatic.When the story first starts to unfold we discover that the two people Romeo and Juliet are in love and it leaves the audience feeling that in the end it will all end in happiness or as the saying goes Happy Ever After and then all of a sudden, this terrorizing and tragic fight scene comes along and totally changes the plot in almost every single way possible. This scene on its own is a major plot twist.When William Shakespeare wrote this play you can see that he wanted to create a real big feeling of tension between all the characters featured in the fight scene and suspense is used a lot in this scene to create atmosphere. However the tension in the scene is very good at illustrating t he Conflict between the two families, in how when the arguing is going on the stand on their own side never, near the others.The main themes that can be used to describe are Terror, Tragedy and action with excitement. Mainly because of all the fighting and killing which all adds you to what the scene represents.After the moment when Romeo kills Tybalt the reader braces themselves for what is going to happen after. At the time the reader is most likely to believe that Romeo will be executed because of the fighting. Because earlier on in the story the prince saysIf you ever disturb our streets again,Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace,But never the less the prince decides not to punish Romeo by death but banish him so the reader does feel relived at this.