Romeo and Juliet - Act 3, Scene 1 : the Fight Scene Analysis

Romeo and Juliet is one of the most penetrating love stories ever written , and no other love story will ever match up to quite the same standard, but why? Every sentence is filled with some kind of drama, tragedy, emotion and, of course, love. Some of the themes explored in Romeo and Juliet are: tragedy, love, fate and death. Act 3, Scene 1 is a very dramatic scene, and is the turning point of the story; the climactric. It is at this point that everything changes for the worse and starts going downhill. In the previous scene, Romeo and Juliet were married and that tells us that Romeo must be feeling on top of the world right now. But this all changes, faster than a flash of lightning. In this essay, I’m going to analyse what I have previously mentioned as well as other aspects in Shakespeare’s writing, including his use of language devices to build tension as well as saying what makes this scene dramatically effective. Beginning this scene is none other than Benvolio who is accompanied by his good friend Mercutio as they laze around on the streets of Verona. However, all is not well as Benvolio is feeling a little apprehensive and fretting over the chance of encountering “the Capels” who “are abroad and if we meet, we shall not scape a brawl, for now, these hot days is the mad blood stirring.” This gives the audience the image that there has been some tension between the Capulets and Montagues for quite a while now and if they meet, there will indubitably be a fight. Shakespeare also uses the metaphor about “mad blood stirring” this can be likened to blood boiling which is often associated which anger and rage. It could also be likened to the heat from the sun on that day, making people “mad” easily as the anger boils inside them. Mercutio brushes off Benvolio’s anxiety as if it was nothing, which might tell us that it is Benvolio’s usual behaviour to worry too much about things. Instead, Mercutio jests about Benvolio’s behaviour saying