ChArAcTeRs


ViOlEnT In every scene in which he appears, Tybalt is either fighting or threatening violence. His first words in the play are a violent threat levelled at the peaceful Benvolio: ‘What, art thou drawn among these heartless hinds? / Turn thee, Benvolio. Look upon thy death.’ At Capulet’s masked ball, Tybalt sees Romeo and quickly turns to anger. Capulet has to


use strong language to restrain Tybalt from starting a fight at his house. Tybalt vengefully promises more violence, ‘this intrusion shall / Now seeming sweet convert to bitter gall’. Tybalt makes good on his promise and first sends a letter of challenge to Romeo’s house.


He then confronts Romeo on the street, accosting him with insults and a challenge to fight. When Romeo declines to duel, Mercutio and Tybalt fight. After killing Mercutio, ‘furious Tybalt’ returns for more blood but is killed by Romeo. His violent death seems a fitting end for such a fiery character. However, the audience is encouraged not to wholly condemn Tybalt and to see him as a


young victim of the family feud. In the play’s final scene, Romeo begs forgiveness of Tybalt and stresses how Tybalt’s young life was pointlessly ‘cut…in twain’. This evokes a degree of sympathy for him.


TyBaLt ThE NuRsE


MaTeRnAl (MoThErLy) AnD PrOtEcTiVe The Nurse has a much closer bond with Juliet than Lady Capulet does. The Nurse has cared for Juliet since she was born and acts like a mother to her. She talks affectionately in motherly tones: ‘Thou wast the prettiest babe that e’er I nursed. / And I might live to see thee married once, / I have my wish’, ‘What, lamb! What, ladybird!’ The Nurse is very protective of Juliet. When the Nurse meets with Romeo to learn of


the wedding plans, she warns Romeo to treat Juliet well and not to lead her into a ‘fool’s paradise’. Similarly, when Capulet scolds Juliet for not gratefully agreeing to marry Paris, the Nurse bravely stands up to her employer and speaks in Juliet’s defence: ‘God in heaven bless her! / You are to blame, my lord, to rate her so.’ However, despite her protectiveness, the Nurse alienates Juliet by suggesting that she


(Juliet) should marry Paris and forget Romeo. She says that Romeo is a ‘dishclout’ in comparison to Paris. By siding with Capulet and Lady Capulet, the Nurse leaves Juliet very much alone and in a state of desperation.


FoCuSeS On PhYsIcAl LoVe RaThEr ThAn RoMaNcE The Nurse, like Mercutio, often focuses on physical love. When Juliet’s parents first propose Paris as a husband, the Nurse comments on his physical appearance: ‘A man, young lady! Lady, such a man / As all the world – why, he’s a man of wax’ and then makes a sexual comment: ‘Go, girl, seek happy nights to happy days.’ On the morning when Juliet is supposed to marry Paris, the Nurse tries to wake Juliet and says, ‘Sleep for a week; for the next night, I warrant, / The County Paris hath set up his rest, / That you shall rest but little.’ Again her focus is often on the physical aspect of love, rather than romance.


211


✓ Hateful ✓ Violent


PoRtFoLiO Deepen your understanding of Tybalt by completing your Character Log, p.109.


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