Jack Hartigan
IB Lit and Perf
Ms. Guarino
December 6, 2016
Fire-Eyed Fury
In class, we performed the classic play Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare. This is one of the most well-known plays written in the Elizabethan era. In summary, the play is about two star-crossed lovers, living in Verona Italy, who will do anything to be together. Our performance mainly focused on the fight scene in act three scene one. Additionally, I included Tybalt’s monologue in act one scene five. In both of these scenes, Shakespeare uses analytic devices to portray a theme of vengeance and a tone of fury and violence; to illustrate Tybalt’s indignant characteristics I incorporated theatrical features such as costuming, body language, movement, and tone of voice.
Shakespeare shows character development in the contrast between Tybalt and Romeo. At first, in this scene, Romeo felt a great love towards Tybalt. Except, it is hard to love such a menace. “But love thee better than thou canst devise Till thou shalt know the reason of my love.”(3.1.40-41) Recently, Romeo married Tybalt's cousin Juliet in secret inducing Romeo’s abrupt love for Tybalt. Except, Tybalt does not want peace; he is eager to fight and out for blood. Hence, Tybalt kills Mercutio sparking Romeo's new distaste for Tybalt. “And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now! Now, Tybalt, take the villain back again.”(3.1.86) In this quote, Romeo vows to get vengeance. To some extent, I would expect Tybalt to take pleasure from this. Fighting is his passion and what he is trained for. Consequently, Tybalt's rage essentially leads to his death. Tybalt's hostility changed Romeo from a kind-hearted man to a ruthless killer. This leads to the climax where Romeo kills Tybalt. Tybalt's uncontrollable fury and thirst for blood led to his inevitable death.
Throughout the scene, there is a theme of vengeance where the noble characters follow Hammurabi's code: an eye for an eye. This innate sense of vengeance foreshadows upcoming events. Vengeance seems to be valued above all else: even law and family. It begins with Tybalt seeking revenge on Romeo. “Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries That thou hast done me. Therefore turn and draw.”(3.1.37-38) When Romeo won't fight, Tybalt kills Mercutio instead. This triggers Romeo's innate sense of vengeance, causing him to track down and fight Tybalt. “Either thou, or I, or both, must go with him.”(3.1.91) In this quote, Romeo says he will risk his own life in order to kill Tybalt, showing how vengeance is valued above all else. Even Mercutio used his lasts breaths to curse the Montagues and Capulets. “A plague o' both your houses!”(3.1.59) In this quote, Mercutio foreshadows the upcoming future. There are two ways that this foreshadowing could be interpreted. First off, it could be predicting the immediate future where Tybalt is killed and Romeo is banished. Secondly, it could foreshadow Romeo and Juliet’s deaths where both houses suffer a loss. Either way, this accurately portrays the theme of blood for blood and betrayal.
In addition to foreshadowing, Shakespeare frequently uses metaphors with a tone of hatred. For example, Tybalt refers to Romeo as a “slave”(1.5.54) to empathize his distaste for Romeo. Additionally, it shows Tybalt's narcissism and his arrogant personality. Another example of a metaphor is when Mercutio contemptuously calls Tybalt a “ratcatcher”(3.1.46) or cat: “Good king of cats, nothing but one of your nine lives, that I mean to make bold withal, and, as you shall use me hereafter, dry-beat the rest of the eight.”(3.1.48-50) This quote has a serious and threatening tone. Based off the superstition that cats have nine lives, Mercutio threatens to take all of Tybalt's lives and implies that he will slaughter Tybalt. On the other hand, this metaphor uses humor calling him the king of cats. This allusion is ironic because Tybalt is viewed as a villain in the eyes of others and would not be expected to be called a king of anything. Yet, in the Shakespearian time, cats were used as pawns used to catch rodents. Their sole purpose in life is to remove nuisances from the homeowners. This directly applies to Tybalt, a trained swordsman, whose sole purpose in life is to serve and fight for the Capulets. In addition to that deep-seated insult, Mercutio uses an allusion to show Tybalt's gruesomeness: “dishonorable, vile submission!”(3.1.44) This shows the constant conflict between Tybalt and other characters throughout the play. The metaphors used in the play have a tone of fury and violence. The language in the rising action of the play such as “outrage”(3.1.54) and “fire-eyed fury”(3.1.86) expresses the tone. Fire-eyed fury is an alliteration that accurately represents Tybalt's character. These literary devices build a hostile environment. It adds a sense of suspense to the rising action, leading up to the climax where vengeance is taken and someone is slain.
After memorizing the scene, I acted it out. Acting came with the responsibility of making many crucial decisions. Every choice I made in this retrospect was to portray Tybalt as an evil and confident character. The first choice I had to make involved my positioning. I chose to face slightly towards the audience to so they could see me, but at the same time, I could be looking at the other two actors. When looking at them I would give them a stare full of distaste and hatred. In the beginning, I chose to pace back and forth to show I was anxious and worried about the upcoming future. Additionally, I stomped in the beginning, to put emphasis on my anger in the phrase, “to strike him dead.” This stomp showed more than just my fury. It showed a loss of self-control; a sense of recklessness would carry onto the next scene where I fought Romeo and Mercutio. When considering my body posture, I chose to walk with my chin up and good back posture to show confidence in myself. Although I attempted to do this, my walk came out as slow and sluggish. On the other hand, my upper body posture portrayed me as a powerful and confident man. When the attention was on other actors I would stand still and tall while limiting my movement. The purpose of this was to keep the main focus on the actor speaking so I wouldn't distract the audience. Additionally, it showed my ability to hold my ground and that I was not afraid to fight or back down. Lastly, as I am talking I will walk towards the enemy and eventually get in there face to intensify the scene. When I am talking, my movement will draw the audience’s attention to me. Walking towards my enemies will show my aggression and tendency to take action. It shows that I am out for blood and seeking vengeance. Additionally, it will build on the rising action approaching the main fight scene of the play. As we get closer to the climax, I will get closer to my enemy to show the building tensions. As I said the line, “Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries That thou hast done me. Therefore turn and draw.” I got within inches of Romeo’s face to show the rising tensions. This will show Tybalt's despicable personality and immense passion for fighting.
The climax of the play was the fight scene where I would fight Romeo. In this scene, Tybalt has an immense hatred for Romeo, who he has been dying to fight him since he first saw Romeo trespassing in his territory. In this fight, we used fake plastic swords. When fighting we would take turns winning and losing the battle to make the fight more realistic. When losing the battle, I would back up and block the incoming blows, while the person would charge ahead on the offensive. This will show that the fight is close and evenly matched. As the fight continues, the suspense will build in the audience. In the final fight scene, on my second time going on the defensive Romeo would spin and kill me causing me to tumble to the ground. I take a hard fall in order to make the death seem more realistic. The main focus reason for this controlled movement in the fight scene was for the organization. Yet, with all this organization we still missed hits, forcing us to improvise. When we missed a hit we would wait till both people were ready to strike again. After figuring out the movement in the fight I worked on my expressions in the fight scene. My intention was to walk aggressively, except it did not come out that way. My walk was not as aggressive and confident as it needed to be. Additionally, during the fight scene I intended to act both anxious and worried. However, in the fight scene, I was too focused on the hits to notice that I had disregarded facial expressions. Throughout the fight scene, I had a neutral face. It was challenging to express Tybalt's emotions while my mind was concentrating on something else. In this regard, I could have done a better job showing Tybalt's gruesome personality.
In order to accurately express Tybalt, he needed to speak with anger and appear hostile. I showed this ferocity by adjusting my tone of voice, facial expressions, body language, and costuming. When people are angry, they don't talk; they shout. I had to talk with a sense of rage in order to create a more heated environment. However, to illustrate a more venomous character, I could have been louder and fiercer. Yet, the dialogue alone is not enough in that retrospect. I also needed to look infuriated. In order to do this, I separated myself from reality. I made myself believed that I hated my fellow actors while in character. Additionally, I clenched my fists and flexed every muscle in my body. Clenching my fist also triggered a natural feeling of enmity and fury in myself allowing me to stay in character. Flexing makes sense in this regard because it is a natural defense mechanism humans have when they get mad. It shows that he is ready to fight at any moment. Lastly, I wore black to show that I was an evil character, and left my hair a mess to show that I’m an angry person who doesn’t care about anything. This also shows that I’m not afraid of dying, and am reckless. All of this helped build my character to be evil and despicable.
From practicing the play I learned how to more accurately express Tybalt's character. To express Tybalt's confidence, I learned to become louder in addition to speaking and walking with good posture. I learned to incorporate movement to show anxiety, aggression, and power. Throughout the play, I made my facial expressions more menacing to show Tybalt's morbid character. In order to do this, I transcended beyond acting aggravated; I connected with my inner emotions to sincerely feel anger. Overall, I learned a great deal about how to imitate Tybalt’s malicious character.
Yet, from analyzing the text my opinion of Tybalt has greatly changed. At first glance, I thought he was purely a royal tyrant. Except, as I analyzed the play I saw the reason for his chronic brutality. I realized he was nothing more than a ratcatcher. Genuinely, I feel bad for him, because he is merely a pawn to his family. Most people view this story as a tragic love story, but from looking through the eyes of Tybalt I saw another story. I saw a man who is a victim of society, whose only defense mechanism is to fight. Can you really blame a man for murder if he was taught nothing but to kill?
Word count: 1972
Works Cited:
Mahoney, John. Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare. London: Letts Educational, 2004. Print.
