In class, we performed the classic play Romeo and Juliet, written by Shakespeare. This play was written in the Elizabethan era and is one of the most notorious plays written in the history of mankind. This play is about two star crossed lovers, living in Verona Italy, who will do anything to be together. Our skit showed the fight scene in act 1 scene 5 containing only Mercutio, Tybalt, and Romeo. In which the point of view is based around romeo. In this essay I will focus on critical analysis of literary features and text, choices made in the scene, and an analysis of my overall performance.

Shakespeare was a brilliant man who used many laterality devices such as characterization in this act. In the beginning of the play romeo felt a great love towards Tybalt. “But love thee better than thou canst devise Till thou shalt know the reason of my love.” Then at the end the Romeo developed a burning hatred for Tybalt. “And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now! Now, Tybalt, take the villain back again.” This shows how Romeo changes from a kind-hearted man to a ruthless killer from the beginning to the end of this scene. It is also ironic that Romeo killed the person who he so-called “loved” earlier in the scene. This characterization goes along with the theme of the scene.

Throughout the scene there is a theme of vengeance. It begins with Tybalt wanting Vengeance on Romeo. “Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries That thou hast done me. Therefore turn and draw.” When Romeo won't fight Tybalt takes vengeance on mercutio instead. After killing Mercutio Romeo goes to seek vengeance on Tybalt. “Either thou, or I, or both, must go with him.” In this quote Romeo tells Tybalt that he will fight him to the death. He does this to make things right with his friend. The choices made in this scene foreshadow the future.

When Mercutio dies he says, “A plague o' both your houses!” This is an example of foreshadowing. There are many ways that this foreshadowing could be interpreted. First off, it could be predicting the immediate future where Tybalt is killed and Romeo is banished. On the other hand, it could be foreshadowing Romeo and Juliet’s deaths where both houses suffer a loss.

In addition to foreshadowing Shakespeare uses metaphors to frequently in his writing. For example, Tybalt refers to Romeo as a “slave” to empathise his hatred for Romeo. Mercutio also uses it for name calling. He calls Tybalt a “ratcatcher” to she his  hatred for him. Additionally, he then goes on to say “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.” In this sentence he uses a metaphor calling Tybalt a cat. He then goes off the superstition that cats have nine lives, and threatens to take one of Tybalt's lives. Then he says he will take the rest of his lives. Essentially, Mercutio is using a metaphor to state that he will slaughter Tybalt.

This shows how there is a tone of anger  and violence throughout the scene. The author uses the terms “outrage” and “fire-eyed fury” to express this hatred. Fire-eyed fury is also alliteration. This tone is frequently expressed throughout the play. Shakespeare also uses allusions to express this tone. “O calm, dishonorable, vile submission!” In this sentence Shakespeare indirectly references Tybalt using the term vile submission. Another example of an allusion is when Mercutio indirectly references Tybalt by saying, “Good king of cats.”

Mercutio also uses personification when he says, “Will you pluck your sword out of his pilcher by the ears?” In this sentence he describes his sword as having ears. Throughout the scene there is an ample use of figurative language from both from Tybalt, Mercutio, and Romeo.

Part 2:

After memorising the scene I acted it out. Acting it was full of many tedious choices.

• 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.
• Walking with good back posture and my chin up. This shows confidence.
• Flexing my body. This will express my anger because when people are mad they flex their muscles and clench their fists as if they are ready to fight.
• Shout as opposed to talking. When people are angry they don’t talk in a quiet voice they yell.
• Walk towards my enemy as things intensify. This shows the rising action approaching the climax.
• Stand still and tall while the attention is on the other actors. This is so I don’t take attention away from the main focus or distract the audience.
• Think about hatred so I can look mad. Tybalt was an angry person so it is best to make him look angry.
• In the beginning I chose to pace, this showed that I was anxious and possibly worried about the upcoming future.
• I chose to wear black to represent my character's emotions

Part 3:

From practicing the play I improved in many area’s

• As I became more comfortable with the play I became louder and spoke with more confidence, and learned to keep my chin up high.
• I learned to incorporate movement when the attention is on me, but limit it when it’s on someone else
• In the sword fights, I learned to play out the kill to make it simpler. I also learned to improvise with the sword fights because sometimes someone would miss or you would end up in an awkward position while fighting.
• I learned how to express my anger and facial expressions better.
• Although my facial expressions improved tremendously, there is still work to be done in that retrospect
• Additionally, I can improve my walk so that I walk more like Tybalt