Skip to main content

What role does pride play in the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt?

Pride is one of the major reasons for the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt. In Act I, Scene 5, Tybalt's pride is hurt when Lord Capulet stops him from challenging Romeo at the party. Tybalt overhears Romeo, who is wearing a mask, talking about Juliet, and becomes enraged, calling for his sword. Lord Capulet intercepts him and refuses to allow him to engage Romeo and even says that Verona speaks of Romeo as a "well-governed...

Pride is one of the major reasons for the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt. In Act I, Scene 5, Tybalt's pride is hurt when Lord Capulet stops him from challenging Romeo at the party. Tybalt overhears Romeo, who is wearing a mask, talking about Juliet, and becomes enraged, calling for his sword. Lord Capulet intercepts him and refuses to allow him to engage Romeo and even says that Verona speaks of Romeo as a "well-governed youth." This obviously does not satisfy Tybalt, who is not a patient man and believes that the "intrusion" will only cause him to become angry again later:



Patience perforce with willful choler meeting
Makes my flesh tremble in their different greeting.
I will withdraw, but this intrusion shall,
Now seeming sweet, convert to bitt’rest gall.



Later in Act II, Benvolio reports that Tybalt has sent a letter to Romeo's house demanding satisfaction and challenging Romeo. Meanwhile, Romeo is preparing to marry Juliet, Tybalt's cousin, setting up the events of Act III, Scene 1.



In this scene it is Mercutio whose pride works against him. Despite Benvolio's warnings, Mercutio remains in the street when the Capulets enter. Tybalt asks about Romeo, which only draws insults from Mercutio as he flourishes his sword. When Romeo shows up, because he has just been married, he immediately backs down to Tybalt and even tells him that he loves him:




I do protest I never injured thee
But love thee better than thou canst devise
Till thou shalt know the reason of my love.
And so, good Capulet, which name I tender
As dearly as mine own, be satisfied.





Mercutio cannot take it. His pride is hurt as he believes that his best friend is backing down to a hated Capulet. He promptly steps into the fray and, noting Romeo's seeming cowardice, challenges Tybalt to a fight:




O calm, dishonorable, vile submission!
Alla stoccato carries it away. [He draws.]
Tybalt, you ratcatcher, will you walk?





As the two fight, Romeo jumps into the middle and Mercutio is fatally wounded. Even the wound, however, does not stop Mercutio from demonstrating his ability with words and his pride as he condemns the Montagues and Capulets:




I am hurt.
A plague o’ both your houses! I am sped.





Following the stabbing, Tybalt flees, but pride seemingly brings him back to the scene and he and Romeo fight, with Tybalt falling. Had Mercutio and Tybalt listened to Benvolio's warning to either withdraw or "reason coldly," they would have survived. Instead, they let their masculine pride overcome common sense.




Popular posts from this blog

In chapter one of The Great Gatsby, what advice does Nick's father give him? How does this make him a good person to tell this story?

Nick says that his father advised him that, before "criticizing anyone," he "remember that all the people in this world haven't had the same advantages" as Nick.  As a result, Nick claims that he is "inclined to reserve all judgments," presenting himself to the reader as a fair and dispassionate arbiter of character, and thus, a reliable narrator.   The problem is that Nick immediately reveals himself as anything but reliable, as he then launches... Nick says that his father advised him that, before "criticizing anyone," he "remember that all the people in this world haven't had the same advantages" as Nick.  As a result, Nick claims that he is "inclined to reserve all judgments," presenting himself to the reader as a fair and dispassionate arbiter of character, and thus, a reliable narrator.   The problem is that Nick immediately reveals himself as anything but reliable, as he then launches into a discussion of how pe...
Post a Comment
Read more

How and why does James Gatz become Jay Gatsby? Describe the young Gatsby/Gatz.

James Gatz, a poor Midwestern boy of probable Jewish lineage, becomes Jay Gatsby, a presumed WASP and wealthy socialite, when he moves to New York City and acquires his fortune. It is wealth that has allowed Gatz to transform himself into Gatsby. However, those who know his background (e.g., Daisy and Tom Buchanan) never allow him to forget that he is nouveau riche -- that is, an upstart who has just recently made his fortune,... James Gatz, a poor Midwestern boy of probable Jewish lineage, becomes Jay Gatsby, a presumed WASP and wealthy socialite, when he moves to New York City and acquires his fortune. It is wealth that has allowed Gatz to transform himself into Gatsby. However, those who know his background (e.g., Daisy and Tom Buchanan) never allow him to forget that he is nouveau riche -- that is, an upstart who has just recently made his fortune, whereas they arose from well-to-do families. Gatz became Gatsby through determination and discipline. At the end of the novel, the narr...
Post a Comment
Read more

Explain and discuss how the definitions of freedom change for the nation, for the freedmen and for southern whites after the Civil War.

After the Civil War, the definition of freedom changed in the nation, as slavery was ended with the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in 1865. The practice of slavery was disallowed, but definition of the freedom that would take its place was a subject of controversy, ongoing debate, and even violence in the decades to come.  For freedmen, freedom often meant reconciling with their families, who were broken up by slavery; choosing which church to... After the Civil War, the definition of freedom changed in the nation, as slavery was ended with the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in 1865. The practice of slavery was disallowed, but definition of the freedom that would take its place was a subject of controversy, ongoing debate, and even violence in the decades to come.  For freedmen, freedom often meant reconciling with their families, who were broken up by slavery; choosing which church to belong to without being ordered to attend religious services (or not to attend) by their mast...
Post a Comment
Read more