In William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, what does Lord Capulet mean when he says to Tybalt, "More light, more light" (1.5.84)?
During this conversation, Lord Capulet is actually chastising Tybalt for Tybalt's failure to obey him. Tybalt has identified Romeo Montague, the son of Capulet's great enemy, in the crowd at their party, and he is enraged. He wants to go after the young man and make him pay for what Tybalt sees as an insult to the Capulets' honor. Lord Capulet yells at him, telling him that to make such a scene would ruin the...
During this conversation, Lord Capulet is actually chastising Tybalt for Tybalt's failure to obey him. Tybalt has identified Romeo Montague, the son of Capulet's great enemy, in the crowd at their party, and he is enraged. He wants to go after the young man and make him pay for what Tybalt sees as an insult to the Capulets' honor. Lord Capulet yells at him, telling him that to make such a scene would ruin the party, endanger his guests, and compel them to leave. Tybalt, however, feels that Romeo's presence is a sign of terrible disrespect to them. Lord Capulet says to him, "You are a princox, go. / Be quiet, or—More light, more light!—For shame! / I’ll make you quiet" (1.5.85-87). Thus, he calls Tybalt a punk, basically, and orders him to be quiet. When he calls for more light, he is actually speaking to one of his servants; it helps to see that those four words are set off by dashes, and this is because they are sort of an interjection to someone else. Then, he returns to Tybalt to tell him that he should be ashamed of himself. Therefore, this one part of his line isn't actually addressed to Tybalt.
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