Of all the characters in
,is by far the most enthusiastic about the feud between the
Capulets and
the Montagues. Theannounces that the two great houses "From
ancient grudge break to new
mutiny," and it appears to be Tybalt who leads
the charge, while his uncle, the head of the
family, is quite content to
allowto attend his feast.
In III.i, Tybalt
attempts to
provoke a fight with Romeo. When he fails, Romeo's passivity so angersthat he
challenges Tybalt himself. It is Tybalt's killing of Mercutio and Mercutio's final
reproaches to
Romeo that finally anger him to the point where he fights and
kills Tybalt.
One might argue that Romeo should have
refused to fight Tybalt even after Mercutio's
death, but he has shown
remarkable patience anyway and everything in his background and
upbringing
would make him see such a course of action (or inaction) as cowardly. Tybalt
forces
him to fight, which leads directly to his banishment and the death of
both lovers.
If Romeo had not killed Tybalt and been
banished there is, of course, no guarantee that
matters would have proceeded
smoothly. Capulet would still presumably have insisted on 's
marryingand his
conduct in III.v does not suggest that he would be easy to persuade.
Nonetheless, the time and manner of the lovers' death in the play was clearly caused by
the
events directly set in motion by Tybalt's
aggression.
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