Tybalt

Question 1

‘What art thou drawn among these heartless hinds?’ - A1S1

Answer 1

• ‘heartless hinds’ —> alliteration indicates his determination to try and evoke conflict from Benvolio in his demeaning and deliberate insults.
• ‘Heartless hinds’ —> unnecessary insult indicates how he is filled with rage and aggression.
• Indicates his strong belief in status as he portrays the servants as lacking courage. Hostile.
• Shakespeare introduces Benvolio and Tybalt simultaneously —> emphasise hostile and aggressive nature of Tybalt compared to Benvolio’s kind natured approach.

Question 2

‘Peace! I hate the word, as I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee: Have at thee coward!’ A1S1

Answer 2

• ‘hate’ draw attention to his intense dislike of the enemy as well as the idea of peace. Strongly juxtaposes peace indicating his desire for hostility.
• Comparison of Montagues to ‘hell’ would be particularly impactful given the Renaissance society’s strong focus on religion. Significant declaration in terms of capturing Tybalt’s hatred for the opposing family.
• Tybalt embodies the toxic masculinity which permeates the entirety of the play.
• ‘Coward’ —> derogatory term indicates how he continuously attempts to instigate violence.
• First character to mention ‘hatred’ in the play, which brings attention to
• Tybalt —> catalyst for violence. His representation of Montagues and hell portrays the intensity of his feelings —> perhaps unable to regulate his behaviour towards them in public settings.

Question 3

‘This, by his voice should be a Montague. Fetch me my rapier boy’. A1S5

Answer 3

• ‘rapier’ connotes to violence and indicates his immediate resort to violence. Violence is at the forefront of his mind.
• He adheres to renaissance society’s perception of men as violence and aggressive when confronted with a threat to their honour. Aggressive nature is powered by his anger for the opposition.
• ‘By his voice’ —> lack of conclusive evidence indicates his lack of intelligence as he is ruled by his hatred.

Question 4

‘A Montague, our foe: A villain that is hither come in spite, to scorn at our solemnity this night’ A1S5

Answer 4

• ‘foe’ and ‘villain’ —> strong dislike towards opposing families portraying them as antagonistic and generalising them as an enemy to the good of his family.
• Sibilance in ‘scorn and ‘spite’ and ‘solemnity’ indicate Tybalt’s hostility towards Romeo.
• ‘Scorn’ —> believes Romeo is deliberately trying to anger him. His life is centred around the idea of violence and being reactive towards it.

Question 5

‘Now by the stock and honour of my kin, to strike him dead I hold it not a sin’ A1S5

Answer 5

• ‘stock and honour’ portrays his strong belief in reputation and status which shows that he is an embodiment of male bravado as he is characterised by his violent nature when confronted with a threat to his reputation.
• ‘Kin’ and ‘sin’ —> uses rhyming couplets to indicate how he places a strong focus on his family and sees their protection as not a sin no matter the effect.

Question 6

‘You’ll make a mutiny among my guests! You will set cock-a-hoop! You’ll be the man!’ A1S5

Answer 6

• ‘mutiny among my guests’ —> ‘mutiny’ portrays Tybalt’s violence as rebellious and an act of anarchy when ‘among my guests’ portraying it as socially unacceptable and a hinderance to his family. This indicates Tybalt’s lack of social awareness when consumed by violence.
• ‘Mutiny’ —> refers to prologue portraying Tybalt as catalyst to the downfall of the families.
• ‘Cock-a-hoop’ —> refers to fighting loudly and aggressively in a prideful manner like a rooster. Portrays Tybalt’s sense of pride in harming others and his overall violent nature.
• ‘The man’ —> negatively refers to toxic masculinity and the fact that Tybalt strongly embodies it. Use of consecutive exclamatory sentences further emphasise the annoyance at Tybalt’s bold nature.

Question 7

‘I will withdraw but this intrusion shall, now seeming sweet, convert to bitter gall’ A1S5

Answer 7

• ‘withdraw’ —> against his will and is mandatory for him. Indicates his status within the family.
• However ‘sweet’ ‘bitter’ create juxtaposition portraying Tybalt as a catalyst for violence and anger in his desire to change joy to pain. This is emphasised by rhyming couplets ‘shall’ and ‘gall’ which can foreshadow the atrocities in the future which are caused by him.
• His purpose is to begin violence.

Question 8

‘Mercutio, thou consort’s with Romeo’

Answer 8

• Tybalt is deliberately provocative in his use of a pun to insinuate that Mercutio and Romeo are romantically involved
The use of the term ‘consort’st’ could imply companionship however Tybalt’s more likely intention is to provoke Mercutio into action by suggesting that his relationship with Romeo has a sexual undertone.

Question 9

‘Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries that thou hast done me, therefore turn and draw’ A3S1

Answer 9

• The use of the noun ‘boy’ brings attention to Tybalt’s contempt for Romeo. He wishes to present him as inferior and incompetent by way of comparison.
• Tybalt feels that he has been wronged by Romeo and therefore seeks to avenge such actions which highlights a keenness to protect his honour and reputation.
• He commands Romeo to ‘therefore turn and draw’ as Tybalt sees violence as the only resolve this feud. He is unable to navigate these circumstances without aggression which further emphasises his volatile nature.