benvolio

• 'I do but keep the peace, put up thy sword or manage it to part these men with me'

  • keep the peace- benviolo (benevolance), his first act in the play is to attempt to stop violence
  • conjunction- he is giving tybalt options rather than commanding, could be seen as patronising, as though he is speaking to a child
  • Ao3- he contrasts the sterotype of the time that men were hot-headed and violent, he is calm and collected even when being threatened
• 'Alas, that love, so gentle in his view, should be so tyrannous and rough in proof'

  • Alas- exclamation ,shows benviolo as an empathetic character who is attempting to relate to romeos saddness
  • juxtaposition- benviolo understands the misleading nature of love
  • proof- noun, benvolio has a realistic approach to love, leading the audience to view him as trustworthy and consistent
  • AO3- elizabethen men were expected to be brave and intellectual, both atributes benvolio shows early in the play
• 'these hot days, is the mad blood stirring'

  • mad- adjective, he can recognise that fighting in public again would be madness
  • hot days- he is predicting how the heat is effecting the mens behaviour and causing them to act irrationally, once again showing his mature and observant nature
  • AO3- hegemonic masculinity was so engraved into society that men were expected to be born powerfull, we now recognise this as toxic behaviour and a result of patriarchal society