critical essay

• “And so good Capulet, which name i tender as dear as my own, be satisfied.” 


  Spoke by Romeo, informally, gentle/soothing
• “Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man.” 


  Speaker is Mercutio, a double meaning pun, spoke bitterly as he dies to symbolise the comedy dying with him - the comedian
• “Fate: an inevitable force that never leaves unfinished business. In ‘Romeo and Juliet’, a play by Shakespeare, two newfound lovers attempt to defy this force amongst their rival families, going even to the extremes of marriage for their love. Though, when Act 3 Scene 1 occurs and Juliet’s vengeful cousin swears to kill love-struck Romeo, the play takes a dramatic turn into tragedy.“
• Mission statement 


  By the end of my essay, I will show how dramatic techniques, such as tone and register, influence the end to this young couple’s story.
• This story first devolves when brave Romeo tries to defuse a situation with Tybalt, Romeo’s rival and Juliet‘s cousin, making it worse.
• “And so good capulet, which name I tender as dearly as mine own, be satisfied.”
• Paragraph one

  This speech is spoken gently and informally, a desperate attempt at building rapport. Unfortunately, this has an undesired effect and fills Tybalt with rage and offence, which we can tell from his use of “thou” instead of “you.” This leads him to challenge Romeo to a duel, the catalyst towards the first turning point in the play.
• It becomes clear to Romeo that this thoughtful solution would not be go as smoothly as imagined. Fate still wasn’t working in his favour, and he was now expected to fight Juliet’s fiery cousin, fuelling the feud. This did not only anger Tybalt, either.
• Offended by Romeo’s cowardice, his best friend Mercutio steps in to duel with Tybolt. Unfortunately, he is accidentally struck a fatal blow.
• “Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man.”
• Humorous Mecutio’s last joke in the play shows strong foreshadowing of the grimness yet to come. Containing a double meaning, this pun implies his sudden seriousness and bafflement, and the literal sense that he is surprisingly about to be placed in the ground. His death is a key event as it implants the idea for the audience that with the comedian’s death, all comedy is lost. This caused an emotional outburst of vengeance, grief and guilt for Romeo. Unfortunately, all can affect a person’s rationality.
• Despite his laid groundwork, he he luckless Romeo’s plans further fail as he finds himself going against his one motivation - love. Romeo and Juliet’s situation entangles as he uncontrollably commits a murderous act against her cousin, in a state of disbelief for Mercutio.
• “O I am fortune‘s fool!”
• Romeo sees this as further proof that he is a pawn in fate’s game, believing this is what inspired him to kill Tybalt. There are other factors towards his decision, such as his social expectation to avenge his friend and his emotional restraint. Ultimately, no matter which one was the final push, it was incredibly detrimental to his situation. This turning point meant not only that there was another obstacle to overtake to love freely, but also that he could not live in Verona at all due to banishment.
• Conclusion 


  in act 3 scene 1, Mercutio’s death shifts the trajectory of everything. Romeo’s act of revenge against Tybalt quickly follows this, causing a chain reaction of banishment, hiding and the ultimate suicide of both Romeo and his star-crossed love, Juliet. The ultimate root for this suffering is highly up for interpretation, it is debated to be between fate, free will and social expectations, but I believe that the couple‘s bitter and forbidden end was their inevitable destiny. This was shown since their beginning in rival families, and further emphasised by other obstacles.
• Until the morbidity of the play was increased by death, it was unchallenging to view this as a romance, or even comedy. Though with every moment that passed following this turning point, the mood darkened and the tragedy became undeniable.