Tybalt

• Tybalt

  AO1 - Pugnacious

  “talk of peace? I hate the word as I hate hell, all Montagues”
• AO2: Tybalt’s repetition of ‘hate’ presents him as an unforgiving character, destined for violent pursuits. His use of alliteration and reference to ‘hell’ set him up as the antagonist and the audience is therefore unsurprised when he later stabs Mercutio under Romeo’s arm.
• AO3: Tybalt cares about family honour but the audience may also get the impression that he uses this to justify his violent actions and grudge against the Montagues. As Tybalt dies as a result of his conflict, perhaps Shakespeare is suggesting to the audience that destructive honour will be punishable by death whereas peaceful characters like Benvolio live on.
• Tybalt

  AO1 - Loyal

  “Now by the stock and honour of my kin to strike him dead I hold it not a sin”
• AO2: Tybalt directly refers to his ancestry, ‘stock’ and sense of family honour here. He uses it to justify a sinful and decisive act to ‘strike him dead’, which is ironic given that Tybalt lives in a religious society, governed by the rules of the church. He is prepared to overlook this to satisfy his pride.
• AO3: Even Capulet says Romeo ‘shall be endur’d’ when Tybalt wants to fight him. This shows just how futile Tybalt’s grudge against Romeo is- he has only attended a Capulet party but Tybalt would not consider killing him a sin. This may give the impression his grudge is petty. However, the audience fears it is also very dangerous. Capulet also needs to take some of the blame as he has burdened his young male family members with a sense of family honour.