Hello everybody and welcome to today’s video, analysing the character of Tybalt.
Tybalt, nephew to Lady Capulet, is perhaps the only character of noble
birth who seems set on driving forward the grudge between the two families.
Tybalt’s first entrance is significant. The Act 1, Scene 1 stage directions tell us
‘Enter Benvolio on one side, Tybalt on the other’. We’ve already explored how Benvolio
often aims to make and keep peace between the two families; Tybalt can be seen as
the exact opposite of this. Hate-filled and defiant, Tybalt seeks out conflict and then,
having sought it out, revels in the drama of swordsmanship. It is therefore fitting
that Tybalt and Benvolio arrive at the same time, but on opposite sides of the stage:
their approach to conflict is in direct opposition, just like their stage placement.
Tybalt opens with ‘What, art thou drawn among these heartless hinds? / Turn thee, Benvolio;
look upon thy death’. This declaration of war includes a slur upon Benvolio’s manhood:
Tybalt’s accusation that Benvolio is surrounded by ‘heartless hinds’ plays on the words ‘hart’
and ‘hind’, words used respectively for male and female deer. He therefore implies that
Benvolio is effeminate and ineffectual. This focus upon masculinity is typical of Tybalt.
It’s something we see again in Act 3 Scene 1 when he says to Romeo: ‘Boy, this shall not
excuse the injuries / That thou hast done me; therefore turn and draw’. This derisive comment
is designed to put Romeo in his place and to infer that he is not yet, like Tybalt, a man.
Interestingly, Tybalt is labelled a ‘saucy boy’ by Lord Capulet at the feast--this reveals the
irony that although Tybalt taunts Romeo about being a boy, Tybalt himself is chastised as one.
Tybalt, then, is the play’s major antagonist. An antagonist is a character, or sometimes a
group of characters, who act in opposition to the protagonist—the main character, Romeo. Throughout
the play, Shakespeare repeats this image of Tybalt as an aggressor. In every scene he appears,
he is either fighting, or looking to fight. The fact he dies in sword fight is a highly fitting,
suitable end for his unpleasant character. Shakespeare knew that a good tragedy needed
to be powered by an antagonist so, when one goes, another one appears. As I’ve discussed
in the character analysis of Paris, when Tybalt dies in Act 3, Scene 1, it’s a bit too early in
the play for there to be no more antagonist. For this reason, Shakespeare suddenly develops
the previously one-dimensional character of Paris to take on the role of antagonist to
Romeo. Paris and Romeo fight in Act 5, and again Romeo is the victor. Whilst the sudden change in
Paris’ character to antagonist is perhaps not quite credible, Tybalt embodies everything we
would expect to find in this character type. Consider how Tybalt uses ‘thou’ and ‘you’ in Act
3, Scene 1. ‘Thou’ and ‘you’ signified different levels of formality. ‘Thou’ was used between
friends in lower classes, or to show social superiority over the person being spoken to,
or to show scorn. ‘You’ was used between friends in the upper classes, or to show respect.
This is particularly interesting during this exchange:
TYBALT You shall find me apt enough to that,
sir, an you will give me occasion. MERCUTIO
Could you not take some occasion without giving? TYBALT
Mercutio, thou consort'st with Romeo,— MERCUTIO
‘Consort’? What, dost thou make us minstrels? An thou make minstrels of us, look to hear nothing
but discords. Here's my fiddlestick; here's that shall make you dance. Zounds, ‘consort’!
In this exchange, the two men switch between the formal ‘you’ and the informal ‘thou’,
as Mercutio antagonises Tybalt. Mercutio’s comment ‘Could you not take some occasion without giving?’
has irritated Tybalt, so he responds with ‘thou’ to insult Mercutio by implying that
he is lower class. This is because Mercutio has challenged Tybalt’s need to have an ‘occasion’.
Mercutio escalates the argument by also using ‘thou’ as an insult.
Tybalt only appears three times in the entire play, but his impact is significant:
Romeo’s murder of Tybalt is the climax of the play—from this point onwards, it’s a downward
spiral that ends with Romeo and Juliet’s deaths. It’s interesting to consider what would have
happened if Romeo had not killed Tybalt. Tybalt would likely have been put to death for murdering
Mercutio, especially when we remember that Mercutio was related to the prince.
But Romeo takes matters into his own hands, is banished, misses the letter about Juliet’s fake
death and commits suicide. So, although Tybalt has a minor role in the play, his impact is massive.
In terms of key quotes for Tybalt, something that shows his fiery temper and dismissive
attitude would be good: ‘heartless hinds’ is a simple enough choice.
If you found this video useful, please do give it a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel.
Everything I go through in this video can be found in the third edition of Mr
Bruff’s Guide to ‘Romeo and Juliet’, which is linked in the description.