Romeo and Juliet- William Shakespeare. Analyse how Baz Luhrman has presented the character of Tybalt based on the original script of Romeo and Juliet.

Essay by Muse May 2004

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The first lines Tybalt had to say immediately brings out his personality to the audience. He says: "look upon thy death," to Benvolio, even though Benvolio had said to stop fighting and put their weapons down. Tybalt is the kind of person that thinks war is the best solution to all of his problems because, since he is a good fighter, he knows that he has a good chance of winning the war, thus making all his problems go away. He doesn't have time for peacemakers; he thinks of them as weak. Tybalt seems to enjoy making trouble over trivial things and with people who have no interesting in fighting. He picks on Benvolio after he sees him calming everyone down. Tybalt manages to turn a request from Benvolio for help around to portray his hate for the Montagues; "Peace, peace? I hate the word. As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee."

He doesn't even try to hide his hate for Montagues. His repeat of the word "peace" also shows us his disgust of peace.

The setting of the first scene is very apt; a petrol station can be a dangerous place if misused. A sign saying, "add more fuel to your fire" is seen for a reason. It means that a dangerous fight is coming up just by someone saying or doing the wrong thing. If a little thing like petrol is added to a small fire, it blows up. It's the same with a fight; if a small spark of hatred is already there, all it takes for it to blow up into a big fight is one small word or action. Tybalt is the flame, and Mercutio is the petrol. Tybalt is a dangerous person to have as an enemy, which is portrayed in...