Explain why Act 3 Scene 1 is the turning point of the play and how Shakespeare makes it dramatic!

Essay by mike_g10High School, 10th gradeA, January 2009

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Explain why Act 3 Scene 1 is the turning point of the play and how Shakespeare makes it dramatic!

Act 3 Scene 1 is the main turning point of the play as bawdy comedy drops into tragedy after the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt which result in the banishment of Romeo from Verona. Moreover, throughout this scene Shakespeare uses various devices such as movement, tone and dramatic irony in order to make the play more interesting, exciting, and dramatic and create suspense. Furthermore this is the scene in which all the characters of the play are affected and change in one way or another. (Romeo becomes violent after this scene).

Shakespeare uses different ways in order to create mood and atmosphere which is something that generates interest at the start of the scene. The scene begins with Mercutio trying to wind up Benvolio who is a peacemaker and has no intention to start a quarrel. Shakespeare uses pathetic fallacy in order to create tension and add interest at the very beginning of the scene when Benvolio uses the word "hot" twice to describe the weather and find an excuse no to start a fight. This is very humorous and is a continuation of the previous scenes where the servants make rude jokes and also when the nurse who is a comic character says" Suffer every nerve to use me at his pleasure" (she makes a double-entendre without knowing). All these would have made the audience laugh. Moreover Benvolio says the words "brawl" and "blood stirring" which create tension and is like a warning which foreshadows all the bad events that are going to take place. This is also a comic way to start the scene as Mercutio says many witty and humorous things. One particular example is when he says...