Dramatic Purpose Essay

Act 3 Scene 1 is the main turning point of the play. It is during this scene that the play becomes a tragedy. The scene begins with Benvolio asking that they all go inside because he fears a brawl. Benvolio states, â€Å"I pray thee, good Mercutio, let’s retire: The day is hot, the Capulets abroad, and, if we meet, we shall not scape a brawl. † Mercutio ignores him and is entertaining everyone by taunting and provoking Tybalt. Soon the happily married Romeo enters. Tybalt calls Romeo a villain â€Å"Romeo, the hate I bear thee can afford No better term than this, Thou art a villain† Tybalt calls Romeo a villain to coax him into duelling but also because he will have no regrets in slaying him. Tybalt becomes angry at Romeo â€Å"this shall not excuse the injuries that thou hast done me, therefore turn and draw. † Tybalt thinks that Romeo is mocking him but Romeo still refuses to fight. Romeo tries to be nice to Tybalt, â€Å"I do protest I never injured thee, but love thee better than thou canst devise. Romeo is so blinded by his love for Juliet that he does not want anyone to get hurt, especially a cousin he just gained through marriage to Juliet. Mercutio then decides to fight on Romeo’s behalf since Romeo has dishonoured himself. Mercutio calls Romeo a coward â€Å"O calm, dishonourable vile submission:† Mercutio says this because Romeo decided to stand down like the common coward. Mercutio then tries to coax Tyba lt into duelling him â€Å"[he draws] Tybalt, you rat catcher, will you walk? † Romeo tries to stop the fight between Tybalt and Mercutio by getting in between them. Romeo says to Mercutio, â€Å"Gentle Mercutio, put thy rapier up. † Even Benvolio tries to stop them. Benvolio being the peacekeeper did not want to watch Mercutio duel a Capulet of which there were many that hot afternoon. He was worried that on such a hot day the heat would cause tempers to rise easily. Benvolio tries to get the fight between Tybalt and Mercutio off the streets â€Å"We talk here in the public haunt of men: Either withdraw unto some private place, and reason coldly of your grievances, Or else depart; here all eyes gaze on us. † The fight ends when Mercutio is stabbed by Tybalt. Filled with rage for Mercutio’s death, Romeo fights and kills Tybalt. The citizens of Verona, including both families of Romeo and Juliet, rush to where Tybalt and Mercutio lay dead. The scene ends with the Prince banishing Romeo from Verona. Shakespeare builds the tension in this scene by showing us the aggressive sides of each of the characters. For example, Shakespeare makes Romeo try and befriend his enemy which enrages Tybalt. Tybalt then fights Mercutio in place of Romeo and eventually Mercutio is killed. Romeo enraged because of the death of his best friend, reacts by killing Tybalt. The audience now knows that this play can only end in tears for everyone. In my opinion I think that Act 3 Scene 1 is by far the best scene in Romeo and Juliet. It shows the reader many sides of the characters like Mercutio who is most of the time acting like a fool but heroically fights Tybalt for Romeo; Romeo who shows a loving nature towards Tybalt and Tybalt thinking Romeo is mocking him. The dramatic purpose of this scene is to act as the main turning point of the play. It is intense from the start and ends with the banishment of Romeo from Verona by the Prince and turns the love story into a tragedy. Casting: Role of Tybalt – Coty Simpson or Zak Efron Tybalt’s character is the same from the start of the play right up to and during Act 3 Scene 1. In the play we always see him as a fierce and fiery person. Tybalt is very aggressive, arrogant and has a bad temper. He is always looking for a fight but mostly fights with words not physically until Act 3. Benvolio descr ibes Tybalt to Lady Montague as â€Å"the fiery Tybalt, with his sword prepared†. In Act 3 we see how dangerous Tybalt truly can be when he challenges both Romeo and Mercutio. Mercutio also infers that any word with Tybalt could easily end with a physical fight. He states: â€Å"And but one word with one of us? Couple it with something, make it a word and a blow. † Tybalt’s character is also very insecure. Tybalt complains to his uncle and aunt that Romeo has crashed their party and finds this act offensive, insulting and hurts the family and his status. Tybalt states, â€Å"This shall not excuse the injuries that thou hast done to me. † Tybalt is also a bit of a coward as he runs away after killing Mercutio, possibly afraid of the consequences he will face when the Prince finds out. Even before he dies by Romeo’s attack, Tybalt still holds on to his powerful personality because he revels on how he got Romeo angry enough to fight proving he is stronger than Romeo who only acts on emotion not reason. To play the part of Tybalt, both Zac Efron and Cody Simpson can be cast. Both these actors attract a young audience. In the play, Shakespeare does not give Tybalt age, but his actions show him to be about 19-25 years old so both actors are the right age to convincingly play this part. However, Zac Efron previous casting experience will allow him to easily adapt to play the role of Tybalt. As Anakin Skywalker (Darth Vader) in â€Å"Robot Chicken; Star Wars Episode II†, Zac Efron played one of movie-history worst â€Å"bad guy†. Like Tybalt Darth Vader angers easily and is motivated by rational rage and not an irrational (passionate) rage. Also, Vader’s goal is to inspire hatred and fear to control everyone around him. One possible downside to Efron playing the part of Tybalt is the challenge of convincingly performing the scenes as written in Middle English. In conclusion I believe that Zac Efron will be a good actor in playing the role of Tybalt. Cody Simpson would be my second cast choice for Tybalt. Cody is Australian. His accent may be more convincing when performing in Tybalt’s role in Middle English. Also, Cody can be serious and focused. One key issues against Cody playing the part of Tybalt is he does not have a history of doing long films. Most of Cody’s performances have been short films and music videos. Of the two actors, Zac Efron would be the best Tybalt because he has play the role of the bad-guy and has a history of acting. Casting: Role of Mercutio – Taylor Lotner or Justin Bieber Mercutio’s character is humorous, joking and sarcastic teases throughout the play and up until his death in Act 3 Scene 1. He is incredibly smart, has a quick wit and clever mind. Mercutio is a driving force in the play. Along with being Romeo best friend he gives the audience important information that indicates the bad events that will happen. His death is the turning point in the play. Taylor Lautner and Justin Bieber are possible great actors to be cast in the role of Mercutio. Taylor Lautner is a person that has been in many films. He has played the role of a guy being chased by secret agents to acting as a wear-wolf. He can be a fun actor and become more of a serious person in the proper scenes just like Mercutio. Taylor Lautner is 21 years old and would be close to the age that Mercutio would be in the play. One disadvantage of having Taylor play the role of Mercutio is he may not be able to fully perform the role of Mercutio. On the other hand, Justin Bieber is known as being a goofy person. Like Mercutio, he has a great way of making everything he says be funny and makes others laugh. One major drawback to using Justin in this role is his lack of experience. Justin has only made one movie. Further, that movie was more of an auto-biography and not a dramatic play. Justin Bieber is also a bit too young to play this role. Ultimately, Taylor Lautner would make the best Mercutio. His personality and ability will allow him to mimic and perform the part of Mercutio that I have pictured in my movie. Casting: Role of Montague – Robert De Niro or John Travolta The two actors best suited to play the role of Montague are Robert De Niro and John Travolta. Robert De Niro physical features give him the â€Å"look† of Montague. He portrays the â€Å"look† of a smart and upright citizen like Montague is in Romeo and Juliet. Also, De Niro has played a similar character in his role as the father figure Pat Sr. n â€Å"Silver Linings Playbook† who is a bookie obsessed with the Philadelphia Eagles. Also, De Niro in the movie becomes a mean and cruel father. He has played a bad characters before. On the other hand, John Travolta though he has played some bad characters like his role in Pulp Fiction, his is mostly cast as a sweet and innocent person as we saw in many of his movies. Also, he do es not come across as a father-figure as well as De Niro and would not look authentic in the part of a stern and cruel character such as Montague. The best person, then, to play Montague is Robert De Niro.