Character Of Tybalt In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

Character Essay – Tybalt

“What, drawn, and talk of peace? I hate the word, as I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee. Have at thee, coward!” This is a very telling line from Tybalt, a character from Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s highly acclaimed Romantic Tragedy. Tybalt Capulet, ‘Prince of Cats’ (the cousin of Juliet) is violent young man, and acts as the foil, or opposite, of Benvolio. Tybalt has many negative attributes, like arrogance and aggressiveness, but perhaps the cause for this is the fact that loyalty and bravery are two of his strongest traits, and combined with the harsh environment of war, bloodshed and inter-family feud that he was brought up in, it was perhaps inevitable for Tybalt to turn into the most hateful and despised antagonist of this iconic

“Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries that thou hast done me. Therefore turn and draw.” Tybalt says this to Romeo, as he is always ready for a fight. Tybalt’s bravery allows him to confront his enemies with confidence and self-assuredness, which is where his arrogance stems from. Alas, Tybalt does not use this bravery for good, to stand up to the two rival houses and bring peace, but to provoke it, shedding more blood, including that of the innocent. This is another example of how Tybalt reflects the theme of hate in Romeo and Juliet. His courage to put his own life at stake, in one sense, could be seen as ignorance – unable to see the stupidity of the situation he finds himself and his family in – a blood feud, the origins, and thus the meaning, or purpose, of it, lost in time. It is pointless. There are many such people in our world today – there always have been. Misguided beliefs and prejudice renders them unable to see the good in others and how much better the world would be without war. Indeed, Shakespeare helps us to understand that this mentality is wrong and has no purpose but