Who He Is
Tybalt is Lady Capulet's nephew, calls Capulet uncle and is Juliet's cousin. He is the house's duelist: Mercutio describes him as the captain of courtesies, who fights as one sings, keeping time, and calls him the king of cats. He says he hates the word peace as he hates hell.
Trajectory
In Scene 1 of Act I, he arrives at the brawl when Benvolio is already trying to part the servants, and challenges him. Benvolio says he only keeps the peace, and Tybalt answers that he hates the word as he hates hell, along with all the Montagues and Benvolio himself. The brawl begins, and Prince Escalus threatens death to anyone who again disturbs the streets.
In Scene 5 of Act I, he recognizes a Montague by his voice and wants to kill him right there. Capulet asks whether it is young Romeo, and Tybalt confirms it. Capulet restrains him, praises Romeo and calls Tybalt an impudent boy, and Tybalt leaves swearing that this intrusion, sweet in appearance, will turn to gall. In Scene 4 of Act II, he sends a challenge to Romeo's house.
In Scene 1 of Act III, he looks for Romeo in the square, calls him a villain, and Romeo refuses the duel. When Mercutio takes up the challenge for himself, Tybalt wounds him with a blow under Romeo's arm and runs off. He returns soon after, with Mercutio already dead, and is killed by Romeo.
His death shapes the scenes that follow. In Scene 2 of Act III, the Nurse calls him the best friend she had, and Juliet, who weeps for her cousin, concludes that her husband lives and that the word banished weighs more. In Scene 4 of Act III, Capulet sets Juliet's wedding to Paris for a small feast, out of respect for the dead. In Scene 3 of Act IV, Juliet, alone with the vial, imagines Tybalt's body still fresh in the tomb and sees his ghost searching for Romeo. In Scene 3 of Act V, as he lays Paris in the tomb, Romeo speaks to Tybalt's body: he asks what greater favor he could do him than, with the same hand that killed him, cut short the life of his enemy, and he asks his pardon.
Themes Embodied
Tybalt does not accept a Montague at the Capulets' party, not even when the host orders him to leave the guest in peace. The reason he gives is the name, a Montague, our enemy, and the supposed mockery of the party.
Tybalt is the violence of honor. His loyalty is to the house, and at the ball he places it above the word of the house's own head. Capulet restrains him but only postpones the matter: the oath of gall is fulfilled in Scene 1 of Act III. The irony is that the blow he gives Mercutio will strike someone who is not part of the feud, and the revenge Romeo takes on him closes the lovers' future at once.
Relationships
- Capulet: the uncle, who restrains him at the ball and, after the death, honors him with a small wedding feast.
- Juliet: the cousin, who weeps for him and sees his ghost before drinking the potion.
- Romeo: the enemy, whom he calls a villain, and whom he kills and asks forgiveness of in the tomb.
- Mercutio: the sword rival, who mocks him and is wounded by him.
- Benvolio: the first he challenges, in the street brawl.
- The Nurse: the one who mourns in him the best friend she had.