Skip to main content

What are three reasons that the Prince's response to Tybalt's death is fair or unfair?

In Act III, Scene 1, both Mercutio and Tybalt are killed in a street fight. Mercutio is stabbed by Tybalt while Romeo is attempting to break up the fight. Once Mercutio dies, Tybalt, who had run away, inexplicably returns to the scene where he is promptly challenged and killed by the grieving Romeo. When the Prince arrives, he listens to Benvolio, who had been a witness to the violence, give an account of the fight. Benvolio explains truthfully, although Lady Capulet says he is lying. Her version, however, is actually full of lies, claiming that the Montagues had ganged up on Tybalt. She demands the death penalty for Romeo. The Prince listens and his judgement is that Romeo should be banished from Verona. This verdict is unacceptable to Lady Capulet because earlier in the play the Prince had decreed that the penalty for fighting in the streets would be death, with no exceptions.


The Prince's decision is fair for three reasons. First, Tybalt instigated the fight by challenging Romeo and then insulting him by calling him a "villain." Second, even though Mercutio's death was somewhat of an accident, Tybalt was responsible and should have received the Prince's penalty of death. Third, because Tybalt returned to the scene, it is fair to believe that Romeo was simply defending himself against a man who had earlier threatened him.


One might also argue that the Prince's decision was unfair. One argument (Lady Capulet's) might claim that Romeo should suffer the death penalty because that was the law and Romeo should have understood that fighting in the street would bring the harshest judgement. Another argument that Romeo should face the death penalty is that Romeo was actually at fault for Mercutio's death as well as Tybalt's. Romeo should have initially fought his own battle and not allowed his friend to take his place. Romeo even admits this just before Tybalt returns:





This gentleman, the Prince’s near ally,
My very friend, hath got this mortal hurt
In my behalf. My reputation stained
With Tybalt’s slander—Tybalt, that an hour
Hath been my cousin! O sweet Juliet,
Thy beauty hath made me effeminate
And in my temper softened valor’s steel.





Another way to look at the decision would be to argue that even banishment was totally unfair to Romeo. After all, he did all he could to attempt to stop the fighting between Tybalt and Mercutio. He backed down to Tybalt and even told Tybalt that he loved him. When Mercutio was stabbed, Romeo was only trying to break things up. Tybalt was at fault for virtually everything that happened, and Romeo was only reacting to the shock of seeing his best friend dead.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...

Is 'efficate' a word in English?

I routinely hear the word "efficate" being used. For example, "The most powerful way to efficate a change in the system is to participate." I do not find entries for this word in common English dictionaries, but I do not have an unabridged dictionary. I have checked the OED (I'm not sure if it is considered unabridged), and it has no entry for "efficate". It does have an entry for "efficiate", which is used in the same way. Wordnik has an entry for "efficate" with over 1800 hits, thus providing some evidence for the frequency of use. I personally like the word and find the meaning very clear and obvious when others use it. If it's not currently an "officially documented" word, perhaps its continued use will result in it being better documented.