Tybalt, Mercutio, and Benvoliorepresent three diverse
points along a conitnuum. Tybalt is fiery and hot-blooded, with a short temper that is
prone to violence and confrontation. We see this in the opening fight scene and just
prior to the death of Mercutio. Benvolio, on the other hand, is at the opposite end of
this spectrum (as is Romeo, who might also be inserted here). He resists violence and
confrontation and seeks peace the vast majority of the time. In the opening fight scene
he resists engaging Tybalt as long as he possibly can and finally does fight only to
protect himself. In fact, Benvolio opens Act III by trying to avoid
confrontation:
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;
For now, these hot days, is the mad blood
stirring.
It is
Mercutio, then, who represents a kind of middle ground between Tybalt and Benvolio.
Mercutio fights when provoked and certainly doesn't shy away from engaging such
situations, but it is not Mercutio who actually starts the fight. Mercutio seems to
swing back and forth between the hot-headedness of Tybalt and Benvolio's desire for
peace. In fact, Mercutio's name comes from the word "mercurial," meaning
"characterized by rapid and unpredictable changeableness of mood;
a mercurial temper."
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