Monday, December 23, 2013

In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo kills Tybalt... With what was Tybalt killed?With a dagger, a sword, knife...?

In Act III, Scene 1 of Romeo and
Juliet
, Romeo returns from his marriage to Juliet by Friar Laurence to find
his friends.  But, he sees an altercation in progress and seeks to defuse the
situation.  Now that he is married to Juliet, he tells Tybalt that he loves him and does
not wish to quarrel.  Calling upon Benvolio to get Tybalt and Mercutio to lay down their
swords after the enraged Tybalt draws his sword, he stands in the way of Mercutio,
causing him to be stabbed.  After the mortally wounded Mercutio is taken off, Romeo
bemoans his weakness:


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...O sweet
Juliet,


Thy beauty hath made me
effeninate,


And in my temper softened valor's
steel
(3.1.115)



Here
Romeo refers to his sword, that he uses against Tybalt, just as Tybalt has slain
Mercutio with his sword. 


It is only logical that Romeo
would use the same type of weapon that Tybalt does.  Also, the sword is the weapon that
the men of that time used.  For instance, in the first act, Sampson, the Capulet servant
tells Abraham, "My naked weapon is out," an allusion to his sword which has been pulled
from its sheath.  Later, old Lord Capulet calls for his "long sword" when he hears the
feuding.  So, with the mention of "steel" for his weapon, as well as the other mentions
of swords, it seems very likely that Romeo, too, has a sword with which he kills
Tybalt.

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