Tybalt's Hate

          After reading part of Romeo & Juliet by Shakespeare, the character that interests me most in the play is Tybalt, the mean-spirited Capulet. Shakespeare, being the writer that he is, would never make a character purely evil. Tybalt may not be purely evil, but before he died, I saw no softness in his character. He seemed to me like he was filled of hate and deceit. All he wanted to do was fight Montagues and protect his family name. But when Romeo kills Tybalt, the Capulets seemed so full of despair that Tybalt must have brought more than sadness and impatience to his family. When Tybalt died, Juliet's nurse says, "O Tybalt, Tybalt, the best friend I had! O courteous Tybalt, honest gentlemen,". From what I had seen of Tybalt in the book, he didn't seem like a courteous or honest gentleman, he also didn't seem like he was the type to befriend a nurse. Was Tybalt truly a good person when he was not talking to a Montague, or were the mourners of Tybalt remembering only the good things done by Tybalt and ignoring the bad qualities?

          In the first scene, Tybalt says in response to Benvolio's attempts to keep the peace, "What, drawn and talk of peace? I hate the word. As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee." Tybalt never looked for peace, he was always looking for a fight against Montagues. One thing that I wondered about after reading this line is why Tybalt hates all Montagues. The rivalries between the rivalries are very old. Tybalt was probably born told to hate all Montagues. But does Tybalt hate Montagues because he is supposed to? The Montagues never seemed to do anything to Tybalt, in fact, they repeatedly tried to keep the peace. When Tybalt challenged Romeo to a duel, it was not a Capulet that took him up on the offer, but Mercutio, a member of neither families. Only when Tybalt slayed Mercutio, Romeo's best friend, did Romeo think it time to fight Tybalt. And Tybalt had nothing against Mercutio either, he just killed him for the point of killing. This seems to me like an unnecessary taking of a life to me. That doesn't seem to me like something a courteous and honest gentleman would do. 

        In modern-day literature, there is commonly a character like Tybalt in a novel. The character usually seems purely evil and it is hard to find a reason for their hate. Voldemort is one of those characters, you read the books and think about why they could possibly be so evil. In Tybalt's case, I see no reason for his evilness. He lives with a rich family, he goes to parties and seemingly has an overall good life. Why does he feel the need to pick fights and kill people? I think that the character of Tybalt is a mystery.