Responsibility In William Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

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Pages: 2

Through Benvolio’s clever manipulation of words, Benvolio shows compassion and loyalty for Romeo which makes him look rather innocent, but Benvolio also exploits the flaws in Tybalt’s personality and makes him look more guilty. Although Benvolio doesn’t want Romeo to get in trouble, he still acknowledges to the Prince that Romeo did indeed murder Tybalt, which shows his cleverness because he demonstrates his ability to speak the truth while being careful not to show too much favor for Romeo or too much hatred against Tybalt. Benvolio decides to begin his defense by stating who killed Tybalt in a very precise way, “Tybalt, here slain, whom Romeo’s hand did slay” (3.1.160). By admitting that Romeo did kill Tybalt Benvolio levels the playing ground showing that he is not particularly for one side, which is very wise of him because he knows that the Prince knows that he is a Montague and that he would probably try to hide or cover the fact that Romeo murdered Tybalt. …show more content…
This puts more emphasis on Romeo being the deterrent of the whole situation which influences the Prince’s punishment for Romeo because by Benvolio saying that Romeo’s speech was “fair” Prince has to come to a conclusion that Romeo was not the cause of the fight and was actually very polite to Tybalt in the beginning of the interaction. Rather Romeo is put even more under the light of innocence when Benvolio proclaims, “All this utterèd/with gentle breath, calm look, knees humbly bowed”