Tybalt () is a fictional character and the principal antagonist in
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's play ''
Romeo and Juliet
''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...
''. He is the son of Lady Capulet's brother,
Juliet's short-tempered first cousin, and
Romeo
Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Characters in Romeo and Juliet#Lord Montague, Lord Montague and his wife, Characters in Romeo and Juliet#Lady Montague, Lady Montague, he ...
's rival. Tybalt shares the same name as the character Tibert / Tybalt "the prince of cats" in the popular story ''
Reynard the Fox'', a point of mockery in the play.
Mercutio repeatedly calls Tybalt "prince of cats", in reference to his sleek, yet violent manner.
Luigi da Porto adapted the story as ''Giulietta e Romeo'' and included it in his ''Historia novellamente ritrovata di due Nobili Amanti'' (Newly found tale of two Noble lovers) published in 1530.
[ Da Porto drew on '' Pyramus and Thisbe'', Giovanni Boccaccio's '' Decameron'' and a novella by Masuccio Salernitano. Da Porto gave it much of its modern form, including the lovers' names, the rival families of Montecchi and Capuleti, and their location in ]Verona
Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...
.[ He also introduces characters corresponding to Shakespeare's Mercutio, Tybalt, and ]Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. Da Porto presents his tale as historically true and claims it took place in the days of Bartolomeo II della Scala (a century earlier than Salernitano). Montague and Capulet were actual 13th century political factions, but the only known connection between them is a mention in Dante
Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...
's ''Purgatorio'' as an example of civil dissension.[
]
Part in the play
In Act I, Scene I, Tybalt enters and helps his own servants, Sampson and Gregory, who are fighting in the streets with servants of the Montagues, Abraham and Balthasar. Seeing Benvolio (Romeo
Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Characters in Romeo and Juliet#Lord Montague, Lord Montague and his wife, Characters in Romeo and Juliet#Lady Montague, Lady Montague, he ...
's cousin) trying to stop the fight, Tybalt draws his sword to fight Benvolio, saying:
::What, drawn and talk of peace? I hate the word
::As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee.
::Have at thee, coward!
::—Act I, Scene I
Later, at the Capulets' ball, Tybalt is the first to recognize Romeo through his disguise, and would kill him if not forbidden by his uncle, Lord Capulet. His lust for revenge unsated, Tybalt sends a challenge letter to Romeo for a duel to the death. At the beginning of Act III, he enters looking for Romeo, only to create tensions with Mercutio, who was mocking Tybalt even before he walked into the scene. Tybalt initially ignores Mercutio and confronts Romeo, who refuses to fight because of his recent secret marriage to Juliet. Tybalt becomes even angrier; he does not know Romeo cannot fight him because they are now relatives.
Mercutio loses his temper and begins fighting Tybalt himself. Romeo tries to stop the combat by rushing between them, and Tybalt then stabs Mercutio under his arm. Mercutio dies from the wound, angering an already emotional Romeo. Enraged, Romeo duels and kills Tybalt in return, leading to his own exile by Prince Escalus.
Tybalt is revealed to be Juliet's maternal first cousin, when Lady Capulet arrives at the scene where Tybalt lies dead, and cries
::"Tybalt, my cousin, O my brother's child!"
::—Act III
Performance history
A sample of notable portrayals include:
* Louis Hector in Frank Reicher's 1923 Broadway show, which ran for 157 performances
* Orson Welles in Katharine Cornell's 1934 production; his Broadway debut
* Basil Rathbone in George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor ( ; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer, producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO Pictures, RKO when David O. Selzn ...
's 1936 film version; nominated for Best Supporting Actor
* Cornel Wilde in Laurence Olivier's 1940 Broadway production
* William Smithers in Peter Glenville's 1951 Broadway revival
* Enzo Fiermonte in the 1954 film rendition
* Richard Wordsworth in The Old Vic Company's 1956 Broadway production
* George Chakiris as Bernardo Nuñez in '' West Side Story'' (1961) musical; won Best Supporting Actor Oscar
* Michael York in Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 film adaptation
A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...
* Armand Assante in Theodore Mann's 1977 Broadway revival
* Alan Rickman in the 1978 ''BBC Television Shakespeare
The ''BBC Television Shakespeare'' is a series of British television adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, the plays of William Shakespeare, created by Cedric Messina and broadcast by BBC Television. Transmitted in the UK from 3 December 1978 to ...
'' rendition
* Norman Snow in '' The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'' (1982)
* Victor Spinetti in '' Romeo.Juliet'' (1990); depicts feral cats with voiceovers from a cast of British thespians
* John Leguizamo in Baz Luhrmann's '' Romeo + Juliet'' (1996), a modernized version of the play
* Patrick Connor as Tyrone in ''Tromeo and Juliet
''Tromeo and Juliet'' is a 1996 American independent transgressive romantic black comedy film and a loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's '' Romeo & Juliet'' from Troma Entertainment. The film was directed by Lloyd Kaufman from a screenp ...
'' (1997), a transgressive black comedy
Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...
interpretation
*Tom Ross in the 2001 French musical ''Roméo et Juliette''.
* Szilveszter P. Szabó in the 2004 Hungarian version of the 2001 French musical. This Tybalt has more of a backstory, and is more sympathetic than in the play.
*2006 Adam Rayner (actor) Romeo and Juliet Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon
* Jason Statham in the animated '' Gnomeo & Juliet'' (2011)
* Ed Westwick in the 2013 film adaptation
A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...
* Corey Hawkins in the 2013 Broadway re-telling
* Amar Ramasar as Bernardo in the 2020 stage revival of '' West Side Story''
* David Alvarez as Bernardo Nuñez in Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...
's film remake of '' West Side Story'' (2021)
*Alistair Toovey in '' Rosaline'' (2022)
Analysis
Draper (1939)[ points out the parallels between the Elizabethan belief in the four humours and the main characters of the play; Tybalt is choleric: Violent, vengeful, short-tempered, ambitious.][
]
Interpreting the text in the light of humours reduces the amount of plot attributed to chance by modern audiences.[
]
Footnotes
References
Bibliography
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External links
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{{Authority control
Literary characters introduced in 1597
Fictional Italian people in literature
Fictional murderers
Fictional nobility
Fictional swordfighters in literature
Male Shakespearean characters
Characters in Romeo and Juliet
Shakespeare villains