In romeo and Juliet how does shakespeare create suspense in scene 3?

Answer 1

Benvolio's line which starts the scene creates a sense of urgency. "The day is hot, the Capulets are abroad, and if we meet we shall not 'scape a brawl." Immediately we are informed that the weather is hot, making people short-tempered, and there are Capulets looking for a fight. Benvolio says, "Let's get out of here, there is trouble brewing." But Mercutio doesn't care: he is like Bud Abbott standing there calmly while Lou Costello is frantically trying to tell him that Frankenstein's Monster is lurching towards him. The audience knows that Benvolio is right.

Then once the Capulets do show up we find that Tybalt is hunting Romeo. At first we think that perhaps Romeo won't show up. Then he does and he gives us some hope by refusing to respond to Tybalt's feeble taunts. All the time there is some hope that Romeo will get out of it and Tybalt won't kill him. And hooray! It actually happens. And that's when Mercutio dies and it all goes to hell.