Why is Tybalt seeking a fight with Romeo in Romeo and Juliet?

William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet opens with an image of feuding violence.  In the prologue, the Chorus proclaims, “Two households, both alike in dignity / (In fair Verona, where we lay our scene), / From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, / Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.”  The Chorus introduces the ongoing hostility between the Montagues and Capulets, a rivalry that is “ancient.”  Therefore, before the play even begins, the audience is aware of the enmity between the two families, so it is not surprising for Tybalt, a Capulet, to want to fight Romeo, a Montague.   

The reasons for the feud between Tybalt and Romeo arrive early in Act 1 Scene 1, where Tybalt enters and refers to the servants of the Montague house as “heartless hinds,” an alliteration that means the servants are worthless.  When prompted to put down his sword, Tybalt states, “What, drawn, and talk of peace? I hate the word, / As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee” (I. i. 60-61).  In a simile that compares his hatred of peace to his hatred of hell, Tybalt reveals the deep-rooted anger he has toward members of the Montague house.  Further, his persistence to still fight despite being presented with a peace accord shows that Tybalt blindly follows the traditions of his ancestors, a point that gains more significance at the conclusion of the play when Romeo and Juliet die as a result of their families’ long-standing feud.

Then, in Act 1 Scene 5, Tybalt becomes angered at Romeo’s presence at the Capulet ball.  Tybalt delivers the following lines to his uncle:   

This, by his voice, should be a Montague.—

(to his PAGE) Fetch me my rapier, boy.—

What, dares the slave

Come hither, covered with an antic face,

To fleer and scorn at our solemnity?

Now, by the stock and honor of my kin,

To strike him dead I hold it not a sin (I. iv. 52-58)

Again indoctrinated with the ancient feud of his ancestors, Tybalt is furious that Romeo has come to the party and he professes that it is not a crime to kill him.  Tybalt repeatedly refers to Romeo as a “villain” and boils with anger.  However, Capulet, Tybalt’s uncle, orders Tybalt to leave Romeo alone and to not start a fight.  Tybalt states, “Patience perforce with willful choler meeting / Makes my flesh tremble in their different greeting. / I will withdraw, but his intrusion shall / Now seeming sweet, convert to bitterest gall” (I. iv. 88-91).  Tybalt agrees to let Romeo attend the banquet without any conflict, but promises to exact revenge on him at a later time.  Thus, he tries to fight Romeo in Act 3, Scene 1, where the pair finally engage in a duel and Tybalt dies.