Act 2 Scene 4

The scene commences in a street where Mercutio and Benvolio are discussing the fact that Romeo has not returned home since his foray last night, asking “where the devil should this Romeo be? Came he not home tonight?” Benvolio reveals that Tybalt has sent a letter to Romeo’s house and has challenged him to a duel due to the events of last night. Jokingly, Mercutio says that Romeo is already dead for love and now he will face a deadly enemy, crying “Alas, poor Romeo! He is already dead, stabbed with a white wench’s black eye, shot through the ear with a love song, the very pin of his heart cleft with the blind bow-boy’s butt shaft. And is he a man to encounter Tybalt?” Here foreshadowing is used, as it is alluded to that it will be Romeo’s love of another that will bring about his untimely death.