Please provide a character analysis of Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet.

Tybalt is Juliet's cousin, and, from the first scene of
the play, shown to be someone who intends on keeping the feud going, at all costs.  When
he enters Act I, scene i to find Benvolio attempting to part the Capulet and Montague
servants, he decides that this is a perfect instigation to take this brawl to the next
level.  He says:

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What, art thou drawn among these hearless
hinds?

Turn thee, Benvolio, look upon thy
death.

. . .What, drawn, and talk of peace?  I hat the
word,

As I hate hell, all Montagues, and
thee.

And it is, in fact,
Tybalt who is the only male character in the play without some sense of desire for at
least periodically ignoring the feud.  Tybalt is, no matter the occasion, always
attempting to defeat the Montagues.

• He
  recognizes Romeo at his Uncle Capulet's feast and, even when Capulet demands that he let
  the boy alone, determines that he wil be avenged on Romeo for his mocking of his
  family's festivities.


• He challenges Romeo when he meets
  him in the streets, but is just as happy to duel the innocent Mercutio to the
  death.

So, Tybalt is a pretty two dimensional
character.  He exists in the play to drive the complications that are crucial to the
plot of the tragedy.  If he had not decided, in Act I, scene v, that he must be avenged
on Romeo, then the crucial events of Act III -- the murders of Mercutio and Tybalt that
lead to the banishment of Romeo -- would not take
place.

Interestingly, Tybalt, as he speaks aside to the
audience just before he exits Act I, scene v, shows all the dramatic markings of a
villain:

I
will withdraw; but this intrusion shall

Now seeming sweet,
convert to bitt'rest
gall.

And, just like an evil
character who prophesies doom upon the events to come, Tybalt predicts and promises that
there will be "bitter gall" to follow this superficially happy moment at his uncle's
feast.  And, like a perfect villain, he follows through to make sure that just this fate
befalls the characters of the play.

For more on Tybalt,
please follow the links below.