Question

Read the excerpt from Act I, scene i of Romeo and Juliet. Benvolio: I do but keep the peace: put up thy sword, 50 Or manage it to part these men with me. Which is the best paraphrase of Benvolio’s lines? I am a peacekeeper, so put your sword away and tell your men that they must leave. I cannot keep the peace, so hold your sword up and help me get these men to stop. I am not interested in peace, so pull out your sword and fight these men with me. I want to keep the peace, so put your sword away or use it to help me break up this brawl.

Answer 1

I want to keep the peace, so put your sword away or use it to help me break up this brawl.

Step-by-step explanation:

This is the best paraphrase of Benvolio's words. In these lines, Benvolio states that he is simply interested in keeping the peace. Therefore, he asks the other person (which in this case is Tybalt) to put his sword away. If he does not want to, then he asks Tybalt to at least use it to help him stop the fight. However, Tybalt does not like this suggestion.

Answer 2

The answer is: I want to keep the peace, so put your sword away or use it to help me break up this brawl.

Since he states that he is a peace keeper, and that he is not looking for troubles, and he´s already holding the sword he asks him to break up the brawl, or to part these men with him.