ROMEO AND JULIET AS A TRAGEDY
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is his eleventh play. It is with no doubt a tragedy.
Shakespeare has included all the necessary elements for a tragedy. The play has a tragic hero
of high standing who dies. The hero opposes some conflicting force. The hero has a tragic
flaw and this flaw will lead to his downfall and the downfall of others. Good is always
wasted driving out evil. Indeed, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy.
In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is the tragic hero. He is the only son of the Montague
family, therefor he is of high standing and very wealthy. He is so well respected that even
Capulet, His family's sworn enemy praises him:
...let him alone,,
He bears him like a portly gentlemen;
And, to say truth, Verona brags of him
To be a virtuous and well-govern'd youth.
I would not for the wealth of all this town
Here in my house do him disparagement...(I.IV.65-70)
This means that among the people of Verona, Romeo is very well respected, and he would
not do any harm to Romeo at that time. Romeo is the hero in this story. Romeo must die
along with Juliet in order to stop the families' feud.
The conflicting force which Romeo opposes is the fact that he is a Montague that is in
love with a Capulet; his family's sworn enemy. The Montagues and the Capulets have been
feuding for many years. Romeo is a Montague and he is born into the feud. He does not like
it and he feels that it is a waste. Romeo has to disobey his family so he can be with Juliet.
In this play, Romeo's tragic flaw is that he is always melancholy, miserable, and
downcast, and Romeo is...