Romeo as a Tragic Hero Essay - 1536 Words

â€Å"A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life;† (Prologue, 6) Tragedy, events of great misfortune, has engulfed the world for centuries. Tragedy often giving rise to feelings of depression, anger, sorrow, and guilt. Romeo, in the tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, is a wealthy adolescent of the Montague family. He falls in love with young Juliet, of his rival family—the Capulets. Romeo’s infatuation with Juliet leads to a hasty desire for marriage. This creates a rash and careless mindset, making Romeo susceptible to errors in judgement. This same poor judgment causes Romeo to thoughtlessly slay Tybalt, as revenge for the death of his friend, Mercutio. Through fate, Romeo coincidentally falls in love with a Capulet, his family’s†¦show more content†¦He failed to realize the repercussions of his family’s abandonment, especially since he has abandoned his family for an enemy. This infatuation and haste gives birth to an altered mindset—one â€Å"too rash, too unadvis’d, too sudden,† (II, ii, 118). This mindset causes a loss of self-control. Romeo becomes driven by passions, and ignores reason. It should be noted that passions are found the bottom of the hierarchy of the human soul. This hierarchy states the importance of each guiding sense, and following passion leads to dire consequences—usually death. Romeo’s reckless actions echo throughout the remainder of the play. During a brawl in Verona, Mercutio is slain by Tybalt. Romeo impulsively steps in and challenges Tybalt—claiming that â€Å"either [Tybalt] or [he], or both, must go with [Mercutio].† (III, i, 125). Romeo thoughtlessly engages in combat, hoping either Tybalt or he (Romeo) will die to honour Mercutio. This conflict results in Romeo killing Tybalt. Consequently, Romeo is banished from Verona by Prince Escales. Romeo is similarly hasty in deciding to end his life after discovering Juliet’s supposed death. Moments after poisoning himself and dying, Juliet wakes from her slumber and discovers her dead husband. Romeo’s hamartia proved fatal. However, a great deal of conflict was in-part, the result of chance’s influence. Chance is an unknown and unpredictable series of events that causes a certain end result, and it is sometimesShow MoreRelatedRomeo And Juliet Tragic Hero1306 Words   |  6 PagesIn Shakespeare’s classic play, Romeo and Juliet, the prologue refers to the title characters as â€Å"star-cross’d lovers† with a â€Å"death-mark’d love†, showing that the two are doomed from the start (Shakespeare 3). Being from two opposing families that are in a never-ending feud, Romeo and Juliet s love is forbidden. 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He has written many plays including Othello and Romeo and Juliet. Shakespear e was a man who wrote plays that followed the same literary conventions. These conventions included tragic hero, fallacy, irony, and also suspense. A tragic hero is a male figure who is high in society and one who always has a tragic flaw. Most of them are rich and intelligent men. In the story of Othello, Othello is the tragic hero. He was a character of nobility. He was a high in class and had highRead MoreGreek Theater: Tragedy Essay941 Words   |  4 Pagesemotions and then purifies or purges it down, it is never created. On the other hand the tragic hero is a man of repute and prosperity who does not hold virtue or justice but undergoes a misfortune due to his own flaw (hamartia). The hero is basically a decent person, neither a villain nor a perfection model. Aristotle says A man cannot become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall. This tragic flaw is the hero’s own free choice where his death is seen as a human waste. However it