A tragic hero is a character in a story, often times the protagonist, destined for failure no matter how hard they try. The tragic hero has something that will always manage to get in their way. This weakness is called a tragic flaw. In the play, Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is a tragic hero. His tragic flaw is being impetuous. This means that Romeo acts before he thinks. Because of this tragic flaw that influences his decisions throughout the entire play, Romeo’s tragic hero attribute is shown.
In particular, Romeo was portrayed as a tragic hero was when he snuck into the Capulet’s party. At this party, he immediately fell for Juliet, his family’s greatest enemy’s daughter. He had not known Juliet for an hour when he decided that he wanted to marry her. Just a few hours before, he was in tears because Rosaline, Juliet’s
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Once Tybalt had found out that Romeo and his friends had crashed the Capulet party, he wrote Romeo a letter containing a duel. Since Romeo had been out all night at the party, then to Juliet’s balcony, and lastly to Friar Lawrence’s cell he had not been home to receive the duel. Later that same day, Romeo and Mercutio meet Tybalt in the street. Romeo decides not to fight Tybalt because they are cousins now. However, Tybalt does not know this because Romeo and Juliet are keeping their marriage a secret. Mercutio is also unaware of their marriage and is so upset that Romeo will not fight Tybalt that he decides to do it himself. Mercutio steps in to fight and is killed by Tybalt. Romeo says, “He gone in triumph, and Mercutio slain?/ Away to heaven, respective lenity, / And the fire-ey’d fury be my conduct now!” (3.1.120-123). The anger Romeo feels from Tybalt killing his best friend takes over and controls his actions. This spontaneous decision ends up in his banishment from Verona where his whole life has taken place in, including his new secret lover,
Since the fathers from both families dislike each other, they have caused death in the young lovers' lives because of many disputes. According to Document C, “The feud has caused deaths between Tybalt and Mercutio.” Tybalt is Juliet’s cousin and Mercutio is Romeo’s friend. Due to Mercutio's pun-filled language and tough personality, he starts the brawl between himself and Tybalt. While Mercutio is dying, he sends
The next day, Benvolio and Romeo have an encounter with Tybalt, who is still out to get Romeo for crashing the Capulet’s party. When Romeo refuses to duel with Tybalt, Mercutio steps in and accepts the duel. This duel, however, ultimately led to the killing of Mercutio by Tybalt. Out of guilt for Mercutio, Romeo attacks Tybalt killing him.
In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is "a tragic hero.” This is according to Aristotle’s definition, a tragic hero is a character “who is neither completely good nor completely bad, but also a member of royalty.” Romeo is a tragic hero because he does many good things, but many bad things, as well. For example, he is a Montague and he marries Juliet, who is a Capulet. This is prohibited, so Romeo is bad. However, Romeo does everything he can to keep Juliet happy and risks his life for her, which makes him good. Romeo is also a man of royalty because he is Montague’s son. Romeo’s character has many contradictions, which makes the audience think, “is he good or bad?” Asking these questions and not knowing the answer leads
A tragic hero is a person who has qualities of a hero such as intelligence and strength but makes choices that lead to their self-destruction. The tragic hero is usually from a noble family or high position. Oedipus from The Sophocles is a tragic hero because he possesses tragic flaws such as hubris, hamartia, and too much curiosity. Marcus Brutus, a Roman politician, also serves to be a tragic hero since he is too naive, honest, and sometimes impulsive. Both Oedipus and Brutus have certain characteristics that determine them to be a tragic hero.
Additionally, after Romeo’s marriage with Juliet he gets in the middle of a fight. If Romeo did not engage in the brawl between Mercutio his best friend and Tybalt his opposing rival, they would still have a fair chance at survival. Mercutio engages in a fight with Tybalt on Romeo’s behalf because Romeo refuses to fight Tybalt, since Tybalt is now Romeo’s cousin-in-law. In addition, Romeo attempts to break up the progressive fight, but his actions are futile. Furthermore, Romeo getting among Mercutio and Tybalt does more harm than good because Mercutio dies. The only explanation of how Mercutio dies is that Tybalt is able to pierce Mercutio’s chest under Romeo’s arm. Romeo blocks Mercutio’s view, leaving him defenseless and feeble.
According to Aristotle, “A tragic hero is a character who is not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice and depravity, but by some error or frailty…” The classic tragic hero has some type of tragic character flaw which creates an inner struggle, leads to his making a serious error in judgment, and leads to his eventual downfall and death.
Next, in act three, scene one, after Romeo and Juliet are secretly married, Romeo watches his best friend, Mercutio, die at Tybalt's enraged hands. Tybalt is Juliet's faithful cousin who had gotten angry with Romeo because Romeo and his friends had gone to the Capulet Masquerade Ball without permission and had also gotten away with it. The movie had shown Mercutio collapsing on a flight of
Romeo and Tybalt fight each other and they exchange a conversation in which they say,” Now, Tybalt, take the ‘villain’ back again that late thou gavest me; for Mercutio’s soul is but a little way above our heads, staying for thine to keep him company: either thou, or I, or both, must go with him. Thou, wretched boy, that didst consort him here, shalt with him hence. This shall determine that. [They fight; Tybalt falls]” (Shakespeare, III.i.46). When Mercutio was slain by Tybalt, Romeo chose to stay and try to get revenge for Mercutio’s death. At the time, Romeo was already Tybalt’s kinsman because he and Juliet were already married, and Romeo could have left the scene and let the law do it’s job with Tybalt. However, Romeo was only infatuated with Juliet, and as a result, only realized the impact of his actions after he had killed Tybalt. In addition, Juliet decides to follow Friar Laurence’s plan, in which he tells her to “for no pulse shall keep his native progress, but surcease: no warmth, no breath, shall testify thou livest; … Shall Romeo by my letters know our drift; and hither shall he come” and he and I will watch thy waking, and that very night shall Romeo bear thee hence to Mantua” (Shakespeare, IV.ii.70). Friar Laurence instructs Juliet to take this vial that will fake her death, while he sends a letter to Romeo telling him of this,
In contrast, Mercutio attempts to stop Tybalt’s thirst for vengeance when he tries to duel Romeo but ultimately gets killed in the process of trying to save his good friend from being killed by Tybalt which causes Romeo to take vengeance upon Tybalt by killing him.
According to Aristotle, “A tragic hero is a character who is not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice and depravity, but by some error or frailty…” The classic tragic hero has some type of tragic character flaw which creates an inner struggle, leads to his making a serious error in judgment, and leads to his eventual downfall and death.
William Shakespeare is an English poet and play right. His plays mainly consisted of comedies, history, and tragedies. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is a play written by William Shakespeare. For a play to be a tragedy there must be a tragic hero. In Shakespeare plays, tragedy is identified as a story that ends unhappily due to the fall of the protagonist, which is the tragic. In this play there are two tragic heroes. Romeo and Juliet are both the tragic heroes. To be a tragic hero they must be from a high estate, have a tragic flaw, and the tragic flaw is the cause of their downfall.
By definition, a tragic hero is a protagonist that due to some tragic flaw loses everything he has. Throughout history, literature has always been filled with main characters possessing some tragic flaw. In Macbeth, Macbeth’s tragic flaw is his enormous ambition to become king. In Hamlet, Hamlet’s tragic flaw is his need for revenge for the death of his father at the hands of his uncle. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh’s tragic flaw is his need to be remembered. In the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf, Beowulf also has a tragic flaw, excessive pride and the search for fame, which ultimately leads to his demise.
A Tragic Hero is a common figure in many of Shakespeare’s works. A Tragic Hero is usually a figure of royalty, fame or greatness. This person is predominately good, but falls from prominence due to personality flaws that eventually lead to self-destruction.
A tragedy in literature is a tragic hero who falls due to a tragic flaw. Romeo’s immature personality has a huge effect on the end of the play. Romeo never thought before he acted, causing things to go wrong. For instance, before he killed Tybalt, he was angry in the moment not thinking about what would happen. When Romeo met Juliet he was in love with another girl. From here, his judgements eventually lead to his death. His tragic flaw is his unripe personality. Romeo enters this risky relationship as a young and carefree man, who doesn’t realize what could happen during this. The play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare fits perfectly with the definition of a tragedy, beginning with two hopeless teens and ending in their death by their own violation.
Tragic hero could be said to be someone that has had a tragic flaw that leads to the hero's death and also helps the reader to sympathize with the character. Oedipus is a classic example of a tragic hero who had many flaws on the surface, such as the lack of self-knowledge, curiosity and pride, and the wisdom gained at the end.