Romeo and Juliet is considered one of William Shakespeare’s best and most famous tragedies. But is it truly a tragedy? A tragedy by definition is a play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending, especially one concerning the downfall of the main character. Considering that Romeo, Juliet, and several others die in the play, it is safe to assume that Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy. Part of what brought these unfortunate deaths to pass is the choices of the play’s characters. The choices of characters such as Romeo, Friar Laurence, and Mercutio. Romeo’s choices are some of the most important in terms of switching up the plot. His decision to kill Tybalt is one that helps lead the play into a more tragic scenario. Mercutio has already been killed, and if Romeo doesn’t do anything Tybalt already has guaranteed himself the death penalty from Prince Escalus. Romeo decides this isn’t good enough and kills Tybalt, leaving Prince Escalus to banish him. One of the other …show more content…
Friar Laurence did not know that his choice would end in disaster. As he tells Romeo, he thought “...this alliance may so happy prove/To turn your households’ rancor to pure love.”(2.3.99-100), he hoped it would solve the family’s feud. Unfortunately, Friar Laurence starts the conflict. The root of the problem is that when he married Romeo and Juliet, Romeo became related to all Capulets. This happens at the same time that Tybalt, who is now Romeo’s relative, is looking to fight Romeo. The marriage also causes a problem when Lord Capulet engages Juliet to Paris. Juliet does not want to marry Paris at all, and she’s already married, so Friar Laurence comes up with a crazy plan. Though it won’t go as planned, and lead to Romeo and Juliet’s demise. Friar Laurence had good intentions, but his decisions led to tragic events, further pushing Romeo and Juliet into the tragedy
Additionally, Friar Laurence’s actions contributed to the suicides. In the play, Friar Laurence marries Romeo and Juliet secretly, because their families are in an eternal feud. This shows that Friar Laurence took an action that was not truly right. Neither of the families agreed to this marriage. Juliet’s family even tried to arrange a marriage for her after she secretly married to Romeo. The friar knew the marriage of Romeo and Juliet would not be approved by
William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" is a classic tale of love, tragedy, and the consequences of long-standing feuds. While the feud between the Montagues and Capulets plays a significant role in the tragic ending, it is the actions of several individuals that ultimately lead to the death of the two lovers. Although Romeo's decision to kill Tybalt and the subsequent banishment sets off a chain of events that leads to the final tragedy, Friar Laurence's plan to reunite Romeo and Juliet, while well-intentioned, ultimately results in their untimely deaths. One of the main reasons Friar Laurence can be held responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet is his impulsive nature. Throughout the play, Friar Laurence makes decisions hastily without
One reason Friar Laurence is most responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet is because he knows that the two families are in conflict. For example, in Act 2, Scene 3, Romeo tells Friar Laurence he found a new woman that he wants to marry. He states, "I'll help you because it's possible that this marriage may transform
To begin, the holy, respected, secretive and somewhat dishonest Friar Laurence is partially responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. First of all, Friar Laurence is utterly involved and responsible for the secret marriage of Romeo and Juliet. By marrying the two lovers, not only is Friar Laurence disobeying their parents’ wishes, he is also being dishonest about why he is marrying them. Friar Laurence believes and in fact states, that by marrying the two, it would put an end to the rivalry between the two households, the Capulet’s and the Montague’s Friar Laurence says “O, she knew well, Thy love did by rote that could not spell. But come, I’ll thy assistant be, for this alliance may so happy prove to turn your households’ rancour to
Even though numerous characters in the play contributed to the death of Romeo and Juliet, Friar Laurence’s irresponsibility and lack of recognition makes him most to blame. To begin, Romeo proposes the idea about marring Juliet, a member of the Capulet Family by telling Friar Laurence “Then plainly know my heart's dear love is set on the fair daughter of rich Capulet (2.3.57-58). Romeo has completely forgotten about Rosaline, and now has focused his love onto Juliet. The Friar agrees with Romeo. Friar Laurence's decision is irresponsible because he agrees with the idea of members of opposite noble families being married. By marrying Romeo and Juliet, Friar is acting like Lord
Friar Laurence,though he thought he was doing the right thing for the young teens, he really had a bad judgment.He carried the burden of their deaths forever. If he had delivered the message of Juliet’s death being fake, Romeo wouldn’t have gone to the apothecary and gotten a poison to kill himself. Instead of helping and supporting them to disclose their love situation, he looked for and chose “easy” way out of the sticky situation. He submitted to their dreams and hopes. He married Romeo and Juliet instead of encouraging them to come forth their families with the information about their affair As a result of their hidden affair, their stronger bond grew even stronger withen them was created when marriage: "For, by your leaves, you
Romeo made the decision impulsively to kill Tybalt when there were many other ways to solve and ultimately end his conflict with Tybalt without involving death. Instead of weighing out the possible outcomes and taking the time to think about his choice
Friar Laurence knows about the problems between the Capulet’s and the Montague’s and he still marries Romeo and Juliet. Friar Laurence says, “For his alliance
The first reason why Friar Laurence is at fault because he married to Romeo and Juliet. Romeo went to Friar Laurence place to tell him about Juliet “ I have been feasting with mine enemy, where on a sudden one hath wounded me, that’s by me wounded”. After Romeo told Friar Laurence about how much he love Juliet and wants to marry her. Friar Laurence told Romeo he will marry them to, “ But come, young waverer, come, go with me, In one respect I’ll thy assistant be, for this alliance may so happy prove to turn households’ rancor to pure love”. Friar Laurence thought if Romeo and Juliet would of got married that would stop all the fighting between their families the Capulets and Montagues.
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.
The ideology that everything in the universe has a specific place and rank in order of their hierarchy importance created by God is known as the concept of The Great Chain of Being. The order of this concept consisted levels according to highest rank to the lowest accordingly: God, angels, humanity, animals, vegetation life, leading all the way down to crud. Within each category, more specific classification existed, placing these subcategories in a specific order. This concept was believed to be a way to keep the universe in order. As this was believed during Elizabethan times, William Shakespeare also believed in the Great Chain of Being, as many of his plays are prominently based on this concept. Some of his plays include characters that accept their place on the Chain, but others are not so complacent. By examining three different characters from Shakespeare’s tragedies, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, The Tragedy of Macbeth, and The Tragedy of King Lear, it is obvious to readers who is content with their place on the Chain and which characters have a difficult time accepting their place. Romeo and Juliet do not obey their parents’ orders, therefore suffer harsh consequences towards the end of the play. Macbeth is another Shakespearean character that violates the Chain, due to the committing of several murders, in order to gain the throne. In stark contrast, Cordelia, is content with her place on the Chain as she does not want anything greater in life, unlike her
Romeo kept on forcing the idea upon him, so he marries them hoping that their marriage would end the Capulet and Montague feud, even though he did not ask for the parents’ consent. He displays his hope when he says, “For this alliance may so happy prove / to turn your household’s rancor to pure love”(Act I, Scene 4, Lines 91-92). Friar Laurence kept Romeo and Juliet’s relationship secretive, making the situation worsen. Later on, the Friar shows that he has regrets about the marriage. The Friar feels that, “Violent delights have violent ends / And their triumph die… too swift arrives as tardy as too slow” (Act II, scene 6, Lines 9-15). The Friar senses that the wedding is happening too quickly and doubts his decision. He had the potential to prevent the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, but his decisions led Romeo and Juliet to do reckless actions under his ideas. Friar Laurence’s thoughtless decisions led to the deaths of Romeo and
Romeo and Juliet, a classic play by William Shakespeare, is known to many as a tragedy. But what makes this play tragic? Audiences favor this story because of the emotions evoked from a tale of love that sees two young souls torn apart. However, Romeo and Juliet when under my own definition of tragedy, does not resemble a tragic play. While the death of Mercutio and the deaths of Romeo and Juliet seem tragic, the story does not show one failing when trying to reach their full potential, instead the audience sees a forbidden love and death as a result, which does not demonstrate tragedy. Instead, Romeo and Juliet face flaws from within their families and society, forcing them to stay apart due to conflict. While both Romeo and Juliet try to reach the goal of being together and fail, the flaws of others cause the conflict, not the flaws of themselves. My definition surrounds the idea that the flaws of oneself leads to his or her demise, meaning that the play misses a key characteristic of the definition of tragedy. Both characters seem to die a “tragic death,” however, their death can only be considered sad or upsetting, especially to the audience. This play instead consists of somber scenes that show aspects of a tragedy, but not enough to place this play in a tragic category in the classic definition or in my own definition because the flaws of the main characters do not cause the fall of the characters as they try to reach their full potential. If a character who fell as a
In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare takes a romantic story of two star-crossed lovers, willing to go to the end of the Earth for each other, and turns their tale into one of the greatest tragedies of the modern era, filled with despair, devastation, and death. Whether Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy or romance is a disputed topic amongst historians and critics because there is evidence that suggests the play falls into both genres. Romeo and Juliet can be viewed as a tragedy because the main characters do not achieve their fundamental goal and instead, fall from the grand station they once held. Additionally, Romeo and Juliet can be considered a tragedy because a pair of innocent lovers die young due to a
"Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none."William Shakespeare. The genre of the play Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy and it is written by William Shakespeare. The reason this play is a tragedy is because during the whole play there was always a problem that occurred weather it was in the beginning middle or end of the play. The story has two main characters that fall in love but, the problem is their families hate each other and they have to hide their love for each other. These two characters are named Romeo and Juliet also the title of the play. Romeo is a Montague and they are the rival family of the Capulets, the girl Romeo is in love with(Juliet)is a Capulet. Romeo and Juliet met at a party the capulets where throwing a party that Romeo and a couple of other Montagues went to so they could go out and have a fun night because Romeo had been heartbroken about a girl who doesn't love him back. As soon as the Montegues get to the party Romeo see Juliet and they start to flirt and at first Romeo didn't know Juliet was a Capulet but then he saw her mother lady Capulet and soon they both found out that their families where rivals.