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Romeo And Juliet Tragic Hero Essay

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Romeo and Juliet is a play with a lot of questions raised about the true nature of Romeo's heroism. Most people would say that he is a tragic hero based on his actions that lead to the inevitable downfall that resulted in death. Romeo is a character that is hard to relate to and warps our understanding of what it truly means to be a tragic hero.

According to Aristotle's definition a tragic hero is someone who is noble with royal blood and has an inevitable downfall that causes audience distress and pity. Romeo is a character that is trying to find love and is simply faced with dozens of road blocks. A tragic hero is defined as, “A flaw or error of judgement (hamartia)” Aristotle. Romeo is a fool and marries Juliet from the rival family, Romeo’s hamartia is love, it's his flaw. Looking back from the start of the play we are introduced to Rosaline, Romeo is in love with her but his hamartia prevents him from marrying her simply because …show more content…

The power of love is strong within lots of people and the fight that comes along with it is strong as well. Romeos act of killing in Romeo and Juliet demonstrates the unique attribute in a tragic hero. The morals to kill someone may be low but the play also has to show worthiness towards the death of the main character, this could be foolishness or an evil deed. Going on from the power of love, Romeo is a character who is controlled by the power of love rather than killing for the sake of killing. Romeo in Act 3 scene 6 says “Oh, I am a fortune’s fool!”, this line clearly means that he regrets what he has done even if Tybalt killed his best friend. However, the act of killing someone far more outways the feeling of regret. So when Romeo dies in the play the audience doesn’t feel sad for him they feel pity because after all he has done in the play he was deservant for his end, although because he’s the main character the audience still wanted to see him through to the

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