A Sense of Tragedy in the Final Scene of Romeo and Juliet
The Oxford English dictionary defines tragedy as
1) A play in which the main protagonist falls to disaster through the
combination of a personal failing and circumstances which they cannot
deal.
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy because both characters kill themselves
to show how much they love each other, even though that love is
forbidden. Romeo and Juliet is different from other plays of
Elizabethan times as Shakespeare made the play about a type of love
that is positive as opposed to the type of love shown in the revenge
tragedy plays of the era. Revenge tragedies include 'The Duchess of
Malfi' by Webster, 'The Spanish Tragedy' by Kyd and 'Tamberlaine' by
Marlowe.
The genre revenge tragedy is based on murder and revenge. The murders
are normally depicted in excruciating detail. Themes of this genre
include social, political and religious interests of the Elizabethan
people.
In addition to this, the theme of parental control and the rebellion
of their children to an extent can and did determine the ending as
both Romeo and Juliet betrayed their parents which was, in the
Elizabethan era, a major crime which was comparable to treason.
If Shakespeare had written the play in such a way that the main
characters lived "happily ever after", it would have been censored as
it goes against the natural order of time. At the start of the play,
there is stability as both the children obey their parents. When they
meet, the equilibrium is disrupted and they start to disobey their
parents and their beliefs by breaking the "ancient grudge" set by the
two families Montague ...
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...ier through the hurt caused by Romeo being
banished "Grief of my son's exile hath stopped her breath" This adds
sorrow to the final scene.
The Friar then proceeds to tell the families the entire story in a
direct way; there are no puns, just direct information and the truth
of the tragedy.
The prince speaks about the situation and initially calls it a
"misadventure" but changes his words to "foul murder" creating a sense
of fear towards the two families. He is quite unsympathetic at first,
considering both families had lost their only children. This increases
the sense of tragedy between the families. The tragedy is heightened
still as the families are still feuding at this point even though
their children have just committed suicide. The enraged prince
confirms this "see what a scourge is laid upon your hate!"
The Deaths of Romeo and Juliet Was it just one person’s fault, or a mixture? In this essay, I will include many different reasons as to why Romeo and Juliet die. I will explain in detail each point and put forward my own opinions. I will use quotes to back up each point and explain why the historical context is relevant.
Is love worth it all? As publicized in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, reckless decisions may possibly lead to an unforeseen and dreadful conclusion. He also makes it known that if feelings about a situation are over dramatized they can cause a hazardous faux pas. That is exactly what Romeo, Juliet, and Friar Lawrence implement in Shakespeare’s tragedy. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the major characters cause the tragic outcome of the drama through their bad choices and decisions.
Someone once said, "All literature shows us the power of emotion. It is emotion, not reason that motivates characters in literature." This means that all literature is an expression of emotion and it is the emotion that is the main character, and often the setting and theme as well. It is not the reasoning within the story that draws you in, but rather how the story deals with the emotions we all have felt. It provides us with a possible scenario of the impact of focusing only on emotion and losing focus on reason. The power of emotion driving literary characters to see their emotions through, make us wish we could feel so strongly about something or someone and the way we would all like to think we would see our emotions through. Atticus Finch, from the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, and Romeo Montague from Shakespeare's drama, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, both are driven only by their emotions. Both are so driven to see their powerful emotions, no matter what might happen to them, that their emotion and the opposite emotions of everyone else around them becomes the main character, setting and theme in these stories. You are drawn in to the emotion by asking would I have the courage to stand up to my home town full of racism to seek justice for a black person as Atticus did in To Kill A Mockingbird? Could I be so in love, as Romeo was, that I would be willing to give up everything I had, my family, my position in society, even my own life, for the love of another person?
A tragedy imitates the emotional events of life by showing instead of telling. It does not have to be an exact replication of life, but instead have some realistic aspects to it. This type of play is special because an event in the plot is caused by a preceding choice or action performed by the character. Therefore, unlike a story where occurrences are caused by coincidences, a tragedy must have events that inescapably connect to one another as a result of the characters’ choices. Consequently, this idea of cause and effect must direct the plot of the play until the protagonists have an unfortunate end. Thus, the audience watching the tragedy will experience fear and pity for the characters since their actions will lead to their dramatic downfall. Similarily, William Shakespeare’s, Romeo and Juliet, conveys these fundamental ideas, but it mainly emphasizes on certain tragic concepts. These components, explained by Aristotle, certainly make this play a quintessence of tragedy. They support the chain of events in Romeo and Juliet by using character traits and majors events to connect the plot and illustrate how the characters create their own ending. For this reason, Romeo and Juliet is a genuine tragedy because of its use of significant, tragic elements; tragically-flawed protagonists; and inevitable fate.
Shakespeare’s eminent play, Romeo and Juliet, depicts the journey of Romeo and Juliet until their tragic death. The idea of fate is displayed throughout the play through the use of foreshadowing, suggesting that the outcome is predetermined from the prologue. The rivalry between the Capulets and the Montagues influence the characters in the play deeply, creating peril in Verona. Furthermore, Romeo and Juliet’s excessive emotions cause the play to end in their inevitable deaths, which ends the “ancient grudge” between the “two households”. As the play progresses, the audience is presented with multiple possibilities as to how the unfortunate deaths of Romeo and Juliet are influenced.
Sense of Tragedy and Foreboding in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet In the play, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare creates an impending sense of tragedy and foreboding. He uses a variety of devices to provoke this, such as themes, language and tone. To begin the sense of tragedy and foreboding he introduces characters caught in a sensitive conflict. The audience of the performance are very aw are that the genre of the play is a tragedy; therefore they have expectations for something traumatic to happen, such as death, doom and a disaster. Shakespeare succeeds in meeting these expectations by including several parallels in his performance.
Multiple characters are to blame for the tragedy of the play, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Romeo displays his immaturity by liking girls solo based off their looks, Juliet falls for Romeo and his willingness and impatience. While Friar Lawrence know is is a sin, he has an idea to help them be together,
end I will come to a final decision of who actually was to blame for
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy. It tells the tale of two lovers from rival households and the tragic journey that leads to their destruction. The play shows all the events over the course of four days in Romeo and Juliet’s home town of Verona. Monday through Thursday is all we have to see of the Montague and Capulet families to acknowledge their hatred for each other. The play shows the struggle of Romeo and Juliet in their efforts to stop the hatred between their families and live happily ever after. But despite their efforts, they end up digging their own graves, showing how different actions have different consequences.
The Death of Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is considered to be one of the greatest love tragedies of all time. Shakespeare, who is known to be a successful playwright for his remarkable plays and beautiful poetry, manages to create a classical play filled with strong emotions, tension, action, violence, humor and most importantly, love. This play is set in Verona when two “star crossed lovers” meet and fall in love passionately. Most of the responsibility for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet should be put upon their parents, themselves, and fate. Romeo and Juliet’s parents should be hold responsible for their children’s death.
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a play well known by all for its death and demise of its characters, as well as its tragic ending that leaves two star-crossed lovers to their fate. The true misfortune of Romeo and Juliet is that individually they ultimately all lose, however together, everyone wins. A tragedy is defined as an event causing great suffering, destruction and distress usually concerning the downfall of the main character. To lose is defined as causing someone to fail to gain something or to suffer. Death is a major subject in the play and significantly establishes the mood of the scene. These disastrous events affect everyone including ones mourning the death of their loved ones. However, there are also positive themes that
The story of Romeo and Juliet is an inevitable tragedy. Many events take place, which are quite detrimental to the love Romeo and Juliet have for one another. By mentioning marriage and death together, Shakespeare foreshadows Romeo and Juliet's tragic ending. From the very beginning of the play throughout and to the end, there has always been the intent of a tragedy, and Shakespeare uses much dramatic irony to express this.
It is truly a tragedy when two people, who are deeply in love, kill themselves; it is much worse when one of their closest counselors and confidants is to blame for their tragic ending. Friar Laurence is the most to blame for Romeo and Juliet’s death because he didn’t get parental consent to marry Romeo and Juliet, he lied to everyone about whether Juliet was dead or not, and he was the one who provided Juliet with the potion that eventually lead to the death of both young people.
The story of Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy. The two lovers go against their families and against their hate to be together but they don’t think about the consequences, which in the end are devastating.
In Romeo and Juliet, the tragic love story, emotion is also surrounded with both the protagonists and brought themselves a tragic ending. Early in the story, Romeo and Juliet made an unacceptable forbidden decision which created a path towards their graves. After knowing themselves as the enemy of their household, the two teenagers yet fall in love with each other. Their idiotic actions of love have brought themselves a road to death at the end. Is unworthy to cost your life by your foolish decision. Furthermore, Romeo made another decision out of momentary anger and caused himself a disastrous problem. After Mercutio's death, out of anger Romeo duel with Tybalt and demands to slay him. After his revenge, he brought a death sentence on himself if he is ever found within the city again.