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Romeo and juliet romeo character critical analysis
Romeo and juliet romeo character critical analysis
Who is a tragic hero
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The Tragic Hero, Romeo
Aristotle’s idea of a tragic hero describes a perfect person who ventures off and learns some kind of a valuable lesson. However, to William Shakespeare, tragic characters do not meet the usual description. His tragic characters have a high social status but are not perfect. Although they have character flaws, their misfortune is not fully deserved. Romeo Montague, the main character in Romeo and Juliet, is typical of Shakespeare’s tragic characters. By Aristotle’s standards, Romeo Montague should be classified as a tragic hero because of his high status, his character flaws and his misfortune.
Romeo is a well-known citizen in Verona. His family, the Montagues, have a high social status in their area of Italy. The family
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is involved in a feud with another family there, the Capulets. The hatred between the two families is so well known, the Prince of Verona scolds family members after a open fight, “Three civil brawls, bred as an word, by thee, Old Capulet, and Montague, Have thrice disturbed the quiet of our streets” (1.1.80-82). The brawls resulted in a variety of outcomes, including street fighting, murder, and even suicide. The hatred is also the barrier keeping Romeo and Juliet Capulet from being together. The two lovers see their names only as labels standing in the way of their marriage. Juliet feels a person is much more than just a label. She questions, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet" (2.2.43-44). Tradition has taught both families the importance of name and position, making it impossible for them to look past those labels. Although Romeo has been labeled as a great hero, he has huge character flaws that place him far away from greatness.
He overreacts to situations because he does not think carefully before acting. His father observed, “Many a morning hath he (Romeo) there been seen, with tears augmenting the fresh morning’s dew, adding to clouds more clouds with his deep sighs” (1.1. 122-124). Romeo falls in and out of love easily without even knowing the other person very well. His infatuation with Rosaline quickly ended the moment he saw Juliet at a party. He asked a servant “What lady is that which doth enrich the hand of yonder knight?” (1.5. 40-41). Romeo continued, “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night” (1.5. 50-51). He married Juliet almost immediately, without any thought to the consequences that were sure to follow from both families.
The first consequence was his banishment from Verona. Romeo immaturely cried out in response, “Then ‘banished’ is death mistermed” (3.3. 20-21), and called banishment worse than death. In the last act Romeo hears of Juliet’s “death” from his servant, “Her body sleeps in Capulet’s monument, and her immortal part with angels lives” (5.1.18-19). Again Romeo overreacts by immediately going to Apothecary for “a dram of poison, such soon speeding gear” (5.1.59-60). He purchases the poison, goes to Juliet’s grave and kills himself
there. This dramatic ending of Shakespeare’s love story fulfills Aristotle’s most important criteria for establishing Romeo as a tragic hero. Most of the young lover’s misfortune is generated by decisions based on poor judgment and lack of experience. These flaws of youth are important to Shakespeare’s storyline and the lesson it teaches about love. Romeo’s social standing could have opened doors to many possible love relationships, but his immaturity placed him on a certain path of tragedy. Instead of writing a “happy ever after” love story, Shakespeare uses violence and death to illustrate that love is not always joyful. Family circumstances and conflict prevent the union of Romeo and Juliet throughout the story. Only in death could the two lovers be together. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.” Prentice Hall Literature: Grade 9. 25. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall Pearson, 2014. 807-929. Print.
A tragic hero is a character born of noble birth who shows great qualities but has a major downfall due to their tragic flaws. Throughout Romeo and Juliet, both Romeo and Juliet have tragic flaws. Though Romeo shows clear signs of tragic flaws, Juliet Capulet is the tragic hero because she meets the characteristics perfectly.
Romeo shows many characteristics which allow him to become the play's tragic hero The first characteristic of a tragic hero that Romeo possesses is he is very impulsive. he thinks without acting which is another reason he is dead,and how he gets ahead of himself which leads to him and getting into trouble.Romeo spends days and nights cooped up in his room, not talking to anyone and then suddenly decides he has fallen in love all over again. “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! / For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” ( act 1 scene 1-2 shakespear...
Romeo as an Irrational and Impulsive Young Man "Romeo and Juliet" is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare in 1592. The. It is set in Verona, where a bitter feud between two rivals. families, the Montague's and Capulet's. The main characters, Romeo and Juliet, are the children of the two rivals, who meet and fall in love.
According to Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero, a tragic hero must be born from a high social class and his or her downfall must be caused by a fatal flaw of that character. Aristotle also mentioned that a tragic hero is someone that is between two extremes. Neither good nor bad, just their fatal flaws brining misfortune to themselves. The purpose of a tragic hero is to create catharsis for the audience by empathising with the protagonist. Therefore a proper tragedy
Through the flaws in the characterization of his characters, Shakespeare allows their weakness to manipulate and cloud their judgment. This fundamentally leads to the outcome of Romeo and Juliet, with each weakness presenting a conflict that alters the characters fate. Being especially true with the star-crossed lovers, William Shakespeare leads their perfect love into tragedy with these conflicts. In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet, Friar Lawrence, and Tybalt all contribute to conflicts that enhance the plot. From destructive flaws in their characterizations, Juliet, Friar Lawrence, and Tybalt are all consequently controlled by their weakness, therefore affecting the outcome of the play.
Hamlet. Romeo. Othello. These men not only star in some of Shakespeare’s finest plays, but they are all classic examples of tragic heroes. A tragic hero is one who is courageous and admired but who has a tragic flaw that leads to his downfall. Othello was one of the greatest military men of the time. He was highly respected among his superiors for both his military prowess and level headed nature. This was a man who could be in the heat of a battle and would remain collected. Though this great hero also had great shortcomings. Othello was naive, jealous, and concerned with public appearance. Othello is truly a dynamic character. As the play continues and his jealous increases, Othello gradually changes from a flawless military general into
Titus Brimager Ms. Jozwiak H English 5P 08 March 2024 Working Title According to Aristotle a tragic hero is a literary character born into nobility and possesses a number of heroic qualities, however they also have a tragic flaw that often causes their downfall and eventual distraction. Three main theories of the tragic hero are the aristotelian model, the shakespearean model, and the modern tragic hero. Each model has five defining characteristics, which are nobility, hamartia, downfall, anagnosis, and suffering. In the Shakespearean mode of tragic hero. For instance, nobility is characterized by being upper class and having elevated character.
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 us to believe that Romeo is a tragic hero, according to Aristotle’s definition.
When Romeo meets Juliet, he claimed to be immediately in love. Although he has been sulking over Rosaline, when he met Juliet, he states, “Did my heart love till now? forswear it sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night” (Act 1.5 Lines 51-52). The entire time as he envisions love with Rosaline, it was all incoherent. Romeo’s impulsive attitude causes him to fall head over heels with Juliet, which begins the drama in this play.
Every tragic play must have a tragic hero. A tragic hero does not need to be good; for example, Macbeth was a wicked person, even though he was a tragic hero. This tragic hero, Aristotle tell us, should not be absolutely evil, since the death of such a figure, being only just, would fall to move the audience; not should the figure be absolutely good, for his death would violate our concept of right and wrong, evoking not a tragic sense but a feeling of courage" (Fallon, Shakespeare 7). According to Aristotle, "The tragic hero must be an important person in the community, a king, a queen, a prince, of a famous warrior, a man or woman of substance and responsibility because that figures experiences a fall, and any fall is more moving if it comes from a great height" (6). Also a tragic hero does not have to die, but in all Shakespeare's plays the hero dies, while in other tragic plays they may alive.
Aristotle, a famous Greek philosopher, examined the impact tragedy has within plays. He states there are three important factors that must exist in order for a story to be tragic. First there must be a tragic hero; second, there has to be a moment of “recognition” in which the protagonist realizes the unthinkable; and lastly, the play must plant fear or pity within the audience. All three aspects exist in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, making the work a clear example of Aristotle’s definition. Aristotle defines a tragic hero as someone who is high in rank, capable of making mistakes, and has at least one flaw, or hubris, that will lead to their downfall.
A tragic hero, as defined by Aristotle, is a “literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction.” Another characteristic for a tragic hero is that they are a person of high rank, making their fall all the more tragic. These two factors contribute to the fact that hamlet, in the play Hamlet by Shakespeare, is our main, tragic hero. For a hero to be tragic they have to have some goodness in them so we can empathize with them. They can’t be entirely bad, thus making the reader feel that they deserve their tragic end.
Often times, the tragic hero is one the audience sympathizes with. A tragic hero is a person of high social status and usually involved in a great amount conflict; either personal conflict or conflict with others. In the play of “King Lear”, one of Shakespeare’s well-known
The concept of tragic hero is very important in the construction of tragedy. It is the main cause of pity and fear. The tragic hero is a character between the two extremes; he is neither virtuous nor evil. At the same time, this character is better than the ordinary men or audience, he has some good qualities. Moreover, as a tragic hero, he is moving from happiness to misery by his downfall at the end. In fact, this downfall is caused by an error or a flaw in his character not by a vice or depravity. Another feature in the tragic hero is that he has good reputation and he is a man of prosperity. It can be said that Oedipus is a tragic hero because he has all the previous mentioned characteristics and the whole play is a classical application of this concept.
The tragedy of Hamlet, Shakespeare’s most popular and greatest tragedy, presents his genius as a playwright and includes many numbers of themes and literary techniques. In all tragedies, the main character, called a tragic hero, suffers and usually dies at the end. Prince Hamlet is a model example of a Shakespearean tragic hero. Every tragedy must have a tragic hero. A tragic hero must own many good traits, but has a flaw that ultimately leads to his downfall. If not for this tragic flaw, the hero would be able to survive at the end of the play. A tragic hero must have free will and also have the characteristics of being brave and noble. In addition, the audience must feel some sympathy for the tragic hero.