Romeo and Juliet-A Tragic Analysis

A detailed Summary of Romeo and Juliet-A Tragic Analysis

Few plays written touch us as Romeo and Juliet does. It has touched our very souls, and has even worked itself into everyday conversation. No one can necessarily point out the reason for this, but everyone will agree that it is one of the defining "tragedies" of all time. On the contrary, Romeo and Juliet is not a true tragedy, according to Aristotle's Poetics.

"Shakespeare is placed against the tapestry of age/times/society"1. Romeo and Juliet was written around 1595, when Shakespeare was in his 'tragic" period. He wrote it about the same time as he wrote "A Midsummer Night's Dream", and both plays have similar themes (Shakespeare 865). In A Midsummer Night Dream, there is a play-within-a-play involving Pryamus and Thisbe. Pryamus and Thisbe are two young lovers that are separated by a "vile" wall that their parents have placed in order to keep them apart. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Juliet are two young lovers separated by their families' hatred for each other. Pryamus and Thisbe aspire to elope, but their plans quickly unravel when Pryamus finds Thisbe's bloodied scarf. He jumps to conclusions, believes that Thisbe is dead, and kills himself. When Thisbe finds her love's body, she promptly slays herse

In conclusion, Romeo and Juliet is not a tragedy. It is a romantic-comedy, with a tragic misunderstanding.

lf. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Juliet marry in secret, and Romeo is exiled after seeking revenge for his friend, Mercutio, by killing Juliet's cousin, Tybalt. After learning that she must marry a suitor her father picked, Juliet takes a potion that will make her sleep for 72 hours and make her look like she is dead. The friar tries to send a message to Romeo, but it fails to reach him, and learning of Juliet's "death", he flies back too Verona. Romeo kills himself in the tomb where Juliet was laid, and upon waking, Juliet is so distraught, she slays herself. In Pryamus and Thisbe, the play seems tragic, but it comes across as a comedy. "This is the silliest stuff ever I heard"(Shakespeare 855).

Problem plays were also popular. Problem plays usually had a tragic ending, it discovers social problems and Mostly comes from 'hero's/heroine's hostility with laws, traditions, or society. They viewed the problems or situations in a way that opposed the 'conventional' way. It normally made both audience and critics angered. Romeo and Juliet was a problem play4.

Romeo and Juliet shows us many examples of how it is not a tragedy. The hero/heroine, Romeo and Juliet, have no real character flaws, and even if they did, they were to young to blame. Their characters were still developing. They also represented common people. There was little or no pride in both of them. An example, is how Romeo is willing to forget the feud between the two families, for the sake of Juliet's love. At further, they do not think that they are superior to others. For instance, Juliet treats her nurse as her equal, as sort of a confidante. Furthermore, both Romeo and Juliet are purely good.

The true definition of a tragedy is the "Imitation of an action that is serious and also as having magnitude, complete in itself...tragedy is a form of drama exciting the emotions of pity and fear. Its actions

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Approximate Word count = 1370
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English