A True Tragedy
No matter where in the world you are, stories and tales of life and love stimulate different emotions from the bottom of someone’s heart. Various situations of love cause people to feel happiness, sorrow, and even pity. Some stories are realistic, but others are too exaggerated to be real. William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is well known by children and adults alike. Although this story is fictional, the tragic love of the two main characters is looked upon many. Though being well known, there is much strife and dispute. One of those arguable views is whether or not the play is an Aristotelian tragedy, or just tragic itself. But Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is indeed an Aristotelian tragedy by the accuracy of the imitation of reality, flaw of the tragic heroes, and the importance of the inferior characters.
To begin, the parallel world of Romeo and Juliet is almost a mirror reflection of reality through the similarities in the emotions and lifelike events. Many events throughout the drama imitate the experiences people encounter every day. Through the course of the play, the characters have clashing ideas about what is right and wrong. For example, the family feud between the Capulets and Montagues is fueled by the constant wrongdoings of one family to the other. In the first act, Capulet draws his sword toward the Montague family without knowledge of reason. The first brawl, started by both families, contributes to the mimesis of the tale. Young or old, strong or weak, people do not get along with one another. They are neighbors, classmates, or coworkers and each of them have unique views of each other. Capulet acts without thinking, making him a round, realistic character. Although some people act before...
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...ne gets mixed up in it all. And although the story of these two love birds is fictional, it arouses emotions one would feel if actually experiencing the situation in real life. These emotions make this story, and many others, grab the attention of the audience and pull them into the world which seems to come to life before their eyes.
Works Cited
Kerschen, Lois. “Romeo and Juliet: Criticism.” Drama for Students. Ed. Anne Marie Hacht. Detroit: Gale, 2005. 258-261.
McManus, Barbara F. “Outline of Aristotle’s Theory of Tragedy in the POETICS.” CLS267: Greek Tragedy. 2 April 2008. College of New Rochelle. 19 May 2010. .
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.” Prentice Hall Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes. Ed. Kate Kinsella, et al. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2002. 770-874.
There are many tragedies to be found in literature, but only a few are like Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. It is a story of forbidden love in which a young couple are torn apart by their families’ feud in Renaissance Italy; the play’s tragic ending has both main characters die. Many aspects of this play have sparked a heated debate: is Romeo and Juliet a tragedy or is it simply tragic? Some critics claim that the play lacks elements that are necessary for a tragedy. Yet Aristotle explicitly states the essential components of a tragedy in his Poetics, and Romeo and Juliet meets those requirements. Romeo and Juliet can be considered an Aristotelian tragedy because of Romeo’s impetuousness, Juliet’s loyalty to Romeo, and the play’s peripeteia.
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a play commonly viewed and known as a true love story; however, after analyzing several hints portrayed by the protagonists, it is evident that Shakespeare did not intend to make Romeo and Juliet seem like a true love story but a criticism of how superficial society’s view on love is.
There are many forces in the tragic play of Romeo and Juliet that are keeping the two young, passionate lovers apart, all emanating from one main reason. In this essay I will discuss these as well as how love, in the end, may have been the cause that led to the tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Their strong attraction to each other, which some call fate, determines where their forbidden love will take them.
Romeo and Juliet is the tragic story of two young, “star-crossed” lovers from feuding families, destined for disaster. The Capulets and the Montagues have an ancient grudge on one another that has been passed down over generations. Unfortunately, Romeo and Juliet end up victims of their families’ vicious loathing. Romeo and Juliet’s story has several intertwining themes such as the aforementioned hatred between the Capulets and Montagues and the revenge Romeo strives for after his friend Mercutio’s death. Also, the love and passion between Romeo and Juliet and the loyalty of Romeo and his friends. Honour and revenge also feature frquently throughout the play including Juliet’s pressure to honour her family, and the revenge Romeo sees as his duty when Tybalt kills Mercutio.
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.
In the play The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, many people lead to the outcome of Romeo and Juliet’s deaths. The play is about a boy, Romeo, and a girl, Juliet, from two rival families that fall in love. The two families, the Montagues and Capulets, have been fighting for a long time and it affects the entire city of Verona, where they live. It is debated whether or not the deaths of the star-crossed lovers could be blamed on numerous people. The tragedy of their deaths was the faults of multiple characters and could have been prevented.
1Sometimes when people intend well it could make situation worse. Romeo and Juliet is the play written by William Shakespeare. 2The play is about two families Montagues and Capulets who have been fighting with each other for centuries. 3Unknowingly their Teens Romeo (Montague) and Juliet (Capulet) falls in love with each other and soon they got married. 4Where the Tragedy of the deaths of a young couple resulted from Family feud. 5The death of Romeo and Juliet is to be blamed on 5 people; Capulet, Nurse and Mercutio, and Friar Lawrence and Prince. 6The arguments will contain the detail about the characters who are to be blamed the most and why they are to be blamed.
An Aristotelian tragedy includes many different characteristics. It is a cause-and-effect chain and it contains the elements of catharsis, which is pity and fear, and hamartia, which is the tragic flaw embedded in the main characters. The famous play Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, is about two lovers of two different families who hate each other and the misdemeanors they have to surpass. Many debate on whether it is an Aristotelian tragedy or simply tragic. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet should be regarded as an Aristotelian tragedy because catharsis is exhibited in the play, Juliet’s blindness of love is shown, and Romeo’s impetuousness is the tragic flaw that leads to his demise.
The classic play Romeo and Juliet by the famous playwright William Shakespeare is one of the most beautiful love stories of all time and has captured and inspired readers everywhere. Regardless of the fact that it was written in the 1500’s, it is still being performed and extolled today. There is a multitude of reasons for such continuance of the play. First of all, its everlasting themes of love and hate enable people to deeply relate to the story. Secondly, its memorable characters deeply imprint on the minds of readers. And lastly, above all, is its magnificent language which many writers today regard in awe. These three elements make the acclaimed play, Romeo and Juliet, one of the most timeless stories of our lives.
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is often referred to as a classic love story. It is a story of love at first sight and fighting between families. The classic is a true tragedy because of the way it is created. Romeo and Juliet is an Aristotelian tragedy because it clearly follows the model shown by Aristotle. All aspects of the plot and characters perfectly follow way Aristotle defined. The plot follows the events that need to occur and the main characters have a flaw. Pity and fear is felt for the characters throughout the play. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is a true Aristotelian tragedy because of the characters, plot, and the fact that it triggers pity and fear.
Aristotle defines a tragedy as “an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude”. However, it is his claim that a story must contain six parts in order to be a tragedy that causes much controversy. Many critics argue that William Shakespeare does not follow the guidelines for a tragic story in his famous piece Romeo and Juliet. Their main argument is with the way he presents his tragic elements. But as Lois Kerschen says, “Shakespeare may have altered the classic form of the Greek tragedy, but that does not mean he totally ignored the Greek formula”(261). It is his strong emphasis on certain elements that prove his case. Shakespeare’s contribution of harmatia, catharsis, and anagnorisis to Romeo and Juliet prove the story to be a true Aristotelean tragedy.
In the tremendous play of ‘Romeo & Juliet’, Shakespeare’s ways engages the audience straight away. The astounding methods he uses hooks the audience into the play and allows them to read on, wondering what will happen. The tragic love story of Romeo & Juliet, as mentioned in the prologue, sets a variety of themes throughout Act 1 Scene 5. Many of the recognisable themes are: youth and age, revenge, forbidden love, fate, action and hate. The main idea of the play is a feud that had been going on between two families, The ‘Montagues and Capulets’, the son of the Montagues and the daughter of the Capulets fall in love and the story tells us how tragic, death, happiness and revenge find them throughout the play.
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy of an ancient feud where the children of two families at war fall deeply in love with each other. Set in the 16th century William Shakespeare’s play has many different themes running throughout it, which include love, hate, death and conflict. The play opens with a fight but ends with suicide that creates peace between both families who unite from their losses. The conflict, violence and aggression in the play happen from revenge and an ancient family grudge. An audience from the 16th century would have enjoyed Romeo and Juliet because of the real life drama and tragedy the play goes through. The patriarchal society gave women absolutely no rights and they had to obey their man’s ordering a patriarchal system. The theme of conflict is revealed as the characters argue over Juliet’s disobedience.
Reckless actions lead to untimely deaths. In Shakespeare’s tragedy “Romeo and Juliet”, both protagonists fight for their hopeless love. Bloodshed and chaos appear inevitable in fair Verona; Romeo and Juliet come from enemy households, the Montegues and the Capulets, who have sworn to defeat one another. The young and handsome Romeo weeps over his unrequited love for Rosaline, until he lays his eyes on Juliet. Strong and independent, Juliet seeks to escape her family’s will to marry her off to Paris, a kinsman of the Prince. Fate ties these adolescents’ lives together binding them to witness the ill-fortunes of Romeo and Juliet’s love. Romeo and Juliet prove themselves woefully impulsive through their words and actions, which ultimately lead them along a series of unfortunate mishaps.
The play Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, is about a forsaken love between two fighting families. Romeo and Juliet’s love is forbidden, yet both of them refuse to stay away from one another. Romeo being a Montague and Juliet being a Capulet ignites the fire to begin the fight of the century. Being the lovers they believe to be, Romeo and Juliet are willing to do whatever it takes to be together. Lives are lost due to the hatred between families, Romeo’s best friend dies along with Juliet’s cousin in the street fight that gets Romeo banished from Verona.