Evaluating Romeo as a Tragic Hero

Evaluating Romeo as a Tragic Hero

The first tragedy plays were written and performed by the Athenians in

Greece. During that time, gods and religion were very important in

Athenians' lives and so the plays usually revolved around stories

about Gods and people of high status such as kings. In the play,

'Romeo and Juliet', the story revolves around Romeo and Juliet who are

of high status as Romeo is the son of "Montague" and Juliet is the

daughter of "Capulets" who are "both alike in dignity." This makes

Romeo more of a tragic hero as the play is a tragedy. But his fall in

life does not involve the fate of the whole nation as in many tragic

plays so this could lessen Romeo being a tragic character as the play

is lacks this feature of a tragic play.

The language in tragedy plays is often dramatic and 'Romeo and Juliet'

often has characters speaking dramatic language. Romeo's language at

the end of the play is very dramatic and he uses metaphors and makes

death a "lean abhorrhero?heorhèd monster" that keeps Juliet "in the

dark to be his paramour." He makes death seem like a selfish thing,

which takes Juliet's life away from Romeo so that she can be its

lover. This is a very dramatic and cruel metaphor for death that Romeo

has used. Romeo says that the metaphorical death monster "hath sucked

the honey" of Juliet's "breath." Romeo describes death as a "bitter

conduct" for him, the use of sense of taste makes Juliet seem 'sweet'

and innocent if her breath was like honey. This would also make him a

tragic character.

Another feature of a tragedy play is the increasing speed of events

leading to the end of the play. 'Romeo and Juliet' ...

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... his life. I think a hero should not be inferior to his emotions

and should overcome them otherwise he cannot overcome fear, a feeling

that most heroes can overcome.

Even though Romeo sometimes shows physical qualities of a hero they

are not of major value, for example, he does not save a crowd of

people in danger. Most of the time, Romeo acts immaturely; he shows

this by getting married early and killing Tybalt without thinking

about the consequences.

I think Romeo is more admired as a romantic hero rather than a hero

who saves people from danger. He is a character that is liked by the

way he speaks but in general he does not take any physical actions

that are impressively heroic like. So, you cannot really call him a

true hero. Romeo is in a tragedy play and so is a tragic character but

not so much of a hero.