SYAMAPRASHAD COLLEGE

92, Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Rd, Jatin Das Park, Patuapara,

Bhowanipore, Kolkata-700026

English Honours

DSE – B1

Topic : Critically analysis any one of Shakespearean tragic hero

of your choice

Name- Srija Goswami

Course- BA Honours

Sem- 5th

Session- 2022

COLLEGE ROLL NUMBER- 20104EN-1/01

REGISTRATION NUMBER- 0161211004520

CU Roll number – 202016 - 11 - 0045- 20

 Introduction
What made an old story “of woe” about teen love and suicide the most filmed play to date and
a cultural phenomenon with an impressive legacy that lives to that day? 1595 “Romeo and
Juliet” became Shakespeare’s most famous play in his lifetime, and the complex characters that
he carefully created have grown to become the archetypes of young, tragic lovers since then.
Shakespeare showed his mastery through his depiction of tragic love capable of taking lives and
wreaking havoc as well as the poetic structure. Mixing comedy and tragedy, the author
employed every device at hand to showcase character development. This paper will discuss
Romeo, her role in the play, and how the concepts of misfortune, conflict, and fatal flaw apply
to her.

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.

Romeo is a good character for many reasons. First, he is very romantic to the woman he loves.
Romeo treats Juliet with care, respect, and kindness, making him a good husband. He
compliments her beauty repeatedly throughout the play. For example, in Act 1 Scene 5 line-41-
42 Romeo says to Juliet, “Which lady is that, which doth enrich her hand/ Of yonder knight?”
He is struck by how beautiful she is and he wishes to touch her and be enriched with her
beauty. Also, in Act 2 Scene 2 lines 4-6, Romeo speaks to Juliet from her garden. He tells her
that she is impossibly beautiful by saying, “Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, / Who is
already sick and pale with grief, / That thou her maid art far more fair than she.” This proves
Romeo to be good because it shows how much he cares about her and the way he treats her
makes her feel good about herself. This is important because it builds up her confidence. He
even knows that love between the two families is forbidden, but he is disloyal to his entire
family by pursuing the love of their enemy. Also, no one knows about his secret love except
Juliet, Friar Lawrence, and the Nurse. Therefore, he is lying to his family as well as disobeying
them. These numerous things make Romeo a bad character in the play.
What makes Shakespeare’s artistry so great is his ability to create believable characters: they
are living breathing creatures not devoid of imperfections. However, in the play about
impossible love, each of the main characters’ flaws becomes fatal and brings about the tragic
end. Romeo’s fatal flaw is his impetuousness: the combination of immaturity, inability to
consider others’ advice, and social grooming set him for an impending disaster. Romeo’s
impatience and impulsiveness push him to commit suicide while ignoring other solutions.
Unwillingly, he causes the death of the one he truly loved, Juliet.

Romeo is seen as a tragic hero because of the many examples of his good and bad character.
This follows Aristotle’s definition because it proves him to be a character that is neither
completely good nor completely bad. Romeo loves Juliet with kindness and generosity, but to
love her is forbidden. Also, he tries to prevent a second fight between the two families in the
streets of Verona, but later kills Tybalt, his love’s cousin. These things make Romeo both good
and bad, therefore a tragic hero.

Conclusion
In his world-famous play, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare creates a believable portrait of a
teenager of a marriageable age living in 13th century Italy. Romeo meets Juliet at a tender age of
fifteen and dives blindly, head-first in love. Their romance, no matter how promising and
endearing, is not bound to happen as the young lovers belong to quarreling families who will
not bury the hatchet even for the sake of their children’s happiness. The hostile environment
that Romeo has to tolerate is unfortunate, and at a very young age, he is confronted with both
an external conflict, the feud, and internal – overcoming the fate. His fatal flaw, impetuousness,
does not help his case, for unable to handle the pressure, he commits suicide. The convergence
of unwelcoming social conditions and poor timing on par with his imperfect personality make
Romeo a true tragic hero.
Work Sited
William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
Wikipedia.