What type of tragedy is romeo and juliet

Hero is destined for destruction and downfall : Check. If you've been paying attention, then you already know what we're going say here. The play drops several hints that our "star-crossed" lovers are fated to die. Reread the opening Prologue for the evidence and then check out our discussion of the theme of "Fate.

Now, if you're not buying into this whole "fate" is responsible for Romeo and Juliet's tragedy thing, then you're not alone. Poet W. Not all tragedies end in death but all of Shakespeare's tragedies do : Check. Romeo and Juliet commit suicide in the play's final scene 5. Plus, Romeo manages to stab Paris 5. Plus, the Prince promises us that some heads will definitely roll in the play's final lines when he says "Some shall be pardoned, and some punished" for the part they've played in the tragic events 5.

Despite the high body count, political order gets back to normal at the end : Check. Sure, our heroes are dead. But the Prince swoops in to hand a little justice and to get things in Verona back to normal. This shows how great an effect the feud has on the story, although it is never revealed how it all started. The hate for each other is definitely there but possibly not quite as much as there used to be.

He shows more than just hate for the Montagues, almost a psychological need to fight and I believe that he takes the feud too seriously. In this scene Juliet is told that she has an arranged marriage to Paris. She is then threatened by her father:. This traps her because she cannot tell her parents about her secret marriage to Romeo and if she does marry Paris she will be committing bigamy, a sin she would be punished for.

This pushes her to go to the Friar, one of the controlling elders, whereas before she went to her Nurse, the other advisor and mentor. This also shows how much power the Church had at the time. The Friar is the person that Romeo confides in and Juliet confides in her Nurse but they both let down the lovers at crucial points.

At the start especially, Shakespeare emphasises the role of fate. Several premonitions and one curse occur in the story. The first premonition is from Romeo in Act 1, Scene 4, just before they go to the Capulet ball:. The final premonition is from Juliet again.

As Romeo climbs down the balcony to go to Mantua, Juliet says this:. This is one possibility that could be true and the other is that they could just see into the future. The stars are another way of telling your future and this point is also shown in play. In Act 5, Scene1, when Romeo finds out that Juliet is dead, he exclaims:.

This means that he wants to go against what the stars say and he will be with Juliet, in either life or death, no matter what. The role of fate is shown finally by Friar Lawrence in the final scene, who says:. This means that a higher power, in this case fate, has stopped their plans. This, again, shows the role of fate in their lives and how much superstition there is at this time. At the crucial moments in the play there seem to be so many unlucky coincidences, and this makes it seem that Romeo and Juliet are doomed by fate.

This would have stopped the lovers from ever meeting and therefore stopping their untimely deaths. The death of Mercutio makes Romeo kill Tybalt, which in turn gets him exiled. He then told Romeo that Juliet was dead, which leads Romeo to kill himself next to her in the tomb seconds before she awakes.

In all, these coincidences are ironic, in that characters have premonitions and warnings but do not take heed of them and then they come true. Still years after the first tragedies, they are still as popular as ever. This could be for a number of reasons, and I think some of them are:.

The range of emotions in the play is what I think makes it a passionate and enticing tragedy. I myself can relate to Benvolio, the peace keeper of the story. I am like him in that we both are reluctant to fight but will if necessary. I could also see myself as Romeo, this is due to my last love where I was quite impetuous and so I pulled out of the relationship so as not to get hurt. Zeffirelli adhered more closely to the story line and based it in the time the original play was set.

The sense of sadness and depression is countered by some kind of positive ending. The feud ending and the lesson is to a certain extent positive but the mass deaths puts everything into a depression and sadness is felt by everyone. The ending is like most tragedies where many people die and a lesson is learnt by those who survive and the people around them.

As I said earlier, the audience feel a connection with the characters in the play and this shows that the play is still relevant today. Romeo kills Tybalt not because of a flaw within himself, but because of the violent feuding spreading across Verona. Rather, the murder is externally motivated by his circumstances. Not only does Romeo and Juliet deviate in many ways from the tragic genre, the first two acts of the play are structured much more like a comedy.

Suggestive wordplay is another common trope of Shakespearean comedy. Romeo and Juliet opens with Gregory and Sampson making bawdy jokes about erections and virginity. Shakespearean tragedies usually end with the death of the protagonist, which restores harmony to the community. Ace your assignments with our guide to Romeo and Juliet!

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