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Romeo And Juliet Tragic Hero Analysis

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Aristotle defined “tragic hero” as one who makes a judgement error that inevitably leads to his or her own destruction. An excellent example of a tragic hero, as according to Aristotle’s definition, is Romeo Montague from Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare. Romeo is an appropriate example because he demonstrates flaw, experiences a reversal of fortune brought by his own actions, and later realises that the reversal of fortune brought on him was his fault. To start the fire, the first attribute in Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero is that he or she must bespeak a flaw or error of judgment, also known by the Greeks as “hamartia”. Romeo, in fact, does possess this characteristic because he is governed by his rash, passionate judgement. For example, in 2.6, Romeo marries Juliet, with the help of Friar Laurence, a few days after they met, which was occurring too quickly. Romeo feels as though he truly loves Juliet …show more content…

Romeo does receive a reversal of fortune due to his marriage to Juliet. In 3.1.129-140, Romeo ends up killing Tybalt, which was then his cousin because he married Juliet. His rash, passionate judgement of the event that killed Mercutio lead him to believe that he should take revenge. Also, it is because of Romeo and Juliet’s secret wedding that Tybalt decided to pick a fight with Romeo without a second thought in the first place (2.4.7-13 and 3.1). If Tybalt knew that Romeo had married Juliet and was now Tybalt’s cousin, then he wouldn't have willingly started a fight. To add on, Tybalt’s death lead to Romeo’s banish, Romeo’s banish lead to Juliet’s and the friar’s scheme to get the lovers together, and that scheme lead to Romeo’s death since he did not receive the letter from Friar Laurence about the plan, and that lead to Juliet’s death. To summarize, Romeo’s reversal of fortune is the death of his loved ones and

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