Tragic Flaws In Romeo And Juliet

In Shakespeare's plays, tragedy is identified as a story that ends unhappily due to the fall of the protagonist, which is the tragic hero. For a play to be a tragedy, there must be a tragic hero. In the play Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is the tragic hero. The theme of tragedy plays a great role in the play. In William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, flaws in the characters of Romeo, Juliet and Friar Lawrence help cause the fatal outcome of the play.
Romeo, just like any normal human being, possesses flaws, which in this case, lead to tragedy. To begin with, Romeo shows that he is impulsive. Romeo says he is falling in love with Juliet within minutes of meeting her after finding out that she was a Capulet. "With love's light wings did I o'er-perch these walls; for stoney limits cannot hold love out, and what love can do that dares love attempt" (2.2.66-67). Making impulsive decisions allows Romeo to take the easy way out of
the dilemmas and he makes matters worse by acting on a first thought rather than logic. Secondly, Romeo was an overly dramatic person. After the Prince sentences Romeo to banishment, Romeo thinks that no situation could be worse as he says to Friar Lawrence, "Banishment? Be merciful, say death" (3.3.12). By being overly dramatic Romeo make situations worse because he overreacts and seems to only care about his own feelings or suffering. In addition, Romeo's secretive nature complicates his situation. Even when Tybalt is threatening to kill him, Romeo still cannot admit his love for Juliet and simply states, "Villain am I non. Therefore farewell. I see thou know knowest me not" (3.1.59-60). Since Romeo is secretive, he can confide in no one and withholding the simple truth adds to the violent misunderstandings and confusion. Being impulsive, overly dramatic, and secretive contributes to the tragedy that occurs.
Juliet, just like any normal human being, possesses flaws, which in this case, lead to tragedy.
To begin with, Juliet is over-dramatic. She is over-dramatic when dealing with Romeo's death. When she finds out, she takes her first thought into action. She says "This is thy sheath; there rust, and let me die" (5.3.170). She thought that she could not live without Romeo, so she killed herself. Juliet also does risky things. She risks her life when drinking the potion Friar Lawrence gave created. She says "My dismal scene I needs must act some" (4.3.19). This potion could have killed Juliet, but she said she would rather die, than live without Romeo. Lastly, Juliet is easily persuaded. Her mom wanted her to get married to Paris. Juliet says "well think of marriage now. Younger than you, here in Verona, ladies of esteem, are made already mothers" (1.4.70-73). Juliet's mother thinks Juliet should get married to Paris, and she actually thinks about it. Being over-dramatic, risky, and easily persuaded contributes to the tragedy that
occurs.
Friar Lawrence, just like any normal human being, possesses flaws, which in this case, lead to tragedy. To begin with, Friar Lawrence is secretive. He did not tell the crowd of people during the morning of Juliet’s wedding that she has a plan to escape because she is already married to Romeo. He also kept secrets from the Capulets, he said, “Your part in her you could not keep from death, but heaven keeps his part in eternal life" (4.5.69-70). If he did tell them, the ending fight and death would not have occurred. Secondly, Friar Lawrence is a bad decision maker. He gave Juliet a vial to temporarily kill her until for the wedding day. He says “Hold, daughter. I do spy a kind of hope, which craves as desperate an execution” (4.1.68-69). This starts the tragedy because when Romeo hears the news that she is dead, he was willing to die with her due to the conflictions about the message expected. In addition, Friar Lawrence was to blame for the tragedy due to his desire for glory. This was when Friar Lawrence agreed to marry Romeo and Juliet. He said “So smile the heavens upon this holy act that after-hours with sorrow chide us not” (2.6.1-2). It leads to them dying for each other’s love although this could have been prevented if they were not a couple. Being secretive, a bad decision maker, and his desire for glory contributes to the tragedy that occurs.
In William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, flaws in the characters of Romeo, Juliet and Friar Lawrence help cause the fatal outcome of the play. Romeo shows that he is impulsive, overly dramatic, and secretive. Also, Juliet shows that she is overly-dramatic, risky, and easily persuaded. Lastly, Friar Lawrence shows that he is secretive, a bad decision maker, and he has a desire for glory. These three characters, all had tragic flaws.