Nina Krasnoff

March 23, 2015

ELA 8B
Mr. Garner
Romeo and Juliet: A Tragedy?
Most people consider Romeo and Juliet to be a tragedy. However, when studied in detail,
particularly using the standards of Aristotle and A.C. Bradley, one might find that Romeo and
Juliet does not look quite like other tragedies. Romeo and Juliet is not a tragedy because while it
has a tragic plot and tragic characters, it does not have a tragic theme.
For a plot to be considered tragic, there are four main criteria it must meet. As Aristotle
points out, the plot must be linear. In another one of Aristotle's points, he notes that the plot must
feature some sort of happiness of the protagonist, which fades to misery as the plot goes on. As
A.C. Bradley points out, the plot must end with the death of the hero, and chance must play a
small role in the death of the hero.
According to Aristotle and Bradley, there are three main criteria for protagonists to be tragic.
In Aristotle's Poetics, he notes that the tragic character must generally be good, so the audience
roots for him, but flawed, so the audience understands that the resolution must be somewhat his
fault. Aristotle also points out that the protagonist must be important, so that the tragedy affects
not just the tragic character, but those around him. Bradley adds to Aristotle's point of the
protagonist being good but flawed with an argument that the protagonist must have a fatal
obsession, such as love.
For a story to truly be a tragedy, it must have a tragic theme. There are three main criteria set
forward by Aristotle and Bradley to establish a tragic theme. Aristotle starts out with the point
that the story must invoke pity and fear from the audience. Bradley adds to this point by saying
that along with the emotions of pity and fear, the story must also leave the audience with the
feeling that there had been a waste of human potential, that the character could have become
someone really great if the resolution of the story was different.
Romeo and Juliet has a tragic plot. The plot is linear, with only one story going on, the love
of Romeo and Juliet. There is a sense that the protagonist is going from happiness to misery, as
both characters are perfectly happy at the beginning of the play, but soon become unhappy over
the fact that they cannot see each other. In addition, Juliet is often distraught over the fact that
she fell in love with a Montague. This distraught is demonstrated in the line, "O Romeo, Romeo,
wherefore art thou Romeo?"(II, ii, 33). In Romeo and Juliet, the death of the hero is certainly
present, as both Romeo and Juliet die at the end of the play. Lastly, there is a small role of chance
in Romeo and Juliet. An example of this is when the messenger attempts to send Friar Laurence's
plan to Romeo, but cannot because of a quarantine(V, ii).This is chance because nothing the
characters did brought about this quarantine; it simply happened at the wrong moment,
contributing greatly to the eventual death of Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet matches the
criteria of Aristotle and A.C. Bradley, so it has a tragic plot.

Romeo and Juliet includes tragic characters, especially if one considers Romeo to be the
protagonist. Romeo is good but flawed. An example of this is when Romeo first sees Juliet in Act
I, he immediately forgets his sorrow about Rosaline and declares that he has never loved anyone
before. At this point, he has not even met Juliet yet. His hamartia, or tragic flaw, is his Eros, his
tendency to fall in love at first sight, based only on looks. This can be demonstrated by his love
for both Juliet and Rosaline. Both Romeo and Juliet are important, members of highly-ranking
families in the Verona society. Lastly, Romeo has a fatal obsession, specifically his obsession
with Juliet. The characters Romeo and Juliet, especially Romeo, are tragic characters by the
standards of A.C. Bradley.
However, Romeo and Juliet does not have a tragic theme. While the story of Romeo and
Juliet may invoke pity for the young protagonists who face an arguably untimely death, it does
not invoke fear from the audience. The audience does not feel afraid that they might face the
same fate that Romeo and Juliet face, mainly because of all the small coincidences and choices
that come together to form their story. It does not seem likely that all of these things will happen
in the same way again, so the audience does not feel fear. Romeo and Juliet also does not invoke
a feeling that there has been a waste of human potential in the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, nor in
the deaths of Mercutio, Paris, Tybalt, or Lady Montague. While all of these people are from high
ranking families and are well-respected in Verona, none of them invoke a feeling of
disappointment about what they could have been. By the standards of Aristotle and A.C. Bradley,
Romeo and Juliet does not have a tragic theme.
While Romeo and Juliet has a tragic plot and tragic characters, it does not have a tragic
theme. Therefore, Romeo and Juliet is not a tragedy. The plot and characters, while important,
inevitably create and lead into the theme, so if the theme is not tragic, then the work cannot truly
be considered a tragedy.