MaliaBorg

March23,2015
Language8A
Mr.Garner

TheQuestionableTragedyofRomeoAndJuliet

WhenWilliamShakespearefirstpublished
RomeoAndJuliet
,itwastitledTheMost
ExcellentandLamentableTragedyofRomeoandJuliet.Thewordtragedydefinestheplay
beforetheprologue.Tragedyisintended.Sinceitspublicationin1595,thedebateofwhetherthe
starcrossedloversstorywasatragedyhasbeenputtothetest.RomeoandJulietisatragedy
whencomparedtocriteriaproducedfromcritics,AristotleandA.C.Bradley.

InA.C.Bradley'scritiqueofShakespeareantragedy,hediscussestheplothavinga
reversaloffortunefortheprotagonist.Theymaystartouthappyandjoyful,butwithkeyevents
intheplayhislifeturnssour.Aristotlearguessomethingsimilarusingwordslikehappinessto
misery.Aristotlealsoaddresseswiththeplotthatitshouldbesingularandlinear.Thesecriteria
matchwith
RomeoandJuliet
.Romeoissadintheearlyscenes,butonceacquaintedwithJuliet,
heishappyandinlove.Astheplaycontinues,Romeobecomesmelancholy.Whenhehearsof
Juliet's"death",heisreadytocommitsuicide.Julietfollowsasimilarpath.Sheisyoungandfull
oflifeinAct1and2,butshetooissoondriventosuicide.Theplotof
RomeoandJuliet
hasfew

conflictsandallactionsthatoccurpushtheplotforward.Plotpointsin
RomeoandJuliet
fit
criteriabasedontheworksofAristotleandA.C.Bradley.

Aristotlearguesthattheprotagonistofatragedyhasahamartiaorfatalflaw.He
describestheheroasgood,butflawed.A.C.BradleyagreeswithAristotle,butcallsitafatalgift
instead.A.C.Bradleyalsoarguesthattheherowillbeobsessedandhavebeofahighdegree.
Romeosfatalflaworgiftishiseros.Thisisdemonstratedintheplaywhenhisfeelingsfor
RosalinequicklydiminishintoaloveforJulietthatleadshimtohisdeath.Hebecomesobsessed
withJulietandhisloveforher.Twohouseholdsbothalikeindignity(Prologue,i,1).Inthefirst
lineoftheplay,itshowsthatthefamiliesarehighclassandarerespected.
h

Thecriticsunanimouslyagreethatthethememustprovokepityandfear.Aristotle
describesthecatharsisintheplay.Catharsisoccurswhentheaudienceisdrivenupanddown
throughouttheplay.A.C.Bradleydescribesthatwhentheherodies,itisawasteofhuman
potential.RomeoandJulietwouldhavegrownupandbecomeleadersinsociety,butbecauseof
theirdeathstheynevergotthechance.Theaudiencefeelspityforthedeathsofthelovers.For
neverastorymorewoe,thanthisofJulietandherRomeo.(IV,iii,309310).Pityisshowninthe
lastlinesoftheplaybecausePrinceEscaluspointsitoutevenfurther.Fearfortheplaystill
existseventhoughtheendingisknown.TheaudiencefearsthatRomeoandJulietwillnotend
uptogether.Thefearandpitymakeupthetragiceffect.Thisisanimportantpartoftragedy.The
wasteofhumanpotentialappliesbecauseRomeocouldhavebecomeagreatrulerinthe
community.HewouldhavecarriedontheMontaguelegacy.JulietwastheonlychildofLord

Capuletandhewantedtopassonhislegacytosomeoneelse.
RomeoandJuliet
hasthecorrect
thematicpointstobeatragedy.

CriteriabasedontheworkofA.C.BradleyandAristotlecanbematchedwith
Romeo
andJuliet
tofindthatitisinfactatragedy.Thisisnottosaythatitfitsallcriteriabutmatches
thepreponderanceoftheevidence.Thedebateofthegenreoftheplaywillalwaysbeupfor
questionbutbasedonthecriteriaitisatragedyofthestarcrossedlovers.