Romeo and Juliet Group
Question:
crazzichic15
Student
High School - 9th Grade
Answers:
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sagesource Teacher
High School - 12th GradePosted by sagesource on Saturday May 3, 2008 at 4:00 PMYes, one supposes, but.... in a qualified sense. It isn't a tragedy in the sense that King Lear is.
Up to the death of Mercutio, it almost seems as if Romeo and Juliet is going to be another family comedy, possibly with a highly contrived but happy ending -- another As You Like It. Many scholars thus see Romeo and Juliet as transitional between comedy and tragedy, particularly since the forces crushing the protagonists are external rather than internal. Neither Romeo nor Juliet has a "tragic flaw" in the way that Othello has his jealousy or Macbeth his ambition, for instance. They are inexperienced and hasty, but their ruin comes from inexorable forces beyond them, not from something in themselves. This lessens the impact of the play if considered purely from the angle of tragedy.
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gbeatty Teacher
College - FreshmanPosted by gbeatty on Saturday May 3, 2008 at 4:01 PMYes. It is a tragedy. A classical tragedy arises from the particular character in a specific situation, and, especially, from that character's tragic flaw, which leads to his destruction. In this case, both Romeo and Juliet have an intense love for one another, driving them to be together (the character part), but they are in a situation where they cannot be. In another situation, no problem. In this one, their families and their fates (and timing, as when the Act V action occurs) end up causing the deaths of two innocent teenagers, and extinguish an extreme love. I call that tragic.
Sources:
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pmiranda2857 Teacher
High School - 11th GradePosted by pmiranda2857 on Saturday May 3, 2008 at 6:24 PMRomeo and Juliet is a tragedy, the young lovers are victims of miscommunication and bad timing as well as feuding families that stand in the way of their love and happiness.
Ultimately, tragically, they are reunited in death, the only way that they can be together under the current family conditions.
Sadly, with the sacrifice of the two young people, the battling families decide to end their feud. So, yes the play is a tragedy, and also a triumph for the love of Romeo and Juliet serves to heal the wound that separates the Montagues and the Capulets, and love triumphs even in death.