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Alyza Randall

Mr. Johnson

English 1

15 March 2021

Romeo A Tragic Hero

After drinking the poison, gasping for air, as Romeo takes his last breath, he lies next to

the love of his life. The death of Romeo from The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet and his decisions

leads him to being a tragic hero. The three things that lead to Romeo becoming a tragic hero are

he makes an error in judgment, a reversal of misfortune, and a fate suffered worse than deserved.

These characteristics cause Romeo to be a tragic hero.

One of the characteristics that lead Romeo to be a tragic hero in The Tragedy of Romeo

and Juliet that Romeo has is that he makes an error in judgment that leads to his fatal death.

Romeo’s error in judgment is when he kills Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt, then gets exiled from Verona.

In the text The Prince says, “For his crime, Romeo is to be exiled” (Shakespeare 3.:1). This

quote proves that Romeo made an error in judgment and got banished from Verona because he

did something he wasn’t supposed to like murdering Tybalt. A tragic hero makes a judgment in

error just like Romeo did when he killed Tybalt.

An additional characteristic of a tragic hero in The Tragedy Of Romeo and Juliet is that

Romeo had a reversal of fortune brought about to him because of his error in judgment. The

reversal of fortune Romeo had is when he, Benvolio, and Mercutio meandered off to the

Capulet’s party and when Romeo laid eyes on Juliet, he became obsessively daft over her. After

he met Juliet he completely forgot about Rosaline, his fate went from decent to terrible but his
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happiness went from horrible to great. In the play when Romeo first sees Juliet, he says, "Did my

heart ever love until now?" "My eyes deceived me because I never saw true beauty till this night"

(Shakespeare 2.1) Therefore, this quote proves he fell in love with Juliet as soon as he laid eyes

on her. Romeo didn’t even know her but would do anything for her. Which later in the play gets

him into an affliction and causes him to lose his life, his mother, Lady Capulet, his wife, Juliet

and Paris’.

Romeo Montague fits the characteristics of a tragic hero in The Tragedy of Romeo and

Juliet that Romeo is his fate was greater than deserved. All Romeo wanted to do was marry the

love of his life and be happy but the fighting between his family and the Capulets made it

difficult for him, which later in the play caused him to lose his life. In the play it says, "The death

of these two young people becomes the source of such profound grief for the parents that the

tragedy finally ends the feud and brings peace to both bereaved families" (Shakespeare 1.1). This

quote proves after the tragic deaths of Romeo and his wife Juliet, the families finally realize if

there was no fighting, they would both still be alive, so there is finally peace between the

Capulets and Montagues. A tragic hero’s fate is greater than deserved just like Romeo when he

lost people he loved, and then suffered a fatal death.

Overall, Romeo Montague fits as a tragic hero in The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet

because of the decisions he makes. He made an error in judgment when he killed Juliet’s cousin,

Tybalt, then got exiled from his hometown. Romeo had a reversal of fortune brought about to

him when he went undercover to his sworn rival’s party and met his soon to be, love of his life,

Juliet Capulet. Romeo suffered a fate greater than deserved, all he wanted was to be happy with

Juliet but a lot of lives ended up being lost, people ended up hurt, and Romeo himself suffered a

fatal death. All these actions and decisions Romeo made caused him to be a tragic hero.
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Works Cited

Applebee, Arthur N. Language of Literature. Evanston IL. McDougal Littel, 2000.

No Fear Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet. New York, NY. Spark Publishing, 2003.