romeo and juliet paper

Chris Samanns

2-18-03

Mr. Hartey- Period 8

In the play, Romeo and Juliet, Romeo’s actions follow Aristotle’s description of tragic character, with Romeo’s tragic flaw sealing his inescapable fate.  Romeo’s rash personality prevented him from ever having a chance to avoid his path to death.  His impulsiveness is first seen in his immediate love for Juliet and their quick, rushed marriage, despite his knowledge of the conflict between their two families and the inevitable problems that would occur.  As soon as they were married, he further fuels the fire between the two families, acting hastily upon his anger by killing Tybalt, even though he knew that this would just add more difficulty to his relationship with Juliet.  Finally, his reckless, quick action in killing

himself, after he learns of the death of Juliet, is the fitting end to Romeo’s rash path throughout his life.  Romeo’s tragic flaw prevents any hope of escape from his abrupt, fatal end. 

            The path to his fatal end is begun with the quick marriage of Romeo and Juliet.  Romeo, first, claims to be in love with Rosaline throughout the beginning of the play, but as soon as he meets Juliet, all thoughts of Rosaline are swept away.  His quick change of love, in itself, questions his ability to really judge love and be able to make the decision of marrying Juliet, especially in just one day.  However, the love of Romeo and Juliet proves throughout the story to be very strong, surviving their family conflicts and Romeo’s murdering of Tybalt and his banishment, but their rushed, one-day decision to marry cannot be justified.  Romeo’s push for such a rushed decision, gave them no chance to develop their love maturely and plan a way to be married, while acknowledging the conflict of their families.  Romeo was well aware of the conflict, he says, “By a name/ I know not how to tell thee who I am./ My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself/ Because it is an enemy to thee”(II.ii.58-61).  Despite his knowledge of the inevitable problems, Romeo moves forward rashly, proposing marriage and beginning his path towards death. 

            The path towards Romeo’s fatal end continues with his reckless actions in dealing with Tybalt.  Romeo understood that Tybalt was Juliet’s cousin and that any retaliation towards Tybalt could jeopardize his marriage with Juliet, as well as result in punishment from the authorities.  When Mercutio is stabbed, Romeo appears to acknowledge the problems that could be caused by any action in response to Tybalt.  He says, “My reputation stained/ With Tybalt’s slander—Tybalt, that an hour/ Hath been my cousin! O sweet Juliet,/ Thy beauty hath made me effeminate/ And in my temper softened valor’s steel” (III.i.116-120).  His feelings show maturity and restraint, which quickly is forgotten when Mercutio is pronounced dead and his overly spontaneous personality takes over.  He says, “Alive in triumph, and Mercutio slain!/ Away to heaven, respective lenity,/ And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now.—” (III.i.127-129).  Romeo kills Tybalt right after this, thinking only with his anger, with no regard to consequences and a complete loss of the restraint he possessed earlier.  His actions regarding Tybalt were typical of his reckless personality and further sealed his fatal end.

            His fate is finally reached when his rash personality reaches his climax and Romeo commits suicide immediately upon learning of Juliet’s death.  Instead of waiting for any period of time and gathering the facts about her death, he just wanted to boldly reach death with Juliet.  When he received news of her death, he was advised by his friend Balthasar, who says, “I do beseech you, sir, have patience./ Your looks are pale and wild and do import/ Some misadventure” (V.i.28-30).  Romeo disregards this and when Balthasar leaves, he says simply, “Well, Juliet, I will lie with thee tonight” (V.i.37).  Romeo’s inability to process and mourn his wife’s death, prevented any possible avoidance of their fate.  Once again, Romeo’s tendency to act quickly and recklessly suppressed any hope of an escape from death.

            Romeo’s death climaxes the illustration of his tragic flaw of impulsiveness in the play.  It can be seen through all of Romeo’s actions that Aristotle’s theory applies to him because if his personality had just for a second prevented him from acting so recklessly, Romeo might have lived a long, happy life with Juliet. But his fate was inescapable due to his overpowering rash personality.  Romeo’s human control could not have been a factor in his inevitable fate because his attempts at restraint, as can be seen with Tybalt, are quickly overthrown by his overbearing personality.  This shows that Romeo’s personality is directly linked to his fate, supporting Aristotle’s theory, as well as showing the dominance of fate over human control in the play.