What Makes Romeo and Juliet a Tragic Story?
What makes Romeo and Juliet a tragic story?
The word tragedy derives from the fourteenth century French word 'tragedie', but ultimately from the Greek word 'Tragodia'. In the main stream perspective, the word tragedy is thought of as "An event in life that evokes thought or feelings of sorrow or grief". This maybe correct but it can also mean "a disastrous circumstance or event such as serious illness, financial ruin or death." This description of the word relates to the events of September 11th 2001 in which six thousand innocent men, women and children were killed because of terrorism. In a way, this example of tragedy links t o the Romeo and Juliet play because there is an overwhelming source of unjust death and anguish at the end of the play.
From the very beginning of the play, in the prologue, it is apparent that the idea of fate is one if not the most important aspects of the tragedy in Romeo and Juliet. It says, "A pair of star cross'd take their life;" Which suggests that the stars are dictating their lives and love for each other. It is almost as thought they are victim of something bigger than they can control. The dramatic irony in the play links to the idea that their lives are dictated by something they can't control. This idea is reflected in their language throughout the play. For example, when Romeo says, "Where on a sudden one hath wounded me, that's by me wounded ". (II, iii, 46-47). This statement is referring to friar Lawrence's remedies, this quotation links to the idea that the lovers are forces which are bigger than they can control because the statement is referring to the same remedy that Juliet takes later on in the play to stop the marriage to the County Paris. A definition of dramatic irony is, " dramatic irony is the audience knows something that characters in the play do not". The audience know that the lovers are doomed to die so it is ironic that they seem to predict this in the language that they use.
Timing and near misses are part of tragedy and these things keep the audience 'on the edge of their seats'. Probably the best example of this is, is in the Zeffirelli film production of Romeo and Juliet when you see Romeo gallop past the messenger who has the letter explaining the plan to keep Juliet from marrying Paris. Another example of bad timing happens at the very end of the play when Romeo drinks poison to end his anguish and his life. Then, within seconds of his death, Juliet wakes up, sees his dead body, and kills herself. ...
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Timing and near misses are part of tragedy and these things keep the audience 'on the edge of their seats'. Probably the best example of this is, is in the Zeffirelli film production of Romeo and Juliet when you see Romeo gallop past the messenger who has the letter explaining the plan to keep Juliet from marrying Paris. Another example of bad timing happens at the very end of the play when Romeo drinks poison to end his anguish and his life. Then, within seconds of his death, Juliet wakes up, sees his dead body, and kills herself. At this point, the audience are thinking it would be a happy conclusion but then in an instant their hopes are shattered. Another part of fate, which could be debated, is that their deaths could be part of a curse, this idea relates to Romeos best friend Mercutio. When he was dying his last words were " A plague o' both your houses"(III, I, 90) this refers to the fighting between the Capulets and Montagues. It could be that the plague or curse given was Romeo and Juliet, the children of each family and their tragic end.
Linked with the idea of fate being tragic is the death of a tremendous number of characters during the play. The biggest tragedy is that Romeo and Juliet are both young and there is a huge sense of waste when they die, it is almost like they haven't had a chance to actually live their lives and that it should not happen to people of their age. Their youth is shown best in the Zeffirelli production of the play in which Juliet is playing with her toys and being childish and then she was called by her parents and she skipped like a young child would. In a way, their deaths were a good thing in the end because it stopped the feuding families' fights and arguments.
My next point is on the speed throughout the play. You could say that the play 'flies' past. The play only takes place over five days; I think that by doing this, Shakespeare made audiences feel the full extent of the tragedy and it is very important to keep the pace quick to keep the audience interested in what is happening and to add the sense of intensity in the play.
At the beginning of the play the time seems to pass slowly, this is because Romeo at this time is 'love sick' and fretting over his beloved Rosaline, he says, "The hours are long." Later, during the play, Capulet complains that the years rush past too quickly. The play is filled with speed, speed to kill whomever in the way and speed to commit suicide when life seems empty. Everywhere there is angry feuding, surging passion and sudden death and all of this happens in such a short time. The most shocking part that speed plays in the idea of tragedy is that Romeo and Juliet growing up in such a short time, from being childish at the start of the play to being married lovers within the space of a few days. The Zeffirelli film shows this well when we see Juliet playing childish games with the nurse, and then in a few days, she is having a fully sexual relationship and being happily married.
The snowball effect is a part of the tragedy, which also changes radically in a short space of time. From every thing being happy and fun towards the beginning of the play and how it dramatically goes down hill from there. It is like a snowball in the sense that it is all there to start with but as the play goes on it gradually, it will melt and its condition will get worse. The structure of the play grows in intensity very quickly to a tragic climax. The Tragedy spreads quickly almost like a contagious virus with many people getting the virus and experiencing the tragedy. An unbelievable aspect of the tragedy is that, not only does the does the tragedy spread quickly but also it affects a huge number of people. A modern day, larger scale example could be the foot and mouth crisis when hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people's lives were affected with lots of places restricted because of the disease. It wasn't only the farming industry that was affected, people wanting to buy bacon and other animal goods found that they could not because there was no access to them.
The structure of the play becomes increasingly tragic, comic elements of the play decrease as the play moves on. A lot of comedy is lost when Mercutio is killed. Even when he is dying his friends think he is doing a comedy act, they might think this because he actually makes a joke on the word 'grave'. Another main comic character is the nurse, in the Zeffirelli production when she tells Juliet that she should marry Paris the comedy and cheerfulness goes out of her face and posture, Juliet is devastated when this happens because she feels as though she has been double crossed, that the nurse really isn't somebody she should trust. She feels she is betrayed by the only person she trusted. The comedy factor of the play really dies out in act three, scene two when Romeo and Juliet are married, Mercutio is killed and Romeo takes his revenge on Tybalt
Romeo and Juliet links to Antigone in many ways the biggest being the idea of dilemma and choice. Creon does not know what to do about Antigone breaking his rules because she was doing something that was right for her religion and she is part of his family. In Romeo and Juliet, there are few instances when dilemma and choice are big factors, Friar Lawrence and the situation he is put in to try to stop Juliet's marriage to Paris. However, Juliet experiences the biggest dilemma when Romeo kills her cousin Tybalt, she does not know what to do or think, as she loves them both dearly. When the dilemma arises between the choice of her husband and her duty to her parents over the marriage to Paris she is put in a difficult position.
The whole play is full of many aspects of tragedy and little twists and turns in the story line. This is just to keep readers and audiences in theatres on their toes because they don't know what might happen next. They all go through a great deal of emotional intensity with sadness and disorder everywhere. The fact that both families are grieving together at the end at the end of the play just shows that there is more to life than petty rivalry and that it is actually for living peacefully.
