Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet Critical Analysis

To many, Romeo and Juliet is seen as one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies. Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy about star-crossed lovers that come from varied backgrounds. They are dying to be together, but they both know that being together is nearly impossible. Romeo and Juliet is seen as a tragedy, but many critics think otherwise. Romeo and Juliet is more of a problem play than a tragedy, and many critics support this cause on the grounds of what makes the construction of a tragedy and a problem play, and what makes a character have tragic or problematic stature. A tragedy is a dramatic composition with a serious theme, typically that of a great person destined through a flaw of character or conflict with some overpowering force, such as fate or society, leading to downfall or destruction (Tragedy). Many critics believe that Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is in fact not a tragic play because it does not meet these criteria. In a drama, a tragedy normally recounts significant events in a protagonist’s life that ultimately end in a catastrophe (Hacht). Critics argue that the ambiguity that surrounds the cause of the lovers’ deaths generates the play into an apprentice tragedy. Often, Romeo and Juliet is considered an experimental tragedy because Shakespeare breaks away from the traditional patterns of what makes a tragic play. In contrast, Critics have proposed three ways to interpret Shakespeare’s plot in Romeo and Juliet. One method is looking at the events that take place as a helpless display of fate. Another method is looking at Romeo and Juliet as a tragedy of divine will. Lastly, some critics suggest that the lovers’ own reckless passions leads the way to their inevitable double suicide (Hacht). Other critics such as Charney suggest that, “It is exceedingly difficult to make an emotion as complex and ambivalent as love seem an adequate motivating cause for tragedy” (Hacht). Likely, critics either believe that the play is a complete tragedy or not a tragedy