Romeo And Juliet's Fatal Flaws

978 Words4 Pages
1) What is Romeo and Juliet’s fatal flaw? How does it lead to their downfall? In the novel “Romeo and Juliet” Romeo and Juliet were the tragic hero’s of the book; this meant that they both had possessed traits that had led to their downfall. Romeo had several fatal flaws: he was an overly emotional person, and he had an impulsive, somewhat unpremeditated and rash demeanor. Another was him falling in love much too quickly and deeply. Juliet’s flaw was her undying loyalty to Romeo. Both were deeply infatuated with each other, which was another attribute that contributed to their deaths. Romeo had several fatal flaws to his character. One was his quick transition of love from Rosaline to Juliet. After Rosaline rejects Romeo, soon afterwards, at the Capulet’s party, Romeo meets only Juliet briefly yet, immediately declares himself in love with her* If Romeo did not have the flaw of falling in love too quickly and deeply, it would have perhaps, prevented the chaos that would have ensured later on in the story when Juliet and got involved with each other. *“Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till the night.” ( Act 1 scene 5, lines 52 – 53) Another flaw in Romeo’s character was his unpremeditated thinking. Combined with his intense, over emotionality, it has been another factor in the cause of his death. Romeo generally acts on his emotions, and never thinks about the consequence of his decisions. This is seen in the event where he avenges Mercutio’s death by killing Tybalt. In that event, the audience can see that Romeo is acting solely on his grief and rage, and not thinking about what the consequences might be afterwards. Romeo then gets exiled, which is another trigger to the tragic ending, where Juliet fakes her own death in order to run away, resulting
Open Document