“A couple of star-crossed lovers commit suicide; » (Prologue, 6) Tragedy, events of great misfortune, have engulfed the world for centuries. Tragedy often giving rise to feelings of depression, anger, grief and guilt. Romeo, in the tragedy Romeo and Juliet, is a rich teenager from the Montague family. He falls in love with young Juliet, from her rival family, the Capulets. Romeo's infatuation with Juliet leads him to a hasty desire for marriage. This creates a thoughtless and careless state of mind, making Romeo vulnerable to errors in judgment. This same lack of judgment leads Romeo to kill Tybalt without thinking, in revenge for the death of his friend Mercutio. By fate, Romeo accidentally falls in love with a Capulet, his family's rival. It is ultimately Romeo's hamartia, combined with chance and death, that produces the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Romeo is only human and as such will inevitably make mistakes, but some will have a much greater impact than others. Hamartia, or tragic flaw, is an error in a certain character, which leads to its destruction. During the Capulets' masked ball, Romeo is struck with love at the sight of Juliet, because "[he] never saw true beauty before [that] night." (I, v, 52). Romeo is suddenly fascinated and overcome with emotion. Romeo feels obliged to linger and see Juliet again. He finds Juliette, on a balcony, unaware of his presence. Juliet secretly hopes that Romeo will “refuse [her] father and refuse [his] name” (II, ii, 34). Romeo struggles with the notion of betrayal of his family. Refusing his father would result in the loss of his entire inheritance. This choice imposes a compromise on Romeo. He must make a difficult decision: his lifestyle or his love. Romeo's naive infatuation with Jul... middle of paper ...... strong sense of pathos and pity in the audience. Viewers are meant to feel connected to the actors' experiences by remembering similar circumstances in their own lives. Romeo's hamartia, combined with chance and death, truly produces the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Romeo's tragic flaw leads to infatuation and haste, causing his recklessness. Chance then causes a chain of unfortunate events; Tybalt's chance encounter causing Romeo's exile, as well as Romeo's fateful decision to kill himself moments before Juliet wakes up. Death adds yet another layer of tragedy, connecting the loss of the play's characters to the feared loss of family and friends in the real world. Although tragedy was everywhere in Romeo and Juliet, the characters learned from their mistakes and grew stronger from their failures. Maybe we can do the same.