Tragic Flaw in Romeo and Juliet: the Downfall of Pride and Impulsiveness

Unyielding Pride and Impulsivity: A Comparative Study of Romeo and King Creon’s Downfalls

‘The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection’ (George Orwell). Every individual, when progressing through life, begins to realize that perfection is unattainable and that human beings all have flaws. The struggles and flaws of individuals govern the consequences of their judgment and belief. Showing the way of thinking behind one’s actions. This is evident in Romeo and Juliet as Shakespeare demonstrates Romeo as an impulsive young man madly in love with Juliet and determined to be with her, nevertheless overlooking advice given.

Likewise, these tragic flaws are perceptible in King Creon in Antigone by Sophocles, who is just as stubborn, refusing to recognize the bonds of family that tie Antigone to her brother Polyneices and see his irrational laws are unfair, as well as his rashness in putting Antigone in jail. While both King Creon and Romeo exhibit tragic flaws of pride and impulsiveness, the greater downfall is clearly demonstrated by Romeo.

Impulsive Love: Romeo’s Downward Spiral through Hasty Decisions

If one was punished for every rash decision made, the world would be filled with punishment. For instance, Romeo is so deeply in love with Juliet he doesn’t realize his errors, and this intensifies his consequences’. Unfortunately, his impulsiveness becomes evident, and Romeo fights Tybalt. If Romeo had thought reasonably, he would not have been separated from Juliet. His banishment causes Romeo to act out with extreme despair to Friar Lawrence, and he thinks that death would be better than exile.

Creon’s Prideful Stance: A King’s Refusal to Heed Wisdom

Choosing deliberately to avoid the advice of another will truly show the error in ways on one’s self; this would evoke consequences that could’ve been prevented. Creon will not listen to anyone, he is stubborn, and his pride is so great he cannot bring himself to acknowledge that he could ever do wrong. When Creon is talking to Teiresias, he thinks that he is being paid off. He does not want to believe he could be wrong about Antigone. Creon even says, “Whatever you say, you will not change my will.” (scene 5 ). Creon also has self-righteousness and cockiness, a feeling that he is superior to all. “The State is King!” says Creon(Line 106), which shows that he even thinks he’s better than the gods are. Creon has too much pride, and the gods do not like that, and this causes Creon’s hubris downfall.

Romeo’s Tragic Flaw: A Fate Sealed by Impulsiveness and Missed Redemption

The death of someone close to another can embark on a change to one’s personality, mentality, and way of life. Romeo is not given that chance to change the error in his ways, whereas King Creon is shown the ongoing sequence of his actions and works to undo them, but obviously is too late. This is much less of a consequence than death. While Romeo is not able to reevaluate his life and change his errors because his downfall is his death, and this displays clearly that Romeo’s downfall is clearly greater, for he is not even able to amend his conflicts and change for the better. King Creon has the opportunity to amend his lifestyle and change his way, but Romeo is left to commit suicide and resulting in him not even being able to see his errors and fix them.

“Better to be a strong man with a weak point than to be a weak man without a strong point.” (William B.) Mistakes make people the way they are, and the consequences that come from them shape them into being better. If one takes those bad experiences and learns from them, one can then use them to prevent future comings of consequences’ before it occurs. Both Romeo and King Creon demonstrate that the tragic flaws made both downfalls rather hard, but they learned from them, although it took major consequences.

References:

1. Orwell, G. (1949). Nineteen Eighty-Four. London: Secker & Warburg.

2. Shakespeare, W. (1597). Romeo and Juliet. London: Oxford University Press.

3. Sophocles. (c. 441 BC). Antigone. London: Penguin Classics.

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