Is Romeo and Juliet a comedy of tragedy?

Answer 1

Some people want to label "Romeo and Juliet" as a Tragicomedy. Generally these are people who are hung up on the idea that a tragedy cannot be about ordinary people--it has to be about kings or rulers. Romeo and Juliet is not, hence their desire to find a different label for it. However, Tragicomedy is what Beaumont and Fletcher called their plays, which look a lot like tragedies (even to the extent of having royal or noble characters), but do not end with a pile of corpses. Shakespeare and Fletcher's The Two Noble Kinsmen is a tragicomedy, in which one of the kinsmen does survive and marries the girl just like in a comedy. They even find a husband for the jailor's lunatic daughter. But Romeo and Juliet is the exact opposite of this: up until the beginning of Act 3 it looks a lot like a comedy, but ends up in a pile of corpses. Some people have said that "comitragedy" might be an appropriate term, but it is simpler to say that it is not a Tragicomedy, and can well be described as a tragedy.

Answer 2

"Romeo and Juliet" is a tragedy. The play tells the story of two young lovers from feuding families whose relationship leads to their untimely deaths, rather than a comedy which typically ends in marriage. The themes of love, fate, and conflict are central to the tragedy of the play.

Answer 3

A tragedy

Answer 4

tragedy