Having fascinated man for thousands of years, across numerous civilizations, tragedies give audiences the opportunity to identify with the main character, or tragic hero, and give them a vision the opportunity to experience complete catharsis, which is the elimination of emotions such as pity and fear and the figurative purification of consciousness. According to Aristotle, a basic tragic hero must be noble, have a definitive flaw that will ultimately cause his death, and suffer a punishment that far exceeds his crime. Heroes like these are very evident in the works of famous playwrights such as William Shakespeare. The story Romeo and Juliet, written by Shakespeare, follows the tragic story of two lovers; one of whom was, in one way or another, a tragic hero. Based on Aristotelian ideals, Romeo is considered a tragic hero because he was noble in both spirit and blood, possessed a dangerously tragic flaw, and although his end was inevitable, he ultimately died honorably. That said, even if a tragic hero's existence is centered around unjustified suffering and bad decisions, these must be somehow admirable - and in Romeo's case, as in the typical tragic hero, this admirable trait was his high social rank . The only son of Lord Montecchi, founder of one of the most esteemed Veronese families, Romeo had a rather high title in the eyes of the Veronese and was quite well known. So well known in fact that, even when he had attended Lord Capulet's banquet without being invited, instead of being punished for his insolence, Capulet - enemy of the entire Montague family - spoke fondly of Romeo, and kept him temporarily out of trouble with the hot-headed Tybalt commenting that he “acts like a portly ge... middle of paper... gs. As a result, Romeo's emotions led him into a severe bout of depression that seemingly had no end. However, as soon as he laid eyes on Juliet, his feelings for Rosaline were abandoned completely - even though he claimed he would never love again - and he began to pursue Juliet with the same passion he had with Rosaline. This sudden change was also noticed by Friar Laurence, who had rebuked Romeo upon hearing the news with a stern reminder of his former love: “Rosaline, whom you loved so much, was she so soon forsaken? The love of young people then is not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes." (Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 2 Scene 3) What the Friar said was extremely true, especially in Romeo's case, because he was guided by his haughty emotions and not only fell in love with Juliet, but asked her to marry him that night , even though he knew almost nothing about her.