Romeo And Juliet Tragic Hero Essay

According to Aristotle, a tragic hero is the protagonist born of nobility and gifted with heroic qualities who, because of their tragic flaw, experiences a downfall that leads to their own destruction. Despite the tragic hero’s defeat, humanity is validated by the audience and shown to have redeeming qualities. Three main theories of the tragic hero are the Aristotelian model, the Shakespearean model, and the modern tragic hero. Each model has five defining characteristics, which are nobility, hammering downfall, anagnosis and suffering. In the Shakespearean model of tragedy, the play Romeo and Juliet best models the tragic hero. For instance, nobility is characterized by being upper class and having elevated character. Romeo satisfies both

In Romeo's example, his infatuation with Juliet caused him to be oblivious to the consequences of his actions. In Shakespearian tragedy, the anagnorisis, or the change from ignorance to the recognition of the hamartia, is not always realized by the tragic hero. Unfortunately, Romeo does not recognize the destruction of his impulsive actions. Lastly, the tragic hero endures suffering or death that is not contained to himself, as his suicide prompted Juliet’s death and impacted all the citizens in Verona. Unlike Romeo, whose tragic flaw was negative, singer/songwriter Whitney Houston best illustrates the Shakespearean tragic hero model. To begin, Whitney Houston was born to Cissy Houston and John Russel Houston on August 9, 1963 in Newark, New Jersey (Stinson 1). Before reaching elevated status as “The Voice,” Houston started off by singing in her church choir and worked her way up to being the lead singer (Brennan 8). Her vocal skills attracted many people and multiple record labels at the age of 19. Her first debut album ended up becoming the top 200 in the nation for three songs that she submitted and made the top in #1 singles

To continue, Whitney Houston’s life develops a Shakespearean due to her outstanding vocal talent, and her influential role in America throughout her drug addiction, alcohol abuse, and her personal poor decisions which are thought to be caused because of insecurity. While her life looked glamorous to people watching her, from her own, and her family's perspective, this was her downfall (Brennan). “I decided long ago never to walk in anyone's shadow; if I fail, or if I succeed, at least I did as I believe (Houston). The irony within this quote from Houston is that she did indeed walk in the shadows of many of her peers. Finally, Whitney Houston suffered a gradual downfall when on her 16th birthday, she tried marijuana and cocaine from her brother's friend Keith Kelly. Soon after, Whitney began to feel the rush and became addicted to it. She started doing drugs regularly and her family soon noticed. Throughout her drug addiction, she was also sexually assaulted multiple times, so this encouraged her drug abuse, as she thought her life would become better. Throughout her drug addiction, her character changed. People say that she went from a “bright and bubbly person” to a “down in the dumps” type of