Introduction What made an old story “of woe” about teen love and suicide the most filmed play to date and a cultural phenomenon with an impressive legacy that lives to that day? 1595 “Romeo and Juliet” became Shakespeare’s most famous play in his lifetime, and the complex characters that he carefully created have grown to become the archetypes of young, tragic lovers since then. Shakespeare showed his mastery through his depiction of tragic love capable of taking lives and wreaking havoc as well as the poetic structure. Mixing comedy and tragedy, the author employed every device at hand to showcase character development. This paper will discuss Romeo, her role in the play, and how the concepts of misfortune, conflict, and fatal flaw apply to her. Misfortune Romeo and Juliet’s love, no matter how strong, was not able to break the bounds of the rigid social order in the 13th-century Verona. The question arises as to whether the tragic end was preventable by any means and who was to blame for the characters’ misfortune. It is possible to explain the concept of misfortune in the play in a variety of ways. For instance, Friar Lawrence, who was in favor of young love, is unable to arrive at Capulet’s Monument in time and thus, inadvertently lets Romeo’s suicide happen. All in all, the events unfold in such a manner that it brings one to think that these were not coincidences but the manifestations of fate. Conflict The analysis of the play exposes one major external and one internal conflicts, both of which have something to do with Romeo’s character. First, Romeo, a Montague, suffers from the consequences of the decades-long feud between Capulets and Montagues. As a direct offspring, he realizes that his love is of a forbidden kind but cannot resist the fatal attraction. The internal conflict is a bit deeper than the family quarrels. In Romeo and Juliet , a slim chance to live and to love opposes the almighty fate. The two conflicts are interconnected: it was not Romeo’s choice to be born a Montague, and he can only hope that his romance survives despite all odds. Fatal Flaw What makes Shakespeare’s artistry so great is his ability to create believable characters: they are living breathing creatures not devoid of imperfections. However, in the play about impossible love, each of the main characters’ flaws becomes fatal and brings about the tragic end. Romeo’s fatal flaw is his impetuousness: the combination of immaturity, inability to consider others’ advice, and social grooming set him for an impending disaster. Romeo’s impatience and impulsiveness push him to commit suicide while ignoring other solutions. Unwillingly, he causes the death of the one he truly loved, Juliet. Conclusion In his world-famous play, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare creates a believable portrait of a teenager of a marriageable age living in 13th century Italy. Romeo meets Juliet at a tender age of fifteen and dives blindly, head-first in love. Their romance, no matter how promising and endearing, is not bound to happen as the young lovers belong to quarreling families who will not bury the hatchet even for the sake of their children’s happiness. The hostile environment that Romeo has to tolerate is