Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy. Its plot follows the lovers’ downfall and deaths, while their families’ reconciliation comes only after the catastrophe.
The play includes comic scenes, witty wordplay, a nurse with lively humor, and the energetic Mercutio. Those elements can make parts of the work feel comic or romantic, but they do not change its overall dramatic classification. In Shakespearean tragedy, personal choices and external pressures combine to produce irreversible loss.
Romeo and Juliet also contains a strong love story, which is why it is often called a tragic romance in modern descriptions. “Romance” describes a major subject or mode, whereas “tragedy” identifies the play’s traditional genre and ending.
The prologue announces the outcome by describing the lovers as “star-crossed” and referring to their “death-marked love.” Their deaths finally end the feud between the Montagues and Capulets, but the reconciliation comes at the cost of both young protagonists.