Why is Juliet considered a tragic heroine?

Answer 1

Although she has a "wonderful" love affair with Romeo and she gets her guy in the end, they both have to die to achieve "togetherness"! The key element to the tragedy is the blood feud between the two families.

Answer 2

Juliet's tragedy is many fold the most obvious being the fact she loves Romeo the "only son of your great enemy" "My only love sprung from my only hate" etc etc.

However, compared to Romeo she is more tragic because of her forced circumstances and lonliness.

Romeo has Friar Lawrence, his friends and his family who do not seem irrational or abusive. However, Juliet has no one but the nurse as a companion -- a character who is constantly marked for her crassness and ignorance.

This is especially marked in ACT III.v.

The scene begins with Romeo leaving her for Mantua.
Then her mother comes in to tell her the "happy" news that she shall be married to Paris. However, Juliet tells her mother(whose reply is "i wish the fool were married to her grave" nice mom) and consequently her father that she'd rather not. Her father's reply? After yelling at her saying he'd like to beat her, he says that if she doesn't marry Paris she can "hang, beg, starve, die in the streets, for by [his] soul, [he'll] never acknowledge [her]"
When she hangs to her mother for help, her mother also abandons her.

So, no Romeo, no father, no mother so she turns to the nurse.
The nurse recommends that she forgets Romeo and marries Paris meaning that she not only abandon her husband whom she loves but she'll aslo be sinning against God since she's already bedded him therefore married in name as in fact.

It's no wonder, she's driven to try the mad scheme that Friar devises even though she doesn't quite trust the Friar. (with good reason. The Friar runs away leaving her alone with Romeo's dead body in the last scene. talk about being utterly ditched by everyone!)

Also, it's no wonder she commits suicide after finding out that Romeo has died... she has no one else.

She also contrats with Romeo in the fact that Romeo hurries, doens't think throughout the whole thing and he's been in love before Juliet. Juliet however, loved Romeo only and always showed her doubts and always tried to move more thoughtfully.

Answer 3

she died for her and Rome's family's sake (so they wouldn't hate each other anymore) and because she loved Romeo and couldn't live without him.