In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, how is Romeo a tragic hero or not?

Aristotle's
definition of a tragic hero is that it is a character of high social status, such as a king or
other high figure, who is a good person, but is also not a perfect person. The tragic hero will
also be partially responsible for his/her own demise. The downfall will be brought on by a bad
decision or a character flaw, rather than being brought on just by fate.

In
thatis a nobleman who is generally a good person, but makes bad decisions that lead to his
demise, Romeo is a perfect example of a tragic hero. We know that Romeo is a nobleman because
his mother is called , indicating that his father is a Lord. We are also told in thethat both
families are "alike in dignity," meaning honor and respect. We also know that Romeo is
generally considered a good person, because at the feasttellsto leave him alone, saying that,
"Verona brags of him / To be a virtuous and well-govern'd youth"
(I.v).
 
However, Romeo has several character flaws that lead to his demise.
One character flaw is that he is prone to ungoverned emotions. He allows himself to pine in
agony over Rosaline night after night. As his father phrases it,

Many morning hath he there been seen,
With tears augmenting the fresh morning
dew.
Adding to clouds more clouds with his deep sighs. (I.i)

Obviously, allowing oneself to fall into such profound emotions
continuously is not healthy. A second character flaw is that he refuses to listen to reason and
be counseled by his friends. , seeing that Romeo's state of mind is not healthy, advises him,
"Be ruled by me, forget to think of her" (I.i). It is this same unchecked emotion and
inability to listen to reason that leads him to kill Tybalt. Romeo kills Tybalt as a result of
his fury. However, by law, since Tybalt has just killed , Tybalt would have soon been killed
anyway. If he had only checked his emotions and turned and ran before Tybalt returned to the
scene, everything would have gone much better for Romeo. It is Romeo's choice to kill Tybalt
that ultimately leads to his own death and 's. Therefore, Romeo is an excellent example of a
tragic hero.