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  • Hamlet's Tragic Flaw
    820 words
    Playing the Part of the Hero The tragic story of Hamlet is based on one of the oldest stories in the world. The character of Hamlet is cursed with the characteristics that create a tragic hero. These characteristics include his one tragic flaw and how he suffers from it, his nobility in life and in admitting his flaw, and finally his salvation and how he realizes why he must keep a good soul. All tragic heroes possess one characteristic, or flaw, that causes suffering in their personal lives. Ha...
  • Othello's Tragic Flaw Of Gullibility
    2,196 words
    Tragedies frequently focus on a tragic hero that has a flaw that ultimately leads to his downfall. That flaw is commonly referred to as a tragic flaw that is inborn to the person and can reflect his background. In Aristotle's Poetics, he discusses the theory of tragedy and what criteria is essential in an ideal tragedy. According to Aristotle, the tragic flaw is the most important part of the hero and the events that occur in the work is a reflection of that flaw. A tragic flaw is essential in a...
  • Tragic Heroes
    662 words
    The name 'tragic hero', which has become synonymous with Shakespearean dramas, was developed before Hamlet, Macbeth or any of Shakespeare's well-known plays were written. The literary term was actually discovered around 330 BC by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. Through his theory of catharsis, Aristotle debated that the great plays of Sophocles, Euripides, and other Greek playwrights contained tragic heroes similar to each other, which all portrayed four basic characteristics ('English ...
  • Macbeth's True Tragic Flaw
    1,068 words
    Macbeth: Macbeth - A Tragic Hero ' (Sometimes a tragic hero is created, not through his own villainy), but rather through some flaw in him, he being one of those who are in high station and good fortune, like Oedipus and Thyestes and the famous men of such families as those. ' (Poetics, Aristotle). Every great tragedy is dominated by protagonist who has within himself a tragic flaw, too much or too little of one of Aristotle's twelve virtues. In Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Macbeth, a great ...
  • Hamlet's Tragic Flaw
    605 words
    According to the Aristotelian view of tragedy, a tragic hero must fall through his or her own error. This is typically called the 'tragic flaw', and can be applied to any characteristic that causes the downfall the hero. Shakespeare's Hamlet, Prince of Denmark can be seen as an Aristotelian tragedy and Hamlet as it's tragic hero. Hamlet's flaw, which in accordance with Aristotle's principles of tragedy causes his demise, is his inability to act. This defect of Hamlet's character is displayed thr...
  • Brutus To Antony Right After Caesar's Death
    700 words
    Tragic Hero Essay In the play the Life and Death of Julius Caesar (just as in all of Shakespeare's tragedies) there is much death, much tragedy, and of course, a tragic hero. However unlike most of Shakespeare's plays this time the tragic hero is not particularly obvious. Throughout the play a few main characters present themselves as possibilities for being the tragic hero. But as being a tragic hero is not only having a tragic flaw but also entails much more, there really is only one person to...
  • Play Romeo And Juliet A Tragedy
    1,352 words
    Romeo and Juliet: Romeo - A Tragic Hero Shakespeare is a well known author who wrote in the 1500's. Many of his plays are classified as tragedies. According to the Oxford dictionary of current English, a tragedy is described as a serious disaster or a sad event. In Shakespeare plays, tragedy is identified as a story that ends unhappily due to the fall of the protagonist, which is the tragic hero. For a play to be a tragedy, there must be a tragic hero. In the play Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is the ...
  • Shakespeare's Tragic Play King Lear
    1,723 words
    King Lear: Lear The Tragic Hero The definition of tragedy in the Oxford dictionary is, 'drama of elevated theme and diction and with unhappy ending; sad event, serious accident, calamity. ' However, the application of this terminology in Shakespearean Tragedy is more expressive. Tragedy does not only mean death or calamity, but in fact, it refers to a series of steps which leads to the downfall of the tragic hero and eventually to his tragic death. Lear, the main character in King Lear was affir...
  • Characteristic Of A Tragic Hero
    323 words
    Oedipus Rex, a tragic victim of fate, easily meets the criteria of the tragic hero. According to Aristotle, a tragic hero can not be extremely virtuous or evil, they must be on the middle ground. This is true of Oedipus, in the eye of the public, he is a concerned, caring individual, but he is also capable of atrocities. He does have the blood of his own father on his hands. The fact that he did not know that he was killing his own father places him in the median between virtuous and evil. A tra...
  • Tragic Heroes
    342 words
    By definition, a tragic hero is someone usually of elevated status, who has a character flaw, which causes his demise. In the novel Things Fall Apart by China Achebe, the character Okonkwo is an exemplary model of a tragic hero, fitting all parts of the definition. The first requirement of a tragic hero is that he is of lofty social status. Okonkwo, although not of royalty as classical tragic heroes were, is one of the elite in the tribe. He participates at tribal meetings and even dresses as on...
  • Creon's Tragic Flaw
    578 words
    Antigone There is still a great debate on who is, in fact, the true hero in Sophocles' Antigone. Many hold that it must be Antigone, herself; after all, the play does bear her name. But in actuality, Creon, not Antigone, is the true tragic hero. In order to determine whether of not Creon is the true tragic hero, one will first have to answer the question, "What is a tragic hero?" Aristotle, when discussing the nature of such a hero in his theory of drama, states that such a hero is neither purel...
  • Tragic Hero And Antigone
    705 words
    In Sophocle's Antigone, the characters show a variety of traits. However, Antigone's life of ambition, family of noble rank, and display of good mentality portray her as the tragic hero of the story. A tragic hero must include three main traits. The hero must have a tragic flaw, a family of high class or rank, and must be a basically good person. Antigone fulfills all three traits thoroughly in the mythic story of Antigone. A tragic flaw plays a very important part of a tragic hero. Tragic flaw ...
  • Macbeth's Tragic Flaw
    712 words
    To be classified as a tragic hero, the character would have to be some kind of person of importance and possess the qualities of a genuinely good, courageous person. The character would be someone whom we admire and wish to succeed. This character seems to be almost guaranteed to succeed and have things go his / her way except they contain one major and undeniable fault in their character or personality; they possess a tragic flaw which continually sets the character back and further thrusts him...
  • Tragedy And The Tragic Man
    903 words
    The question of what defines tragedy has been an issue addressed by several different literary minds since the day of Aristotle, the first person to define tragedy. When Aristotle first defined tragedy he believed tragedy was something reserved for a person of noble stature. He said this person was eventually brought down by a tragic flaw, hence the term tragedy. Robert Silverberg agrees with Aristotle's views on tragedy, but other authors don't accept Aristotle's view so easily. Arthur Miller f...
  • Hamlet's Tragic Flaw
    926 words
    Oedipus Rex by Sophocles was considered to be the perfect tragedy by Aristotle, and he used it to define literary tragedy. According to Aristotle, tragedy must be composed of six necessary elements. There has to be a protagonist, a morally superior hero, who suffers a great fall precipitated by the character's own tragic flaw. In culmination, the hero must experience tragic enlightenment before he or she succumbs to deep suffering or death. Often labeled a "revenge tragedy", the Shakespearean pl...
  • Death Of King Macbeth
    865 words
    Macbeth is a well-known Shakespearean tragedy with elements that are easily identified and illustrated on tragedy throughout the play. The main aspects of tragedy that I have encountered in the play are a protagonist (Macbeth) who is of noble birth and holds good fortune approaches a tragic flaw leading him to his misfortune and death. Macbeth, being the protagonist seems to possess a good fortune at the beginning of the play. He is an honored and valiant Scottish hero who has just won his great...
  • Murders Of Duncan And Banquo Macbeth
    1,037 words
    Macbeth is a Tragic Hero A tragedy is a type of drama or literature that shows the downfall or destruction of a noble or outstanding person, traditionally one who possesses a character weakness called a tragic flaw. The story Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, is one example of a tragedy for the reason that the main character, Macbeth, gets caught up in a sequence of events that unavoidably results in a disaster or in Macbeth's case, death. In the beginning of the play Macbeth wants to bec...
  • Tragic Flaw Of John Proctor
    511 words
    Do you know what a tragic hero is and what the key elements for being a tragic hero are? Well there are four elements for a character to become a tragic hero: one is the character's destruction results from a tragic flaw: two the character loses everything in their destruction: third the character shows dignity and courage in the face of their destruction: and fourth the character is important and has much to lose. Here is why John Proctor is a tragic hero and here are three of the four reasons ...
  • Antigone's Tragic Flaw Of Pride
    864 words
    Throughout the play, Antigone Antigone Throughout the play, Antigone, both Creon and Antigone suffer from tragic flaws which eventually lead to their downfall. Creon and Antigone cannot control their tragic excessiveness; this leads to the public's negative opinion of him, while Antigone commits suicide due to her tragic excessiveness. The tragic flaw that ruins Creon's life is his inability to see that he could be wrong; he is too narrow minded to accept the views of others, even though they ar...
  • Antigone's Tragic Flaw
    400 words
    Antigone is the tragic hero in Sophocles Antigone. A tragic hero is defined as a character in a tragedy that has the following qualities: superiority, downfall, tragic flaw, twist of fate, in conflict, and a self-realization of their flaw. First, in the quote, Then I beg you: kill me. (II, 954) Clearly shows Antigone's superior character; she is brave and strongly believes in what she is doing. She is not afraid to die for her beliefs and feelings. Also, Antigone is a princess and has some influ...

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