Tragic Hero In Oedipus The King And A Doll's House

True Tragic Hero

Throughout history many authors and their works of literature have been studied and pondered upon in order to fully understand them. Amongst these works of literature are two great pieces, Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, and A Doll’s House, by Henrik Johan Ibsen. Both authors tell empowering stories about unveiling the truth and empowerment in marriage yet the way Sophocles and Ibsen go about telling these stories is very different. A tragic hero is one that has many characteristics and through both of these plays readers gain insight on how these characters are true tragic heroes by them displaying a scene of suffering, a tragic flaw, and a tragic dilemma. A tragic hero is a character who is noble and respected. However
In Oedipus the King the protagonist Oedipus is portrayed to be very powerful and all knowing, almost god-like. By Oedipus acting this way he becomes very arrogant, which is his tragic flaw because due to his supercilious behavior this leads to his downfall. During Oedipus’s conversation with Tiresias, the blind prophet, Oedipus does not like what he has to say about his parents and his up bringing and becomes ignorant and says “I did not know you’d talk stupidity, or I wouldn’t have rushed to bring you to my house” (1324, Sophocles). Through this quote readers can see that Oedipus only listens to what he wants to hear, otherwise it is a waste of his time. Nora from A Doll’s House is naïve however in her own way she can be arrogant as well when it comes to money. When talking to her old friend Mrs. Linde she remembers that she is now a widow, but instead of asking how everything is with her and making sure she’s ok, Nora goes off to tell her all about her husband’s promotion at the bank. Nora says, “Just fancy, my husband has been made manager of the Bank…not only what one needs, but heaps and heaps of money” (1763, Ibsen). Her timing to tell Mrs. Linde about her husband’s job is very untimely and through her way of talking she is portrayed to be foolish when it comes to money and finances, which leads to Nora getting blackmailed. Looking at the two
When Oedipus learns the truth about his identity he must decide what he should do about the city of Thebes and his marriage to his birth mother. Seeing his wife dead ultimately causes him to gouge his eyes out with her pins and become blind and he then asks to be banned from the city of Thebes, which means he is now alone, powerless, and no longer the king. As for Nora, after her husband finds out the truth about her forging a signature he shows his true colors, and Nora then realizes that her whole life has been an act. First with the way her father treated her and now once again with her husband. She is left with two decisions, either to live on as a married couple but under her husband’s oppression or to leave her husband and family and go about her life. Nora comes to the conclusion of leaving Helmer, her husband as well as her children. Although many may say that this is not a tragedy because Nora is now free from her husband and the life of an inanimate object; however the fact that she is leaving behind her children and the man she once thought she loved is a tragedy that not everyone would understand. Both Oedipus and Nora show true characteristics of going through a tragic dilemma equally. Although both examples are different and one is more dramatic then the other, nonetheless they