November 2012 What is a tragedy? It is an event causing great suffering‚ destruction‚ and distress‚ such as a serious accident‚ crime‚ or natural catastrophe. Aristotle wrote down explained what is the "tragic hero" and gave the qualifications and details to seek for when trying to identify one. Arthur Miller explains in his essay‚ Tragedy and the Common Man‚ what tragedy and the common have does and does not have in common. Aristotle thoroughly explains what is a tragic hero. There are 5
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What is Oedipus’ tragic flaw? Tragic flaw is a failing of character in a hero of a tragedy that brings about his downfall. Oedipus appears to have many flaws on the surface namely his selfish temperament‚ curiosity and of course his hubris or excessive pride. Firstly‚ his superiority and projection of ego is proved in exposition‚ when Oedipus shows a paternalistic attitude towards his subjects by calling people ‘’children’’ about four times. Furthermore there is a repetition of
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Hamlet’s tragic flaw‚ that ultimately turned to his downfall turned out to be the fact of how indecisive he was‚ this is decided upon the fact of his thinking and on the idea of deciding to seek vengeance‚ also killing his father’s murderer or not. Hamlet shows all throughout the play that he is struggling between what is true and what he wants to believe is true‚ the first conflict you see with this is the appearance of his father’s ghost and how he handles seeing him again. When the ghost comes
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Antigone met a tragic end‚ the tragic hero in this story is Creon. Below‚ why Creon fits Aristotle’s description of a tragic hero will be discussed as well as why Antigone or other characters do not fit. When examining Aristotle’s description of a tragic hero‚ it is important to look at each part of his description as opposed to just looking at one or two points in his description. If one only examines the first part of his description‚ it would be easy to confuse Antigone as a tragic hero. The first
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As the Greek philosopher‚ Aristotle‚ once said in the Poetics‚ a tragic hero should be “between these two extremes—that of a man who is not eminently good and just‚ yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice or depravity‚ but by some error or frailty.” The ultimate purpose of a tragic hero is to construct catharsis. Doing this by making the audience commiserate with the protagonist producing emotions by having a rise and a plummeting downfall in the character’s life. Some would quarrel that
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Introduction “A hero deserves admiration due to his inherent goodness. If he succumbs to unmerited suffering‚ he becomes a tragic hero.”_1 In Aristotle’s own words‚ “a man cannot become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall.” This statement gives the gist of Aristotle’s concept of a tragic hero. A hero must fall from grace and must be able to clearly comprehend the cause of his fall. The “fall” must take place due to an error in judgement that arises out of some flaw (hamartia) in the
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asked what is a tragic hero it is hard pressed to find a more fitting embodiment of what it means to be a tragic hero than Antigone. A tragic hero‚ in order to be considered a true tragic hero must meet certain qualification. according to Aristotle a tragic hero is a man or woman of high stature‚ and has the ability to endure suffering. A tragic hero must possess positive personal characteristics‚ but all the while possessing a major character flaw which will bring the downfall of the hero. The audience
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A tragic hero is a person in literature who starts off heroic but has a fatal flaw in their character that leads them to their destruction. Okonkwo exemplifies a tragic hero with experiences he endures in his life. In Chinua Achebe’s novel “Things Fall Apart” the author expresses how the protagonist Okonkwo is a tragic hero by having excessive pride‚ the audience having empathy for him‚ and being imperfect. The pride exhibited by a person reflects their personality. For instance‚ “Okonkwo said
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Aristotle’s theory of the Tragic Hero: “A man doesn’t become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall” Tragic hero’s who fit under Aristotle’s depiction are known as ‘Aristotelian Tragic Hero’s’ and possess five specific characteristics; 1) A flaw or error of judgment (also known as ‘hamartia’ which is a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine) 2) A reversal of fortune due to the error of judgment (also known as ‘peripeteia’‚ which is a sudden reversal of fortune
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A “tragic hero” is “a character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction.” It is argued that the main character of Things Fall Apart‚ Okonkwo‚ is a classic “tragic hero”. Okonkwo is a member of the Igbo community in Nigeria. As a young man‚ Okonkwo worked hard to gain the respect of the other members in the community. He was well known throughout the village and his solid personal achievements are how he built his fame. Although to some‚ Okonkwo was a leader‚
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