Aristotle once said‚ “A man doesn’t become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall.” Sophocles’s Antigone was written in 440 B.C. which was the time when plays were written based on ancient Greece culture. The idea of a tragic hero was established in Ancient Greece‚ tragic heroes are in ancient Greek plays. A tragic hero is a character who is inherently good‚ has a fatal flaw and loses everything in the end. Creon is Antigone’s tragic hero because his loyalty and obsessive pride influence
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The character playing the role of Macbeth is considered to be a tragic hero. His actions‚ personality and qualities are three ways to explains why Macbeth is consider to be a tragic hero. At the beginning of the play three witches plan to meet Macbeth after the battle. The King of Scotland is proud of Macbeth for defeating the battle against the Irish. The leader of the Irish was Macdonwald who was one of them and he was rebelling against the King. After the battle with the Irish the Scottish were
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The Shakespearean Tragic heroes Aristotle defines a tragic hero "as good but flawed‚ must be aristocratic‚ must be believable‚ and must behave consistently." -Aristotle. The Muslim leader Malcolm X can be compared to such tragic heroes such as Othello and Hamlet. Malcolm’s life and his personality have similar traits from both of the famous Shakespearean heroes. In this paper we will look deeper into the life of Malcolm X and find the similarities between him and the tragic heroes‚ also we will
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Critic Northrop Frye once commented that "Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscapes" (Frye 1). Few characters illustrate this characteristic of a tragic hero better than that of Victors Frankenstein‚ the protagonist of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. His story is one of a brilliant man whose revolutionary ideas brought suffering to himself‚ his family and friends‚ and his creation. Victor is an instrument as well as a victim to this suffering throughout his story. From
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is the more difficult one‚ especially when it involves the murder of a man beloved by all. As such‚ Brutus is the tragic hero of the play Julius Caesar. His tragic flaw is his easily trusting nature‚ and his conflicting emotions and nobleness make him one of the most renowned tragic heroes of all time. In Julius Caesar‚ Brutus’ unsuspecting and naive personality becomes his tragic flaw. Despite his decision to sacrifice Caesar and save the republic‚ the letters “from the people” Cassius plants
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By definition‚ a tragic hero is a protagonist of noble birth who displays bravery‚ courage‚ and other heroic qualities‚ but is brought down by his or her own tragic flaw. Presented as a hero at the opening of William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth‚ Macbeth’s downfall is brought upon as a result of his own tragic flaw: ambition—ambition triggered by the Witches‚ Lady Macbeth‚ and Macbeth’s own hunger for power. “For brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name—disdaining fortune‚ with
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Tragic heroes are found everywhere throughout literature. A tragic hero is a character who makes a mistake that leads to his or her downfall. According to Aristotle‚ “A man does not become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall.” In The Crucible by Arthur Miller‚ the protagonist John Proctor is a tragic hero as defined by Aristotle. Proctor makes mistakes and eventually admits what he has done‚ which leads to his death. Tragic heroes must have certain characteristics‚ including error
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most tragic stories are those of the average person “who is ready to lay down his life‚ if need be‚ to secure one thing-his sense of personal dignity.” It is often believed that the reason not many tragedies are written today is because there is no tragedy to be found in today’s common man‚ Miller believes the exact opposite to be true. He believes that “the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were.” A novel that shows the journey to selfhood of a tragic hero
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Arthur Miller made the comment that a tragic hero “has the inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity.” Nowhere is this more evident than in Miller’s play Death of a Salesman‚ where salesman Willy Loman desperately struggles to regain a sense of dignity after experiencing a number of setbacks in his life. Despite not being able to provide for his family‚ Willy Loman continues the futile struggle to earn a living‚ which shows the despair
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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 Antigone is certainly the tragic hero because her fate
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