Preview

“Aristotle’s Definition of the Tragic Hero and Irony in Tragedy” Oedipus Rex, Othello, and Death of a Salesman

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
3232 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
“Aristotle’s Definition of the Tragic Hero and Irony in Tragedy” Oedipus Rex, Othello, and Death of a Salesman
Classification and definition of tragedy are among many things widely disputed in the all too equivocal realm of composition and literary studies. These erroneous concepts happen to be directly correlated in Aristotelian theory which leads us to his definition of the tragic hero. Aristotle’s conceptualization of tragedy and all that it encompasses is widely revered and accepted; setting the standard previously and contemporaneously. The interpretation of his definition of tragedy is ambiguous, but generally states that tragedy should evoke pity and fear within the viewer for the purpose of catharsis, or purgation of senses sequencing the climax of a tragedy. (Battin) This elicits his definition of the tragic hero, which states that a character of exceptionally high stature is relegated (literally, figuratively, or both) and is forced to succumb to misfortune due to some flaw of character or failure to find/some deviation from the moral and righteous path, which is referred to as the hamartia. (Myers) However, he cannot be of paramount virtue or righteousness for this would objectify him, in turn isolating him from human perceptivity and compassion though he must be of high or noble character. The hamartia at some point must be realized by the character and this experience is known as an anagnorisis; it is to be noted that the relationship between these aspects of the tragedy is in itself ironic. Moreover we cannot define the tragic hero without giving heed to irony, which may find its origin in ancient Greek playwriting and sustains its prevalence in modern times. (Hutchens) Irony allows us as the audience to collectively comprehend the situation on a level that the characters themselves can not. Oedipus Rex, Othello, and Death of a Salesman are three tragic and relatively prominent plays, all written in different time periods, which can be examined comparatively with Aristotle’s philosophy of the tragic hero and may draw certain parallel to one another by means of


Cited: Andrews, Michael C. “Honest Othello: The Handkerchief Once More” Studies in English Literature 13 (1973): 273-284 Boston:Wadsworth, 2006. Battin, Pabst M. “Aristotle 's Definition of Tragedy in the Poetics.” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 33 (1975): 293-302 Brown, Dr. Larry A.. Aristotle on Greek Tragedy. Jan. 2005. Field, B. S. Jr. “Hamartia in Death of a Salesman.” Twentieth Century Literature 18 (1972): 19- 24 Golden, Leon, trans. Aristotle 's Poetics. With Commentary by O. B. Hardison, Jr. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1967 Hutchens, Eleanor N. “The Identification of Irony.” ELH. 27 (1960) 352-363. Tragedy.” By J.M. Bremer The American Journal of Philology 92 (1971): 711-715. JSTOR. < http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002> Mullens, H.G

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    A Greek tragedy is very unique it’s structure, composition, and language. The tragedy usually begins with a prologue in which one or more characters introduce the drama and explain the background. It involves a Chorus of some sorts, which says or explains the situation that is developing on the scene, and also includes a tragic hero who comes from noble bloodline and has a tragic flaw that ultimately causes his downfall. The hero’s downfall is caused often times, by fate, something that is inevitable or unavoidable. The tragedy then ends with the Exodus, which shows the dissolution of the story. Through the tragic downfall, the author usually strikes catharsis in readers, causing them to feel sympathy and remorse for the tragic hero. Sophocles, one of the masters of Greek tragedies, uses these characteristics to write “Antigone”. Through analysis of “Antigone”, it is clear that many elements of Greek tragedies are present, which obviously classifies “Antigone” as a tragic play.…

    • 750 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Authors aim to relate, sympathise, or evoke any emotion from their readers. William Shakespeare achieves this goal through his use of Aristotle’s tragic hero who evokes sympathy for the character and forces the reader to evaluate certain traits in themselves. Tragic heroes possess a tragic flaw or downfall that leads to their death. Shakespeare uses the characteristics of Aristotle’s tragic hero to create a character that readers connect to and, despite their flaw, sympathize with. The fate of tragic heroes end in their death due to their own mistake or character flaw.…

    • 1230 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A tragic hero is defined as “a [great] man who is neither a paragon of virtue and justice nor undergoes the change to misfortune through any real badness or wickedness but because of some mistake” (“Aristotle”, n.d.). Therefore, a tragic hero has some sort of tragedy that surrounds their life. A tragic hero also makes dramas more interesting and makes readers think. Dramas sometimes either exemplify or refute Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero. Oedipus by Sophocles exemplifies Aristotle’s definition in four different aspects. The first aspect involves both Oedipus’ ignorance and knowledge of his life situations, the second involves his hamartia, the third involves the actual plot itself, and the fourth involves the characterization of…

    • 1506 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Tragedy is an imitation not of men but of a life, an action…” (Aristotle). Greek Tragedy was invented five hundred years Before Common Era, and focuses on the actions of characters. These actions emphasize the harsh reality in which the innocent mankind lives in. In Oedipus the King, Oedipus is defined as one with great potential, but has a hamartia leading to the ultimate demise of himself. Oedipus’ actions are tragic, as he tries to make the right choice but fails. He was dealt a hand that would only lead him to lose. Furthermore, Sophocles develops Oedipus as a relatable character which allows for catharsis to occur. Aristotle’s, The Poetics, explains the necessary components to create a powerful Tragedy. Oedipus the King is a powerful representation of Aristotle’s ideas on tragedy, so the purpose, protagonist, fall, and plot elements in Oedipus the King demonstrate the concepts of tragedy written in The Poetics.…

    • 1201 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to Aristotle, a tragic character is not a good man who fails, nor an evil man who rises to opulence. A tragic character is in fact somewhere in between the two extremities – someone who is not necessarily unsurpassed in virtue and veracity, but also not culpable of debauchery and decadence. A tragic character has simply made "mistake," however a fatal one, that causes his demise (Esch).…

    • 558 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Birth of Tragedy

    • 48383 Words
    • 194 Pages

    Whatever might have been be the basis for this dubious book, it must have been a question of the utmost importance and charm, as well as a deeply personal one. Testimony to that effect is the time in which it arose (in spite of which it arose), that disturbing era of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71. While the thunderclap of the Battle of Worth was reverberating across Europe, the meditative lover of enigmas whose lot it was to father this book sat somewhere in a corner of the Alps, extremely reflective and perplexed (thus simultaneously very distressed and carefree) and wrote down his thoughts concerning the Greeks, the kernel of that odd and difficult book to which this later preface (or postscript) should be dedicated. A few weeks after that, he found himself under the walls of Metz, still not yet free of the question mark which he had set down beside the alleged "serenity" of the Greeks and of Greek culture, until, in that month of the deepest tension, as peace was being negotiated in Versailles, he finally came to peace with himself and, while slowly recovering from an illness he'd brought back home with him from the field, finished composing the Birth of Tragedy out of the Spirit of Music.…

    • 48383 Words
    • 194 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The term ‘classical tragedy’ may often be confused with the modern view of tragedy. Today, we may think of a tragedy as a disastrous event such as a car accident or a natural disaster, often leading to death. For the Greeks, tragedy was more of a state of mind or sense of personal loss that was taken seriously. In my research of the term classical tragedy, I found that the typical classical tragedy involves a tragic hero of noble birth who has a tragic flaw that leads to a fall from grace, a moment of remorse, and catharsis.…

    • 964 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Ranta, Jerrald. “The Drama of Plato 's "Ion." The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism Volume…

    • 5209 Words
    • 21 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this age few tragedies are written. It has often been held that the lack is due to a paucity of heroes among us, or else that modern man has had the blood drawn out of his organs of belief by the skepticism of science, and the heroic attack on life cannot feed on an attitude of reserve and circumspection. For one reason or another, we are often held to be below tragedy-or tragedy above us. The inevitable conclusion is, of course, that the tragic mode is archaic, fit only for the very highly placed, the kings or the kingly, and where this admission is not made in so many words it is most often implied.…

    • 1553 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In this essay, you will use Aristotle’s definition of tragedy from Poetics to analyze Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Is Wilson’s play tragic according to Aristotle’s definition?…

    • 315 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tragic hero’s who fit under Aristotle’s depiction are known as ‘Aristotelian Tragic Hero’s’ and possess five specific characteristics;…

    • 1899 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Is the Crucible a Tragedy?

    • 1198 Words
    • 4 Pages

    “Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its catharsis of such emotions”…

    • 1198 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    A tragic hero, determined by Aristotle, must show a nobility and virtue of a certain magnitude however, their path to happiness should be ceased by their destructive vice (Harmartia- the flaw that eventually leads to their downfall). Peripeteia, the point where the character’s fortune changes, must evoke a state of pity and fear amongst the audience, and give above all, a didactic message. The outcome of this characteristic should result in a complex but sole instigation of both the hero’s Catharsis (a cleansing of emotion which is described by Aristotle as an effect of tragic drama on its audience) and Anagnoris when they reach their moment of realisation. It can be argued that Shakespeare fully abided by these rules in order to make a distinction between his characters’ prosperity and misfortune. Fintan O’Toole (post modernist critic) argues that Othello “is not tragic, merely pathetic”. However, Othello will be identified as a far greater tragic hero than Macbeth, illustrating how Shakespeare fully intended on creating a tragically heroic character such as Othello.…

    • 2547 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Initially, a tragic hero is the true hero in a tragedy, in which his or her fatal flaws determine the outcome of the story. In addition to the hero’s flaw, fate and other external forces such as people and the environment also have an effect on the tragedy. In “Antigone”, Creon best represents the true tragic hero based on Aristotle’s Theory of Tragedy. His contributions to the events of tragedy are shown through the sequential structures of inciting incident- beginning of the problem, Hamartia- the tragic flaw or mistake, and Anagnorisis- the realization of wrongdoings. Brutus, from The Tragedy of Juliet Caesar coincides with the tragedy through his absent mindedness on being convinced to kill Caesar, his mistake of murdering Caesar, and his realization of killing himself to appease the Ghost of Caesar.…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Mimesis, as a controversial concept starting from the 15th century, is among the oldest terms in literature and artistic theory, and is certainly among the most fundamental. Developing centuries, the concept of mimesis has been explored and reinterpreted by scholars in various academic fields. The word “Mimesis” developed from the root mimos, noun designating both a person who imitates and a specific genre of performance based on the limitation of stereotypical character traits. Very little is known about “mimesis” until the ancient Greek Philosopher Plato provided the first and unquestionably the most influential account of mimesis. In his wide-ranging work of the Republic, Plato does not simply comment upon an existing notion in this notion of mimesis in this dialogue but radically redefines art as essentially mimetic, is a representation of something else. This notion is so fundamental to the way we understand art that it is no exaggeration to claim that art itself, as a distinct human product, is a Platonic invention. Following Plato, his disciple, Aristotle redefined “mimesis” and put forward his own theoretic interpretation. His Poetics is the single most influential work of literary criticism in the western tradition and, along with Plato’s Republic, is the fundamental text for the understanding of mimesis. Aristotle’s chief subject is Greek tragedy, but his account of this form engages far-reaching question about the nature of mimesis that powerfully revise Plato’s theories. This paper attempts to interpret in detail the concept of “mimesis” in Aristotle’s Poetics and how it is manifested in Aristotle’s illustration of tragedy elements, meanwhile by comparison to analysis its similarities and difference with Platonic mimesis.…

    • 4881 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Powerful Essays

Related Topics