Let us start with a simple question. What is a tragic hero? According to Arthur Miller in Tragedy and the Common Man, he says that all tragic heroes have one thing in common, "[a] tragic flaw," (paragraph 6). This tragic flaw is the thing that brings down the status of being a hero to a tragic hero.…
Aristotle defines a tragic hero as a man of noble and high status, whose admirable qualities and basic goodness are undermined by a fatal flaw, which ultimately leads to their own downfall. Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Sophocles’ Oedipus the King both show an excellent example of tragic heroes as both protagonists experience a downfall from a high status due to their fatal flaws. In Hamlet this flaw can be seen in Hamlet as he becomes determined to find his father’s killer. He becomes oblivious to what is going on around him. Oedipus is so determined to find out the truth of who the murderer of the previous king is, such that he is blinded to the truth of what he has done. As seen in their mental stability, their treatment of women and their reversal…
Early life for Johnny Hendrix wasn’t of the average status quo when it came to normality. Johnny was born in a voodoo shop in the French Quarter of New Orleans. His parents were not exactly ideal for what you would want a parent to be like. Johnny’s mom was addicted to every hard drug known to man. Johnny’s dad was a porn star who was always off filming somewhere. Johnny didn’t have any siblings. He was supposedly a mistake himself. His dad said that while he was shooting one of his homemade porn videos with Johnny’s mom he accidently got her pregnant with Johnny. After Johnny heard this he felt like he had no purpose at all for the world. This is where Carlino came in.…
2. Tragic Flaw (Hamartia): the tragic hero must "fall" due to some flaw in his own personality. The most common tragic flaw is hubris (excessive pride). One who tries to attain too much possesses hubris.…
The tragic hero is an exceptional being capable of greatness. He often sets himself up as equal to superior to the cosmic powers, or at least he seems himself as an extraordinary man. This hero has a flaw. The hero falls from a high place of stature and pride. The tragic hero is in some way responsible for their fall and ultimately realizes their flaw too late before they are punished. Macbeth and Richard M. Nixon are tragic hero’s for these reasons.…
Al Hendrix, his father, was a jazz dancer who worked several jobs to support Johnny and his brother Leon. Sadly, Hendrix’s mother, Lucille, suffered from alcohol abuse; she would disappear abruptly, leaving Al and her children to fend for themselves. During this time Al, their grandmother, and other friends were burdened by the responsibility of taking care of Leon and Johnny. Lucille died when Johnny was ten years old, which ultimately had an influence on his drug abuse addiction. Al later changed Johnny’s name to James Marshal Hendrix (Barger,…
Jimi Hendrix's mother was 17 when she gave birth to him in the year 1942. Jimi Hendrix as a child was often in the care of relatives and even acquaintances. His mother had a bad relationship with his father and eventually left the family. Hendrix taught himself how to play guitar at 16 with strong encouragement from his dad. After getting caught joy riding in a stolen vehicle at 17 he chose the army over jail. While in the army, he made his first band, The King Casuals. Hendrix was discharged due to injury a year later.…
Jimi Hendrix was born in Seattle, Washington, on November 27, 1942. His real name is James Marshal Hendrix, but nicknamed as Jimi. Jimi Hendrix was an American of African, European, Cherokee Indian and Mexican cultures. Jimi's parents, Al and Lucille Hendrix gave Jimi two younger brothers, and a younger sister, Being Leon, born January 13, 1948, In Seattle, Joseph, born in the mid 40's, and Cathy, born on September 27, 1950, Making Jimi the oldest of them all. December 17, 1951, Al and Lucille Hendrix get divorced. Jimi, Leon, and Joseph live with their father. Even though Joseph soon moves somewhere else, and Leon is given to a foster home. On February 2, 1958 Jimi's mother dies in Seattle, Jimi being the age of 15. Jimi and his father do not attend the…
Pete Seeger was practically pre-determined to love music. His parents taught music at the Julliard School in New York. Although, his parents had an interest mainly in classical music, at the age of sixteen in 1935, Pete managed to discover that his true passion was for folk music or as he described “old fashioned five string banjo, rippling out a rhythm to one fascinating song after another” . He truly believed that this type of music was more powerful and honest in comparison to what was popular at the time.…
Tragic flaw is defined as a personality flaw that makes the person commit a serious mistake so gravely that it can cause him/her death. A tragic flaw can also refer to a flawed judgment that a character has passed over a course of action, which is sadly irrevocable. In “Into the Wild”, Chris McCandless can be said to have committed a tragic flaw which has resulted in his death. By stubbornly clinging onto his ideal way to live, McCandless boldly leaves everything behind and ventures alone into the Alaska wilderness. Without being aware of what is to expect in Alaska and with very little preparation, McCandless simply died of starvation in a place where he presumed to be perfect. His death is ironic because instead of finding his paradise in Alaska, he finds his burial place.…
James Marshall Hendrix aka Jimi Hendrix, was a guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Jimi Hendrix delighted audiences in the 1960s with his outrageous electric guitar playing skills and his experimental sound. He was widely recognized as one of the most creative and musical talented musicians in the early 20th century. Hendrix was a pioneer genius who exploded many possibilities of the electric guitar. Hendrix’s style of combining fuzz, feedback, and controlled distortion created a new musical form in the industry. He was born in 1942 in Seattle, Washington as Johnny Allen Hendrix but was later renamed James Marshall by his father, James “AI” Hendrix.…
The term “tragic hero” was first introduced by Aristotle, Greek philosopher and playwright, around 2,400 years ago. A tragic hero is defined as, “a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy who is destined for downfall, suffering, or defeat(dictionary.com).” To first be identified as a tragic hero one must be virtuous or noble but have a character flaw and/or make a bad decision. This decision or trait will lead to a run of misfortune which the hero knows that he is to blame. Despite this the hero will remain to have a high opinion of himself. This will eventually lead to a downfall that is considered greatly deserved. Throughout all this, the hero must remain to have morals no better or worse than any average person. This allows the…
Initiated by the hero’s own inability to remain complacent, tragedies classically demonstrate a downfall through the ‘fatal flaw’ of the protagonist. “The flaw, or crash in the character is really nothing…but his inherent unwillingness to remain passive…”…
Unfortunately, in about every person's life either a tragic event or a series of tragic events can be found and in some cases more than others. To many people a tragic hero could be defined as someone who performs a heroic act, but dies in the process. Nevertheless, this statement is wrong, but instead a tragic hero needs five elements. To be a tragic hero one would need noble stature, a tragic flaw, free choice, excessive punishment and increased awareness. When discussing the play Antigone, a perfect example of a tragic hero would be Creon. Though many people might argue Antigone to be the tragic hero, but she is missing the element of increased awareness.…
It is obvious that tragic heroes usually commit an error, which will lead to their tragic doom. But what other critics has not considered as they analyzed tragic heroes is their incapability of granting/asking clemency as they are incapable of making right or wise decisions such as granting clemency in the strict sense. Typically, anger, love, jealousy or ambition are typical driving powers of which one at least is ultimately responsible for their shortsighted decisions before they go through ‘recognition.’ For instance, anguish is the ultimate driving power, which makes Hamlet incapable of amnesty in Hamlet 3.3. Thus, he withholds clemency from his uncle who expresses his remorse for killing his brother, the former king and Hamlet’s father.…