Oedipus Tragic Hero Essay
Christopher Rovira
ENG102.7430
Professor Colleran
February 6, 2009
The Critical Examination of Tragic Heroes
Throughout our history, many genres have survived the test of time. One of the most well known and popular genre is the tragedy. A tragedy tells a story of the downfall of a basically good person through some fatal error or misjudgment, producing suffering and insight on the part of the protagonist and arousing pity and fear on the part of the audience. One of the main authorities on tragedy is ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle. His piece of literature, Poetics, is highly regarded as one of the main sources used to define what makes a tragedy. In each tragedy, there must be a tragic hero to carry out the plot of the story. …show more content…
The protagonist of the story is Oedipus. It is made clear at the beginning of the play that Oedipus is a man of high stature that is able to grab the audience’s attention. Oedipus proclaims, “I Oedipus whom all men call the Great.” (Sophocles 8) Oedipus is shown to be a man of great reputation, as he claims himself to be a hero among men. A plague has stricken the city of Thebes, and as its king, he has piled the task upon himself to rid the city of the outbreak. To rid the city of this infection, Oedipus must find the murderer of the previous king, Laius. When speaking to the people of Thebes while searching for the slayer of Laius, Oedipus declares, “Upon the murderer I invoke this curse – whether he is one man and all unknown, or one of many – may he wear out his life in misery to miserable doom!” (Sophocles 245) Here it becomes evident of Oedipus’ hamartia, or tragic flaw. Oedipus’ hamartia is his short temper, as he is quick to shout consequences aimed at the killer without knowing many facts. His short temper also leads him to the error that sets his fate in motion. Hamartia is a key element in having a tragic …show more content…
(3) This is shown once the peripeteia is revealed. His reversal of fortune begins when Iago proclaims “Indeed!” (Shakespeare III.III.112) and Othello responds “Indeed? ay, indeed. Discern’st thou aught in that? Is he not honest?” (Shakespeare III.III.114) This shows the change in his mindset , going from trusting Desdemona to being wary of her. Othello is easily persuaded by Iago, and ponders “By heaven, he echoes me, as if there were some monster in his thought too hideous to be shown. (Shakespeare III.III.121) This is where he starts to descend into darkness. Eventually he becomes so jealous that he kills his Desdemona. As Joan Lord Hall points out, “he makes a fatal error…trusting Iago instead of his wife and killing Desdemona after Iago works him into a frenzy of jealousy; he recognizes the enormity of what he has done. (81) Emilia tells Othello that, “Moor, she was chaste; she loved thee, cruel Moor; so come my soul to bliss, as I speak true.” (V.II.290) This is where the anagnorisis takes place, as Othello comes to the conclusion that he has been wronged. Shortly after, he kills himself in remorse. All these facts contribute to Othello being a tragedy, therefore making Othello a tragic
ENG102.7430
Professor Colleran
February 6, 2009
The Critical Examination of Tragic Heroes
Throughout our history, many genres have survived the test of time. One of the most well known and popular genre is the tragedy. A tragedy tells a story of the downfall of a basically good person through some fatal error or misjudgment, producing suffering and insight on the part of the protagonist and arousing pity and fear on the part of the audience. One of the main authorities on tragedy is ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle. His piece of literature, Poetics, is highly regarded as one of the main sources used to define what makes a tragedy. In each tragedy, there must be a tragic hero to carry out the plot of the story. …show more content…
The protagonist of the story is Oedipus. It is made clear at the beginning of the play that Oedipus is a man of high stature that is able to grab the audience’s attention. Oedipus proclaims, “I Oedipus whom all men call the Great.” (Sophocles 8) Oedipus is shown to be a man of great reputation, as he claims himself to be a hero among men. A plague has stricken the city of Thebes, and as its king, he has piled the task upon himself to rid the city of the outbreak. To rid the city of this infection, Oedipus must find the murderer of the previous king, Laius. When speaking to the people of Thebes while searching for the slayer of Laius, Oedipus declares, “Upon the murderer I invoke this curse – whether he is one man and all unknown, or one of many – may he wear out his life in misery to miserable doom!” (Sophocles 245) Here it becomes evident of Oedipus’ hamartia, or tragic flaw. Oedipus’ hamartia is his short temper, as he is quick to shout consequences aimed at the killer without knowing many facts. His short temper also leads him to the error that sets his fate in motion. Hamartia is a key element in having a tragic …show more content…
(3) This is shown once the peripeteia is revealed. His reversal of fortune begins when Iago proclaims “Indeed!” (Shakespeare III.III.112) and Othello responds “Indeed? ay, indeed. Discern’st thou aught in that? Is he not honest?” (Shakespeare III.III.114) This shows the change in his mindset , going from trusting Desdemona to being wary of her. Othello is easily persuaded by Iago, and ponders “By heaven, he echoes me, as if there were some monster in his thought too hideous to be shown. (Shakespeare III.III.121) This is where he starts to descend into darkness. Eventually he becomes so jealous that he kills his Desdemona. As Joan Lord Hall points out, “he makes a fatal error…trusting Iago instead of his wife and killing Desdemona after Iago works him into a frenzy of jealousy; he recognizes the enormity of what he has done. (81) Emilia tells Othello that, “Moor, she was chaste; she loved thee, cruel Moor; so come my soul to bliss, as I speak true.” (V.II.290) This is where the anagnorisis takes place, as Othello comes to the conclusion that he has been wronged. Shortly after, he kills himself in remorse. All these facts contribute to Othello being a tragedy, therefore making Othello a tragic