Sophocles‚ contains a very prominent tragic hero: Oedipus. A tragic hero‚ by Aristotle’s definition of one‚ must possess six traits. One of them is that the tragic hero must be of noble stature. Another trait of a tragic hero is a tragic flaw. A third trait defined by Aristotle is that a tragic hero must have a period of recognition of his crimes. Oedipus strongly displays each of the three aforementioned‚ necessary traits; and he is‚ then‚ an obvious tragic hero. Oedipus’ noble stature is immediately
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Question #3: One of the essential elements of any tragic figure is his/her tragic flaw(s)-an inherent personality trait or set of traits that inevitably dooms the character to destruction. Identify and explain Hamlet’s tragic flaw(s) and how it/they bring about his downfall. A tragic flaw is a character trait that ultimately causes the downfall of the protagonist. In Hamlet‚ by William Shakespeare‚ Hamlet learns the truth behind his father’s death - that he was actually murdered by his brother
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Shakespeare uses techniques‚ characters‚ language‚ structure and form to present Othello as tragic hero. He exposes his tragic flaw‚ which consequently leads to his downfall. Othello conforms to the Aristotelian principles of tragedy‚ of the noble protagonist who undergoes ceaseless manipulation and endures suffering‚ resulting in his ultimate downfall due to hamartia. All of these techniques combine to provide a different perception of the protagonist‚ as more of an atypical victim‚ exposed to
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by the people of Rome until he killed his best friend‚ Caesar‚ thinking it was for the good of Rome. Brutus is the perfect example of a Shakespearean tragic hero. William Shakespeare’s definition of a tragic hero includes traditional elements. These elements are a person usually of noble birth‚ one who suffers a catastrophe‚ and one who has a tragic flaw. In act I‚ Cassius talks about Brutus’s nobility “You and I have heard our fathers talk of another Brutus-your ancestor-who would’ve let the devil
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Lucia Chimienti-Castro Mr. Bottos ENG-3UP January 2‚ 2015 Seeing Tragic Heroes Through a Sequence A sequence is a set of related things‚ but obviously some things are more relative than others. Let us say you had two circles and one oval‚ sure an oval could join the sequence since it is spherical with no sharp edges but the other circle is more related
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Is Hamlet’s distress understandable? Why does he fail to act until too late? Is his inaction due to a tragic flaw? Until relatively recently‚ critics tended to assume that the causes of tragic misfortune resided in some moral defect of the protagonist. Aristotle’s term hamartia (derived from “fault‚” “failure‚” guilt” but literally meaning to “miss the mark”) was often translated as “tragic flaw‚” leading critics to seek the chink in the hero’s armour (such as pride or ambition) which leads to
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Antigone: Not the Tragic Hero Sophocles‚ a great tragedian‚ was the one who gave Greek tragedies their traditional form. An important part of traditional Greek tragedies is the presence of a tragic hero. All tragic heroes should have the characteristics of rank‚ a tragic flaw‚ a downfall‚ and a recognition of mistakes. The seemingly tragic hero is Antigone. She wants to bury her brother Polyneices even though this would be going against Creon‚ who is her uncle and the king. When Antigone buries
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Greek tragedy would not be complete with out a tragic hero. Sophocles wrote Antigone with a specific character in mind for this part. Based on Aristotle’s definition‚ Creon is the tragic hero of Antigone. Creon fits Aristotle’s tragic hero traits as a significant person who is faced with difficult decisions. Creon is significant because he is king. This makes him both renowned and prosperous. Creon is not completely good nor completely bad; he is somewhere in-between‚ as humans are. The audience
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Brutus & Julius Caesar The tragic hero archetype has been played with for as long as literature has been created‚ but no one had quite a spin on it like William Shakespeare. Shakespeare’s tragic heroes were specifically designed to elicit pity and fear from the audience and to really feel their downfall. In Julius Caesar‚ the protagonist Brutus is a well-made example. But the character of which the play is named after is often not considered as one. Although the character of Julius Caesar does not
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The Tragic Jay Gatsby Many characters in novels may be considered to be tragic. These characters are considered tragic because of one character trait they possess that leads to their eventual demise. Jay Gatsby is a tragic character in a unique way. That is‚ he has many negative traits‚ but only one of these traits leads to his eventual downfall. Of all the character traits that Jay Gatsby possessed‚ his excessiveness in everything he did was what led him to his ultimate downfall. Jay
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