Character Flaws Oedipus the King and Death of a Salesman two plays depicting the inability of the main characters to accept the reality of their situation, often times using excuses or delusions to protect themselves from danger. In Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, Oedipus finds himself blind to the truth of his life, and his family origin. Arthur Miller’s play, The Death of a Salesman, narrates the story of a tragic character so captivated in his false belief that reality and illusion merge, resulting in an internal struggle that leads to his downfall. Each play represents the internal battle of a man struggling to come to terms with his own, bitter reality and departing from his fantasy world. In selecting the frailty of illusion over the constancy of reality, the protagonists meet their inevitable disaster.
The grandmother tells the children of different stories from her past, including one in particular about an old plantation home located in Georgia. She tells them a lie about the home saying there is a secret hidden door where a wealthy man hid his most valuable possessions. The grandmother knew this would capture the attention of John and June, who became eagerly excited. The children began to yell, scream, and beg their father to stop. Bailey reluctantly agrees to stop at the home, but as soon as the vehicle turns on the road the grandmother quickly realizes the home was in Tennessee.
Hamlet starts to act as a madman to avenge the death of his father by his uncle. Ophelia on the other hand, goes mad after the death of her father. Shakespeare uses both these characters to affect the main plot in the play and their relationships with other characters. Many people debate whether Hamlet’s madness is real or fake. Shakespeare incorporated the theme of madness to serve a motive for Hamlet in order to deceive others.
Scarlet Letter Essay: Chillingworth is the most corrupt and corrupting character in the novel Robert Chillingworth gathers all of the information he needs to find out who the lover of Hester was by observation, asking Dimmesdale and Hester certain questions to either confirm or deny what he gathered, guiding Dimmesdale into insanity until he breaks and Chillingworth watches as Dimmesdale finally confesses what Chillingworth believed to be true the entire time. Chillingworth truly corrupted Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale’s lives until Chillingworth got what he desired. Robert Chillingworth observes the lives of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale to calm his suspicious mind. Chillingworth was this “Stranger [that] entered the room with the characteristic quietude of the profession to which he announced himself as belonging”(Hawthorne 76). He was a random person that no one really
In the story “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner, Sarty is at war with himself over whether or not he should turn his vengeful father in. In the beginning of the story, Sarty’s father, Abner, is on trial for burning Mr. Harris’ barn. Sarty only wants to tell the truth, but is frozen in fear. Abner is found not guilty, but he and his family are forced out of town anyway. His father’s turbulent life-style causes significant stress for Sarty, and, in the end, he makes the painful decision to give his father up and run away.
However, a tragic hero is a character who experiences conflict and suffers greatly as result of his/her choices. Despaired through the death of his father and his mother’s marriage to his uncle Hamlet then begins to possess feelings of grief, anger and frustration. With these flaws weighing on his conscience it contributes to the making of a tragic hero. This is due to the forced objective of avenging his father’s murder and his mother’s incestuous marriage, Hamlet’s lack of being able to dictate his own choices and his cowardly sense of committing suicide to avoid the suffering. Hamlets anger, which stems from his mother marrying Claudius, bears him serious thoughts of suicide.
The character of Edmund in Shakespeare’s King Lear a complex antagonist whose quest for power, and the treatment he deserves from society fuels the subplot. Cunning, deceitful, and a villain, Edmund will do whatever it takes to achieve his objectives, even if it means betraying the people who love him most. Edmund plays a key role in setting the stage for the disaster waiting to unfold, which is the subplot. Initially, the audience sympathizes with Edmund’s character; society treats him poorly, and his own father publicly embarrasses him. In Act 1 Scene 1, when Kent asks Gloucester if Edmund is his Gloucester’s son, he replies “his breeding hath been at my charge” (1.1.9) yet Gloucester “blushed to acknowledge [Edmund]” (1.1.10).
In the beginning of the play Ajax claims, “...My name is Ajax:/ agony is its meaning. And my fortunes/ are cause indeed for agony of wailing cause” (Ajax, 24) He believes that he burdens the people around him by continuing to live. He finds justice in taking his own life because so much of his society already holds so much animosity towards him. Not long after Ajax’ slaughtering took place, Tecmessa says to the Chorus, “He is freshly miserable. It is a painful thing/ to look at your own trouble and know/ that you yourself and no one else has made it” (Ajax, 17.)
This was suggested as naïve optimism and unrealistic by anti-transcendentalists. They though that people who desired complete individualism would give rise to the worst aspects of human nature. Hawthorne in his story shows that relying on one’s self is a type of evil. An initial reading may show this tale to be about the idea that sin is in all men’s hearts and that there is a universal desire to keep it hidden. However much we may want others to be transparent, it is impossible because everyone wears a veil.
. The 6th Juror communicates this most clearly, saying, "Suppose you talk us outta this and the kid really did knife his father?" this statement makes each juror debate whether to believe this man or to trust their gut feeling. The play proudly represents a cross-section between evil and good views of justice within the jurors ever changing opinions, in the most obvious sense this play is based around racial injustice. Funnily enough the race of the assessed by is never fully made clear it is understood that it differentiates from the race of the jurors.