Typically, tragedies feature a central character (protagonist) possessing a fatal flaw which leads them to their downfall. Shakespeare takes this “Greek Tragedy” concept and uses it in this play, presenting Othello as the un-mistakable tragic hero. However, whether Othello is noble is argued against by critics, such as F.R Leavis. Leavis fails to understand how someone responsible for their own suffering can be deemed heroic. I, on the other hand, stand closer to Bradley’s early 20th century interpretation of Othello’s character.
They were "enactments of religious celebrations- performed in Athens" (www.fortbendisd.com). But what is considered to be a Greek drama? A Greek Drama has a conflict between the main character and one of the other characters in the story, which is usually a superior force. In the end, all Greek dramas have a catastrophic conclusion. The hero in a Greek tragedy is usually the main character who is known to do great deeds throughout the story, but the sad truth is that a flaw such as fervor or arrogance is what leads to his disgrace.
Webster’s dictionary defines tragedy as, “a serious drama typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force (such as destiny) and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that excites pity or terror.” A tragic hero, therefore, is the character who experiences such a conflict and suffers catastrophically as a result of his choices and related actions. The character of Hamlet, therefore, is a clear representation of Shakespeare’s tragic hero. As the play’s tragic hero, Hamlet exhibits a combination of good and bad traits. A complex character, he displays a variety of characteristics throughout the play’s development. When he is first introduced in Act I- Scene 2, one sees Hamlet as a sensitive young prince who is mourning the death of his father, the King.
Oedipus Argumentative Paragraph Aristotle’s Poetics deeply describes what makes a tragic story, and what makes a tragic hero. With respect to the topics of Reversal of Situation, Scene of Suffering, and a Good Character discussed by Aristotle, Oedipus is an ideal example of a tragic hero. As Aristotle describes, reversal of situation is, “a change by which the action veers round to its opposite, subject always to our rule of probability or necessity.” (Aristotle 199) Here, Aristotle explains how a reversal of situation is an unexpected turn of events, by which the first intention was to clear a situation positively but ending up impacting it in a negative way. An example of this in the play Oedipus would be when the messenger came to Oedipus to tell him about the ‘good’ news about his ‘mother’ whom turned out not to be his mother. This situation led to a reversal of situation in which by the end of it, Oedipus says, “Enough, Enough!
In the poems the Iliad and Beowulf heroes such as Achilles and Beowulf came from communities that were war minded. Whether these heroes succeed or fail in battle determine the height of their honor. The protagonists in both epics have similar supernatural qualities, are trusted with maintaining the fate of there country, fought for glory and fame, were aided by the gods, and faced a fate that led to death. The dynamic adventures that these stories take you through are complex, leaving the impressions that an intricate and very real tale has been told. The chief elements of an epic include: a depiction of the societies values and what is important to the people concerning the epic such as the warlike behavior shown in both the Iliad and Beowulf; heroes such as Achilles and Beowulf that are unafraid of the opposition they face and have courage in front of impossible odds; mythical creatures like Grendel and impressive beings such as Apollo that provide a challenge to the hero; settings like the heavily protected Troy and haunted Herot that capture the mind’s eye; and tales of wars and the battles that encompass them.
In another instance, it is used as defense against greater harm, as in Othello. And of course, let’s not forget the instances when deception takes the form of well-planned tactics in the hands of evil characters, as in Julius Caesar. In comparing any two plays, such as Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for example, one can easily list many dualities– tragedy and comedy, an unhappy and happy ending and seriousness and mockery. But when it comes to similarities, the repeating patterns of deceit should be the first to come to one’s mind. A short essay cannot investigate all instances of this occurrence in all works of the author, but could provide the reader with the major categories.
Research Paper One of the greatest philosophers of Ancient Greece was Aristotle. He studied and explored many subjects. His analysis of the ideal form of tragic plays became a guideline for later playwrights in Western civilization. In his definition of tragedy, he stated, it is “the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself; in appropriate and pleasurable language;…in a dramatic rather than narrative form; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish a catharsis of these emotions.” In other words, a tragedy must be drastic and very serious; it should limit itself to one main issue to avoid confusion, and told with a rhythmic and harmonious language. The works must be dramatized and evoke feelings of pity and fear from the audience, for the main character or tragic hero as he or she moves toward a destructive end, eventually leading the audience to “explode” at the ultimate downfall of the hero.
Our perception of Medea’s character is repeatedly skewed throughout the play. The initial mood change, Medea’s conscience conflicts, and her barbaric actions, which she attempts to justify, all create an “intractable ambiguity about the play’s central character” (Tessitore 588). By exploring her contradictory character traits, we are able to see that Euripides’ Medea is too ambiguous to label as the tragic hero. The tragic hero has standard traits, some of which Medea does possess. More often than not, the hero is of nobility or holds a high ranking position.
Jessica Osorio English 110 Antigone Sophocles play “Antigone” demonstrates how the fate of the main characters illustrates the danger of [hubris] excessive pride. The play dramatizes the last stages of the troubles of the family of Oedipus. In “Antigone” Sophocles introduces new sufferings for the survivors of the conflict through the process of Greek tragedy, which consists of Creon transforming from the proud lord of Thebes to a defeated, grief-stricken mortal. “Antigone” has often been regarded as a play of philosophical conflict where one kind of right is opposed to another, where divine and human law come into conflict and the rights of the individual are opposed to the rights of the state (Burke). The play takes up the story of the “Seven against Thebes”, by Aeschylus, but with some changes in the circumstances.
According to Aristotle, the plot is “the soul of a tragedy.” The plot is “…the first and most important thing in tragedy.” Aristotle’s idea for the plot in tragedy is such that it has a beginning middle and end, that all parts follow each other in concise fashion, the parts should not be “…'episodic' in which the episodes or acts succeed one another without probable or necessary sequence.” Aristotle goes on to say that the events should not occur simultaneously like the “epic” play. “we must confine ourselves to the actions on the stage.” Miller’s play fits this entire criterion well. With the artistic development of the play stripped off (Miller’s version of Aristotle’s suggested arrangement “not on the simple but on the complex plan.”), we have, quite simply, a beginning where the hero becomes a successful salesman with family, a middle where our hero and his family go through the unsurprising and easily identifiable struggles and realities of being a salesman, and a classic tragic end wherein our hero dies. The sequence of Willy Loman’s life is indeed “probable” and all