'The Fool is more important to the play than he may at first seem.' By considering the dramatic presentation of the Fool, evaluate this view. The Fool is more than just a jester who is present to provide some comic relief in the tragedy of King Lear; like many of Shakespeare’s fools, he is shown as a highly intelligent character who the audience likes not just for his entertainment, but his insightfulness. Therefore, he is central both to the plot, as he criticises and advises Lear, potentially setting his later clarity into the motion, and to the audience’s understanding of the characters in the play. The first impression most have of the Fool is that his presence serves as form of comic relief, in order to set a lighter tone to the play; however, because of this, his death is crucial to the bleak ending of the play.
However, he does not realize that his dream is idealistic. Gatsby is relatable to the average man who possesses flaws. Gatsby as a Tragic Hero Aristotle defines a tragic hero as a man of noble stature. He is not an ordinary man, but a man with outstanding quality and greatness about him. The tragic hero possesses the following characteristics: 1) Flaw or error of judgment (hamartia) Note the role of justice and/or revenge in the judgments.
Some of the characteristics of a tragic hero include greatness, a weakness or a flaw, an undeserved fate, and a punishment exceeding the deed committed. Jay Gatsby encompasses all of these characteristics as a tragic hero. The most tragic of the three protagonists studied is Jay Gatsby because all he wanted was to be loved by Daisy, although, there were few who actually liked him, and his fate was ill timed and one his actions were not deserving of. There are many characteristics that identify Jay Gatsby as a tragic hero. Some of the characteristics of a tragic hero include greatness, a weakness or a flaw, an undeserved fate, and a punishment exceeding the deed committed.
In the two plays, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘Macbeth’, the key characters transgress the social moral boundaries. However, Shakespeare manages to create sympathy towards the protagonists. In ‘Macbeth’, he creates sympathy for Macbeth as he shows the tragic downfall of a heroic hero in despair and how he was forced into all his wrong doings. Whereas in ‘Romeo and Juliet’, Shakespeare makes the audience feel sympathy towards the young couple as other people are also to blame for their relationship not happening and how they are ‘star crossed lovers’. In this essay, I am going to explain how Shakespeare manages to sympathize with these protagonists.
A tragic hero is a man of noble character who dies because of the decisions he has made, even if the hero’s misfortune was not completely deserved. One of Brutus' tragic flaws is that he does not have a good judge of character, and he ends up trusting Cassius and joining the Conspirators. Elements that make Brutus the tragic hero are his fall resulting from what Aristotle calls “an act of injustice” (hamartia), his downfall is his own fault resulting from his choices, and was defeated but dared greatly and becomes an example for others. Brutus tragic hero of Julius Caesar displays hamartia, he commits a crime acting out of the best intentions, which in this scenario results from mistaken judgment and will make him fall from his grand stature. One of the multiple examples is shown when Brutus and Portia, his wife, were having a conversation after the conspirators left their house.
/ It is not for your health, thus to commit / your weak condition to the raw cold morning.” (II, i; 234-236) Brutus is a loving character through this quote because normally in that time, women weren’t as well recognized as now but Brutus really cares ad loves his wife. Another one of Brutus’s characteristics/actions that make him as the hero of the play is that when he initially he wants to join the conspiracy, he has a different reason to kill Caesar. He doesn’t do it for greed and envy but it’s rather explained in the following quote: “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more” (III.ii:21-22). Even though Brutus makes wrong decisions, he didn’t want to kill people as much as a person like Cassius wants to. Also, Brutus is
Since the days of Aristotle, the concept of a tragic hero has been a part of storytelling and literature. A tragic, or romantic, hero is someone who begins at a noble position, but has a tragic flaw that ultimately leads to the character’s demise. Often, this character realizes this flaw, but not before it is too late. In Shakespeare’s tragic play, Othello, the title character is a romantic hero. His rapid downfall is a result of his passionate love, so intense that it greatly hinders his rational thought.
Elizabeth sees his inner goodness shine when he refuses to lie about being involved in witchcraft, and she realizes how unfair she has been. John Proctor saves the lives of the others who are accused when he unselfishly declines to save his own. He acts as a martyr when he places others before himself. He would rather die an honorable death than live a dishonorable life, which is what precedes him to be the tragic hero of the play. John Proctor, being a very complex character stuck in a world full mischief, madness, and chaos shows a major change as the play unfolds.
Arthur Miller’s writing of Death of a Salesman does correctly fit the title of a tragedy because his main character, Willy Loman, does possess the qualities needed to be considered a tragic hero according to modern-day tragic heroes. Hamlet and Oedipus are the well-known tragic heroes from the past. They relate more to Aristotle than Willy Loman does and that is what causes the controversy in these tragedies. Aristotle had written down some of the common tragic hero characteristics for Greek tragedies, but those do not relate to more modern tragedies that have been written. Miller’s main character Willy Loman does deserve to have the title tragic hero.
Sacrifices for Honor Joseph Campbell stated, “A hero is someone who has given his life to something bigger than oneself.” In William Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar, Marcus Brutus is established as a tragic hero due to his idealistic and sensible qualities. His need to preserve an honor allows him to possess a mindset that favors the best of others. This mindset triggers his fall under cynical circumstances that are beyond what is expected to happen. By outlining Brutus’s tragedy, it is indicated that his seemingly ignoble decisions are genuinely intended to create changes for the Romans. As a tragic hero, Brutus maintains noble intentions throughout the play.