Tragic hero, a Tragic hero is a not so perfect person of high social status. That then has a downfall from his from his high title in society and pays for all of his wrong doing. During or after his downfall he has a moment of clarity finally realizing what he has done. In the book “Oedipus The King” Oedipus shows to be a true tragic hero. Using Oedipus as an ideal model, Aristotle says that a tragic hero must be an important or influential man who makes an error in judgment, and who must then suffer the consequences of his actions.
While that may have been the final contribution to his death, his tragic flaw is what is shown throughout the play. This flaw can be plainly stated as Romeo being far too impulsive. He seems to be driven by the idea of fate, and does not thoroughly think about his decisions. His character in the play thinks of life and love as such a quick thing, as if he is thinking to himself that if he doesn’t go with his instincts, his life will not be decent or respectable. When truthfully, these instincts are the origin of his dire choices, resulting in the end of his life.
According to Brown, “The dramatist depicts incidents which arouse pity and fear for the protagonist [Antigone], then during the course of the action, he resolves the major conflicts, bringing the plot to a logic and foreseeable conclusion (Brown, para 5). The tragic hero in Antigone is Creon. Tragic heroes are not all good and not all bad. Creon suffers a great deal due to his tragic flaw and destructive pride. Creon believes the gods make him suffer the loss of his wife and son as punishment for his pride.
This is shown when Mark Antony uses reverse psychology by stating “But Brutus is an honorable man.” His tragic flaw shapes and foreshadows his downfall. Lastly, Brutus can be seen as the tragic hero of the play because his tragic flaw leads to his death and downfall. Brutus experiences the start of his downfall when he sees Caesar’s ghost. The ghost foreshadows his downfall by
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. In addition, his mother’s immediate marriage to his uncle has left him in even greater despair. Mixed in with this immense sense of grief, are obvious feelings of anger and frustration. The combination of these emotions leaves one feeling sympathetic to Hamlet; he becomes a very “human” character. One sees from the very beginning that he is a very complex and conflicted man, and that his tragedy has already begun.
This action leads to him being considered a tragic hero. Creon’s human flaw of arrogance causes him to ignore reasoning and advice and listen only to his own thoughts. He states, "My voice is the one voice giving orders in this city". He is afraid to go back on his word because it will hurt his pride and he is afraid that it will cause him to lose power with his subjects. This action causes him to lose everyone that he loves.
In the case of this play, the reader could argue that Eddie's tragic flaw is either denial or, to begin with, the incestuous feelings for his niece, Catherine. Most of the time, the damage caused by a tragic hero's downfall usually hurts not just himself but often his community and family around him are strongly affected as well. Once again, Eddie's betrayal does both of these things. Firstly, his community was affected because Marco shouted to all the neighbours in the surrounding scene that Eddie killed his children, or so he claimed. Marco made these claims because he was so furious at Eddie’s betrayal and hence wanted to make Eddie seem as a villainous character.
We have all met a person who is deep down, kind-hearted, but they have one major character flaw that you just cannot overlook. Well Julius Caesar happens to be one of those people. Caesar’s hubris is his tragic flaw and it ends up killing him. Caesar truly looks out for the good of Rome but, his arrogance overshadows that. Throughout the play Caesar shows many times his hubris.
A hero suffers an extreme reversal of fortune, from great success to abysmal failure, which causes immense suffering. Brutus suffers from knowing that what he did to Caesar was wrong, so he kills himself. He thought that killing Caesar was a great success to Rome, which then leads to a dreadful failure, the people of Rome saying that what he did was dishonorable. After his failure, he decides to let Caesar not suffer anymore, “Caesar, now be still; I kill’s not thee with half so good a will.”(V, 5 50-1) After his dreadful failure, his final suffering entered his life, “I know my hour is come,” (V, 5 19) Brutus’s immense suffering and only escape was death, and suffered his death honorably. A tragic flaw is a weakness that makes a hero susceptible to mistake, which brings on the fate of personal tragedy.
Put together, his mistake and sense of arrogance magnify his tragic flaw. Throughout the story, Oedipus is not only arrogant but also obnoxious, childish, self absorbed, and willfully blind to the truth. All of these characteristics lead to his ruin. They demonstrate that Oedipus is far from perfect. Exemplifying these qualities enable Oedipus to set himself up for a great fall.