Antigone was also doomed from the beginning. She was doomed from the beginning despite her noble intentions to bury her dead brother. Antigone from the play “Antigone”, by Sophocles, is a tragic her because she exhibits all the qualities of a tragic hero. A tragic hero is a protagonist in a tragedy who must have a tragic flaw. Antigone from the play “Antigone” indeed does have a tragic flaw.
For example,Oedipus from Oedipus The King by Sophocles is a well thorough example of a tragic hero, as well as Okonkwo from Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Both characters are heroic and important people in their societies as well as admired by readers through the imagery of their action. However, the flaw that each of them have ruins their lives and drives them into pain. Oedipus is a mythical Greek king of a city named Thebes, he fulfills a prophecy that said he would kill his father, and thereby brings a disaster on his city and family. Okonkwo, on the other hand, is a wealthy and a well respected warrior of the Umofian clan, a lower Nigerian tribe who gives effort to develop into a powerful and successful person, nevertheless ends up self murdered and doomed as an evil spirit.
Electra fights with her mother, Clytemnestra, and her mother’s lover, Aegisthus, because she feels betrayed by them as they killed her father. When Electra and Orestes are finally reunited, they plot against their fathers killers, and finally kill them. The play has several themes, such as vengeance and deception which are extenuated by the heightened realism style of the play. In Electra’s introductory speech, I would emphasises her agony of her father’s death, as this is the main reason the character is vengeful. To fit with the heightened realism of the play, I would exaggerate the mental pain that the character is going through by associating some lines with physical pain, such as ‘But my mother, and her bed mate Aegisthus, Split open his head with a murderous axe’.
Hamlet Act 4 Questions 1. When Gertrude tells the King that Hamlet is “Mad as the sea and the wind when both contend which is the mightier.” I think she is believes that she because, Gertrude explains how Hamlet was in such a wrath that he was carless enough to kill a person that was hiding behind the curtain one of which he didn’t know the true identity of the man. 2. Claudius’s immediate reaction to the news of Polonius’s death reveals about his character that he is selfish and truly only cares about his own life and not about Polonius’s life. But he is also frightened of Hamlet and he isn’t as righteous a man as he wants people to believe that he is, he as well doesn’t want his public image will be ruined by this.
(3.3 29+32) The fatal flaw of the third conspirator, Cassius is that he is scared of what will happen to him after he murdered Caesar. Cassius and Brutus though that Anthony will turn Rome against them and realize what they did was wrong and their traitors. Cassius’s famous quote is “” Men at times are masters of their fates; the fault; dear Brutus, is not in our stars. But in ourselves””. (1.2 139-142) In conclusion, these conspirators lead to their own downfall by not listening to each other.
The Tragic Hero In Literature and Society (4th edition), Sophocles’ play “Antigone” depicts Creon as the tragic hero because of his tragic flaw, his suffering, and the way he arouses pity and fear in the audience. In Greek mythology, Creon is of noble blood and the ruler of Thebes. He becomes the king after his nephew’s death. He orders a law to forbid anyone from burying Polyneices, brother of the former king Eteocles. Polyneices betrays his kingdom and dies killing his brother.
Medea, an ancient Greek tragedy written by Euripides has Medea, a female character as the tragic hero. Many people consider her a wicked villain but they overlook her positive individualities. Medea has three vital characteristics described in Aristotle’s Peotics that makes up a tragic hero. Thus, Medea is a tragic hero with heroic code, superhuman skills and most important of all a tragic misfortune. Every hero requires having certain code of conduct which distinguishes him among ordinary people.
Aristotle’s definition of tragedy is “Tragedy is a story taking the hero from happiness to misery because of a fatal flaw or mistake on his part. To be a true tragic hero he must also elicit a strong emotional response of pity and fear from the audience.” (Aristotle) Creon fits perfectly into this description of a tragic hero.There have been many controversies regarding the true nature of Creon in the play “Antigone” by Anouilh.In this essay of mine, we shall perceive Creon as a noble man rather than an arrogant tyrant.In my view,Creon was the protagonist while Antigone was undoubtedly the antagonist, the cause of the whole tragedy who caused her own downfall as well as the downfall of Haemon and Eurydice courtesy of her obnoxious and immature behaviour. To prove my point here, I shall start with the fact that Creon hadn’t desired power.He was a patron of art, a lover of music, an idealist. This had been stated by the Chorus in the Prologue. This throne had been forced upon him by the circumstances after the death of Eteocles.
In Ode 1 of the play, another strophe of the chorus proceeds after the scene between Creon and the sentry, lamenting on Creon’s growing ignorance and pride. Prior to the strophe, Creon rebuked a sentry, claiming him responsible to the crime of Polyneices’ burial. Despite the pleads from the sentry, Creon refused to give him mercy or believe him. “How dreadful it is when the right judge judges wrong!”(1355) Creon is beginning to appear as a wrongful, unjust king and the Chorus overshadows that more conflicts will arise because of the new, proud king. The chorus warned the audience of the dreadful pride of Creon by using mostly metaphors.
O heavy burden!”. His hypocrisy and corrupt nature is demonstrated when he speaks to Laertes, through irony, “There’s such divinity doth hedge a king”, as God did not protect old Hamlet from being murdered by Claudius. Despite this Claudius is not utterly evil; he does love Gertrude and recognises that his “offense is rank ... smells to the heavens”. Claudius unlike Hamlet manages to manipulate fortune and take what he wants (the throne, and Gertrude), the end result justifying his means. Polonius effectively demonstrates notions of corruption throughout the play.