According to Aristotle, a tragic hero must be a character of noble stature and greatness while embodying nobility as an inner virtue. Next, while tragic heroes are great, they are never perfect and always posses character flaws to make them more relatable to the masses. Continuing, a tragic hero’s fall from power is the fault of the hero; the result of free choice usually attributed to the heroes imperfection. Next, A hero’s actions result in an increase of self- awareness and self-knowledge. Finally, the fate of a tragic hero does not leave the audience in a state of depression, but draws solemn emotions of pity and sympathy.
A chance to fulfill arête, through competition with others. According to Aristotle, the best of the tragic hero would be art that should imitate life, in that people should be able to identify with the hero’s character in a play. People, as well as the gods, should be excited by either fear or pity. Aristotle did not feel that a true tragic hero was neither all good nor all bad; he felt that the average citizen had to be able to see themselves in such a person in order to be able to identify with them. Plato’s
D. It must be consistent; or if inconsistent, at least consistently inconsistent. We can use these guidelines as we examine Oedipus The King to see if Oedipus meets the characteristics of a character in a tragedy. Oedipus is the king of Thebes, and at the start of the play he is unaware that he has murdered his father and slept with his mother. Oedipus is a good King; he is a kind king and considerate of the situation his people are in. In the opening scene of the play we see Oedipus trying to understand what is plaguing his people.
A Hapless Hero Arthur Miller demonstrated in Death of a Salesman that tragic heroism still possible in the modern world, but the tragic hero or tragic heroine should be of noble birth or hold an important social position, be basically virtuous, and desire to do good. However, Wily Loman is not a tragic hero because he is hapless rather than heroic, his personal tragedy that comes from his lack in ability to admit his errors and learn from them. Instead, he fits Miller's description of the pathetic character, one who "by virtue of his witlessness, his insensitivity, or the very air he gives off, is incapable of grappling with a much superior force," (Miller1). The definition of a tragic hero is a condition of life that allows an individual to find the route of self-realization and discover to the fullest extent of his or her capabilities. This insight only occurs when an individual bravely endure the "total examination of the 'unchangeable' environment" (Miller1).
While the protagonist is a good guy in most of the stories, he can be a bad guy (or an anti-hero) as well. If he is a hero, the audience is expected to share empathy with him and this has to be kept in mind when writing his character. If he is an anti-hero the audience will not have any sympathy for him and therefore the character has to be gripping enough to keep the audience interested. While an antagonist need not necessarily be a person, the protagonist has to be a person (or a group of people) with a cause. The examples of protagonist in fiction is quite lengthy, and includes some of the most famous fictional characters including Harry Potter, Superman, Batman, etc.
The Tragic Hero Haemon’s boldness illustrates that compromising does not always solve problems and can lead to consequences. Haemon fits the criteria of a tragic hero, because he fought for other citizen’s rights and attempted to save his lover, Antigone from dying. One reason why Haemon would be described as a tragic hero is because of his braveness that encouraged himself to fight for other citizen’s rights. When Haemon had an increasingly intense conversation with his father, Haemon mostly used sympathy and ethics to persuade his father, Creon to not kill Antigone and make the laws more flexible for the people of Greece. On the contrary, Haemon can be defined as a tragic hero also because; he fought to save the love of his life, Antigone
Othello: A Tragic Hero Othello is the epitome of a tragic hero. He starts out as a rather respectable and rational General, but was eventually consumed by jealousy and anger. A tragic hero must start out high in power and have tragic flaws that lead him to ultimately a tragedy. Othello’s tragic flaw is that he is easily manipulated, leading him to trust the wrong people. The play begins by showing the readers that Othello is a noble General.
Statement: ''According to Aristotle, the tragic hero should not be entirely good nor evil. Instead, he should possess a fatal flaw, which will incite pity and fear in the audience. Critics are divided about Othello. Some feel that he is flawless, while others think that he is too easily moved to jealousy. What is your view on the matter?''
Aristotle’s play “Oedipus the King” centers on King Oedipus, a tragic hero according to Aristotle’s definition. When defining the tragic hero, Aristotle lists several conditions including: the hero is of noble stature, the hero’s punishment isn’t completely his/her fault, and the hero usually becomes wiser after his/her fall occurs. The story of Oedipus would certainly satisfy all of these conditions. The most important condition however, is that the hero, while not always fully responsible for the misfortunes that befall him/her, usually have a character flaw that is partly responsible for their downfall. Aristotle refers to this as “hamartia,” which is translated to “tragic flaw.” This begs the question: What is Oedipus’s tragic flaw?
Tragic heroes are, generally, the main character of a tragedy. Tragic heroes often error in their own actions and judgments of others leading them to their ultimate downfall, which commonly ends in their own death. 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” (Aristotle). In order to be a tragic hero, the audience must be able to understand the character, and to feel pity and fear for him.