The Coward Oedipus Is “A coward is much more exposed to quarrels than a man of spirit”. This quote by Thomas Jefferson portrays Oedipus because throughout ‘Oedipus Rex’ he quarrels with everybody about he truth and becomes blind to it. By blinding himself Oedipus becomes a coward because he doesn’t want to face his crimes. It all started when Oedipus hears a dreadful prophecy that he will murder his father and sleep with his mother. He leaves Corinth and travels to Thebes, and on the way he unknowingly kills his father during a quarrel.
Creon’s tragic flaw is that he is to prideful. Creon insists on killing Antigone because she disobeyed his decree. When Haimon questions his decision, Creon replies by saying,” I’ll have no dealing with law breakers” (792, 35-36). Creon is explaining to Haimon that he will not deal with any rule breakers and that Antigone will be put to die along with her traitor of a brother. Creon’s pride is what leads to the death of Haimon, his son, and the Queen, his wife.
The next bad emperor is Claudius he was made emperor right after Caligula’s death in 41 AD. Claudius could have made a good emperor but he was not a good looking guy and he stuttered and drooled all over himself when he spoke. He also made the emperor position look like any old fool could handle it (he made it look like a joke). He was killed after a pretty good time of being emperor in 54 AD. Then the real fun comes this man is terrible and quite screwed up his name is Nero once a cheery little boy turned into a frightful beast.
Immediately after election, Opimius cancelled several of Gracchus’ laws an called into question his actions in Carthage, “omitting nothing that was likely to irritate him.” A rabble-rouser might have used this as ammunition to riot or try and overthrow the government but Gaius “bore these things very patiently,” and only “at the instigation of his friends,” gathered his supporters to oppose the consul’s decisions. At the meeting of both parties one of the consul’s attendants made an obscene gesture and was killed on the spot by Gracchus’ party. As custom of his character, Gaius was very saddened and “severely reprimanded his own party,” for this action that would eventually lead to his death because Opimius was rousing his party into a frenzy at that same moment. When the two parties met, Gaius could not be convinced to bring any arms except a small dagger under his cloak. Gaius wanted to turn himself in to avoid fighting but his loyal supporters would not let this happen and after Opimius denied the proposals of agreement for the second time he sent his troops after Gaius and his party.
In both classic and modern literature, characters always seem to have character flaws. A character flaw is an imperfection in a character’s judgment or nature that ultimately brings sorrow and destruction. This concept can be displayed in more than one character, and is usually displayed in most of William Shakespeare’s plays. Hamlet by William Shakespeare has many characters that strongly demonstrate the principal that we are ultimately victims of our own character flaws. Three critical character in the play that completely display a character flaw are Hamlet with his over- thinking nature, Ophelia with her emotional weakness and Polonius with his absolute loyalty to the king.
Hamlet: Tragic Hero or Big Baby? A tragic hero is defined as “an exalted character of high repute who suffers a fall from glory” (Notes from Mr. Cadwallader's drama class). Dictionary.com defines tragic hero as, “a literary character who makes an error of judgment, or has a fatal flaw that combined with fate and external forces, brings on a tragedy.” Both definitions fit the character of Hamlet in Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet. Hamlet is a tragic hero because of his indecisiveness to act. Hamlet's tragic flaw is his indecisiveness to act on his thoughts.
In the play Julius Caesar quite a few characters demonstrate some or all of these qualities, one of them being Mark Antony. As a leader Antony is manipulative and morally wrong, he exhibits poor and untrustworthy conduct and after Caesar's death he is blinded by rage and begins to make a reputation for himself, some of it good, some of it evil. After Caesar's death, Antony's character begins to undergo a dramatic change that is very new and very evident to the reader. It is first shown in Act three, scene two; Brutus has just given his speech, he has managed to get the audience all hyped up and angry towards the dead man Caesar, that is when the humble and dumb jock that is Mark Antony arrives. His hands stained from Caesar's blood, his face wet with tears.
Oedipus Rex is a Greek tragedy written by Sophocles about a man who tries to escape a prophecy from coming true but ends up fulfilling it instead. Oedipus, the protagonist, is destined to kill his father, Lauis and to marry his mother, Jocasta. Oedipus soon discovers that all this time he has been in denial and leads to his own destruction, gauging his eyes out. With this, Sophocles, knowing that his audience already knows the outcome of the play, uses that knowledge to create situations that involve verbal, dramatic, and situational irony that keep the audience on the edge and also to develop the characters in the play. Accordingly, this play sends a strong message of fate and free will to the audience.
In his rage, Oedipus kills the old man and his fellow travelers. Later on in the play, Oedipus’ excessive pride blinds him to advice and makes him deaf to the help of those closest to him especially Creon, when Oedipus says, “do you think I do not know the you plotted to kill me, plotted to steal my throne? Tell me in God’s name: am I a coward, a fool, that you dream you could accomplish this?” (Oedipus Rex 28). This quote shows how Oedipus’ pride makes him deaf to
His madness is the result of his fragile personality being confronted with the great anguish of his father’s passing. Hamlet proves to be a man-child—incapable of dealing with heavy issues. The queen encourages him to look to the future, and to cease his grieving, believing it false. Hamlet responds angrily to her suggestion, “But I have within which passes show; these but the trappings and the suits of woe” (I.ii.88-89). Hamlet’s