King Lear Essay Show how King Lear and/or its main character conforms to three criteria found in Aristotle’s Poetics via A.C. Bradley’s, The Shakespearean Tragic Hero [As outlined in Viewpoints, page 687.] In the play “King Lear” by William Shakespeare it is shown as tragedy. The protagonist of the play, Lear is proud, serious, arbitrary, impatient, peremptory, humorless, and capricious and his position in life has allowed him to indulge all these traits to the fullest. Lear can inspire as well as command loyalty and obedience. Even though Lear is not a man of intellectual brilliance he is a “great soul,” with the capacity for feeling deeply the sorrow of rejection and abandonment by his own.
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 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).
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.
Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles is one of the most famous tragedies ever written. The play centers on Oedipus the King of Thebes, who is cursed with an unfortunate prophecy. Though Oedipus is doomed by fate, his own qualities lead to his eventual ruin. Oedipus is in fact a tragic hero, because he embodies every aspect of the definition itself, the first part of the definition states the character/protagonist must be of noble birth and possess noble and moralistic character, the second portion of the definition explains the character is not perfect; he or she contains a harmartia or tragic flaw, and the third component of the definition states the character must recognize their role in their own demise and in turn experience great self realization. The character Oedipus accommodates the first aspect of the definition of a tragic hero.
While Othello displays the role of noble caliber, he also possesses the second characteristic of a tragedy, which is having a tragic flaw. A. Iago manipulates Othello into believing that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio his Lieutenant. B. Othello becomes jealous and vengeful. IV. Lastly, Othello fits the final requirement where, “In Greek tragedy, the hero is a character amply capable of making choices – capable, too, of accepting the consequences” (Kennedy & Gioia, 2013, pg.
According to Aristotle’s theory of tragedy and the most confirmed definition of the central character, Oedipus from the Greek play, Oedipus Rex, is considered of a classical model of the tragic hero. Oedipus, being the tragic hero of the play, must demonstrate an essential element to arouse emotions of pity and fear within the audience to achieve the emotional catharsis or purgation. With that being noted, Oedipus had to have some features and characteristics to ensure the state of purgation throughout the audience. In fact, Oedipus as a character in the play has all the features of the tragic hero Aristotle has concluded about. Firstly, for the reader to understand why Oedipus in the Greek play, Oedipus Rex is a classical example of tragic hero, one must know the theory.
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?
Even some stories that begin happily have unexpected, sad endings for their characters. Human failings, prophecies, and unexpected coincidences all can lead to tragedy. Although all three authors were from different time periods, they incorporated similar concepts of tradition into their work. Homer birth and death was a major figure of ancient Greek oral composition and the author of the earliest and finest epic poem, the Iliad, which was based on the Trojan War. Sophocles who was born around 496 B.C.E - 406 B.C.E was credited with skillfully developing irony as a literary technique.
However, does Miller achieve the goal of portraying Willy as the tragic hero by the end of the play? In order to answer this, the tragic hero must be defined first. Tragedy is almost always thought of in relation to famous classic tragic plays like Oedipus Rex by Sophocles or Othello by Shakespeare in which the tragic hero creates his own downfall through the refusal of compromising whatever it is that they pursue. However, in Miller's play, Willy's death clearly does not meet this crucial criteria of the tragic hero. Furthermore, the tragic hero has been often portrayed in famous past plays as someone from noble status.