Abstract This paper attempts to establish the character Othello in Shakespeare's Othello as a classic tragichero as defined by Aristotle. The paper gives the various theories of Aristotle as found in his 'Poetics' related to tragedy and tragichero.
Abstract This paper applies several descriptions of tragicheroes to different literary characters throughout Western literature. The author first presents Aristotle's list of traits necessary for a tragichero. Other views of a tragichero are also presented and analyzed from within the context of the works in which they appear. Several writers views of tragicheroes are compared and contrasted.
From the Paper "Arthur Miller was certainly aware of the nature of Greek tragedy and made a deliberate decision to use the structure of Greek drama as a basis for his play A View from the Bridge, as he had previously done for All My Sons. The central character, Eddie Carbone, fits well with the central figure in All My Sons and Death of a Salesman, being a family patriarch who has also been a complete failure as a father. He has no children of his own, so he looks after his wife's young niece. Over time, he has developed unconscious sexual feelings toward her, affecting everyone around him. Eddie is an ordinary man living among other ordinary men. The high-born nature of the traditional tragic hero is gone now, though Carbone can be seen as a middle-class version of a high-born hero because he is respected in his community and the head of his household. He is no closer to the gods than anyone else, however, though members of the Italian community have a religious background that colors much of their thinking about life."
Abstract The writer shows that despite the fact that the play is named after Antigone, Creon is the real tragichero of the play. The paper provides a character sketch which shows how he fits the description better than Antigone.
From the Paper "Aristotle defined tragedy as the arousal of pity and fear. According to him, only a character that is called the tragic hero or heroine can cause the audience to feel these emotions. The tragic hero or heroine must be neither completely good or completely bad. This character starts living a prosperous life and experiences a downfall caused by a tragic flaw, or a significant weakness, they possess. Toward the end of the play, the hero or heroine begins to recognize this weakness, and is humbled. This character makes the audience feel pity, for they are flawed like all humans are. The audience relates to them, and feels they shouldn?t be punished as they are, and fears it could happen to them. In Sophocles's tragedy, Antigone, Antigone showed many characteristics of the tragic heroine, however, Creon was the true tragic hero of the play."
This paper contrasts and compares the character of Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's play, "Death of a Salesman," and Aristotle's definition of a tragichero in "Poetics."
Abstract This paper focuses on the character of Wily Loman and finds out how the man fits the description of a tragichero as given by Aristotle in his book, ?Poetics.' Willy Loman is the leading character of Arthur Miller's play titled "Death of a Salesman" which appeared in 1949. The author of this paper feels that Willy Loman is unable to distinguish between reality and illusion. Using examples from the play, the author shows how Loman feels that he and his son are successful businessmen but in reality he is a weak fellow who is incapable of turning his dreams into reality.
From the Paper "Aristotle also clearly said that a tragic hero was not someone who brought misfortune upon himself through some accident. For example while Brutus was a tragic hero, Julius Caeser himself cannot be categorized as one because the latter as killed by those whom he had trusted while the former ruins himself because of a series of errors. Therefore it is clear that a tragic hero is the one who commits series of mistakes and therefore ultimately ruins himself and meets a tragic end. Willy Loman too did not become suicidal all of a sudden, he committed grave errors form time to time because he failed to acknowledge the importance of hard work and thus finally met a tragic death which was more a result of living in an imagery world than anything else."
Abstract The paper begins by looking at the differences between the classical tragichero and the tragichero of Shakespearian times. It then moves on to a closer examination of the characteristics of the tragichero, as illustrated in is Sophocles? "Oedipus Rex". A brief outline of the plot is given and the paper explains how this work fits into the category of the mythological tale. The character flaws responsible for the tragic fall in the play are also discussed. Next the paper moves on to Shakespeare's tragedy, "Hamlet", comparing it with the former tragedy in terms of evidence or lack of "otherworldly forces" to spur on the tragedy and in terms of each plays philosophy concerning fate and free will. The paper concludes by explaining how both of these characters fit the mould of tragichero.
From the Paper "Understanding the Tragic Hero begins with an examination of Oedipus Rex. But, while he is the archetype of this particular literary character, Hamlet is, perhaps, the most well developed and psychologically complex of tragic heroes. For the Greeks, all things in life are preordained, which is what makes for the tragedy of Oedipus ? his attempt to make his own destiny. Over the course of time, however, while the form of the tragic hero did not change, the reason for his being tragic did. The social world of the Renaissance had shifted from a philosophy of determinism to one of individualism ? that we all have the choice to accept or deny our relationship with God. This makes Hamlet a tragic hero who is punished not for a flaunting of destiny, but because he is mad. It is the purpose of this paper to examine both Oedipus Rex and Hamlet as tragic heroes who, because of their different social contexts, made for very different men."
Abstract Today, people do not often see the unquestionable splendor of royalty, the unrelenting actions of the hand of fate, or the importance of human interactions. Does that mean that a tragichero could not exist in the modern world? This paper reviews what a tragichero is and illustrates this type of character with examples from "Oedipus Rex". Then, the heroes of "The Zoo Story", by Edward Allbee, "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest", by Ken Kesey, "Death of a Salesman", by Arthur Miller, "The Catcher in the Rye", by J.D. Salinger, and the "Autobiography of Malcom X" are compared to the definition of a tragichero. The paper concludes that modern society may not believe in crowns, robes and the hand of fate, but it believes in the ability to create revolution. It is in these revolutions that tragicheroes emerge.
From the Paper "Modern society may not believe in crowns, robes, and the hand of fate, but it believes in the ability to create revolution. It is in these revolutions that tragic heroes emerge. The act of inciting revolution and change becomes noble. By unselfish actions, courage, and honor, these revolutionaries create a new class of nobility. This idea can be seen in society, and literature is imitating it, just like Aristotle said it should. While there are still many "phonies" in the world, the tragic hero has reemerged to put them in their place."
Compares the role of the tragichero, as seen by the character of Willie Lowman in Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" and that of Oedipus in Sophocles' "Oedipus the King".
Abstract The paper compares the roles of the tragicheroes, Willie Lowman, in Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman", and Oedipus, in "Oedipus the King", by Sophocles. The paper first provides a definition of the tragichero and explains that the tragichero and the tragedy also emerge from the particular society that creates it, with the hero being representative of the values of the time. The paper then looks at how many of the elements of the tragichero and tragedy can be seen in both the character of Oedipus from "Oedipus the King" and in the character of Willy Lowman from "Death of a Salesman".
From the Paper "Perhaps in the society that formed him, suicide was the only final attempt at nobility that was an option for Willy. In this, he is parallel with Oedipus, also a product of his society. Oedipus believes it would be best not only for himself, but also for his people if he were to step down as king and made a public display of his humiliation and pain. Oedipus however fell much farther than Willy in concrete terms from the beginning to the end of the play. He begins as the ultimate symbol of success for the society of his time. At the end, he is humiliated and all sources of power are removed from him."
Abstract This paper discusses "Oedipus the King" by Sophocles and "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare in order to illustrate the tragichero. The paper explains that a literary work must contain irony in its story, and the tragichero must have a ?tragic flaw? in character (hamartia) that will ultimately become the catalyst for his downfall to materialize, making him the ?tragichero? of the story.
From the Paper "Another example of a tragedy is William Shakespeare's literary work entitled, Hamlet. The story also evolves around the theme of finding out the truth, although the truth in this story revolves around the identity of King Hamlet's (Hamlet's father) murderer. Hamlet illustrates irony in Hamlet's character, especially when he expresses wrath and anger when he found out that Claudius, his father's brother and the new husband of Hamlet's mother, is King Hamlet's murderer. The lines in the story voiced out by Hamlet ("A villain kills my father, and for that/ I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven"/ When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage?/ At gaming, swearing, or about some act/ That has no relish of salvation in"t/ And that his soul may be as damned and black/ As hell whereto he goes") illustrates his anger against Claudius and his murder, but these lines by Hamlet contradicted his previous actions of sparing Claudius death, just when Hamlet was about to kill him. "
Abstract This paper examines how, in Sophocles' "Antigone", the tragichero of the play is Creon. It discusses how, although Antigone seems to be the tragichero of the story, Creon meets Aristotle's criteria of a tragichero as well as Antigone, if not more completely and, how, unlike Antigone, Creon has an epiphany at the end of the play and realizes his mistakes.
From the Paper "Although Antigone seems to be the tragic hero, Creon actually meets Aristotle's criteria of a tragic hero more completely. According to Aristotle, a tragic hero is neither completely pure nor completely evil. Not only is a tragic hero neither completely pure nor completely evil, but a tragic hero must also be of noble birth and possess a hamartia that causes the downfall of that character through poor judgment and arrogant mistakes. As the king of Thebes and the son of a previous king, Creon certainly meets the criteria of noble birth. Also, Creon is neither entirely evil nor entirely good. He possesses many good qualities as well as many evil ones."
Abstract In this article, the writer presents a detailed examination of the Shakespearean character Othello as a tragichero. The writer discusses the character Othello, as held against the standards of philosopher Aristotle and compared to the character of Creon in Sophocles. The writer explores the six attributes that Aristotle believed were needed to become a tragichero and argues that Othello fits this description more completely and convincingly than Creon did. The writer concludes that when it comes to Aristotle's definition of a tragichero Othello clearly outpaces Creon in all six categories of definition.
Outline:
Introduction
Comparing the Characters to the Six Elements
Conclusion
From the Paper "According to Aristotle there are six significant elements to being labeled a tragic hero. They include nobility and greatness, imperfection, faults or a downfall, punishment exceeding a crime, in other words the misfortune of the hero is not completely deserved by the hero, and there must be a discovery of self or something learned by the hero during the tragedy itself. The final criterion is that the audience is not left feeling a total sense of loss or sadness. When one holds Creon from Sophocles and Othello, from the play Othello against each other one can easily see that Othello is the more convincing tragic hero of the two."
Abstract This paper examines how in "Antigone", Sophocles develops a dramatic work in which a protagonist is occupied in a morally important struggle, which results in ruin because of some extreme quality. In particular, the paper looks at how Creon, the king of Thebes, portrays both a judgment error and weakness in character. Using Aristotle's definition of a tragichero, the paper further discusses how because of his social class, general goodness, and tragic flaw, Creon is the tragichero and is deserving of sympathy after his mistakes take the lives of others.
From the Paper "Creon's inability to accept the ideas of others is also justified during his argument with Antigone. Antigone claims that her act of burying her brother (Polynices) was honorable, but Creon exclaims, "You are wrong. None of my subjects thinks as you do," which is followed by Antigone's reply: "Yes, sir, they do; but dare not tell you so" (ll. 437-439). Again, the king is stubborn and near-sighted to realize that maybe there is a chance that Antigone is not the only one who believes her act was heroic, which is a fatal error in judgment. When Teiresias, a blind prophet, confronts Creon about his rule based on killing and self-will, the king demonstrates his tragic flaw: "Clever you may be, but not therefore honest" (l. 919). He understands that the prophet is correct and his son will die, but it is too late to change anything. "
Abstract The writer examines the characters of both Antigone and Creon in order to find out who the true tragichero in the story. The author defends and spells out detailed reasons supported by facts and quotes as to why Antigone finally embodies the characteristics of the Greek "TragicHero".
From the Paper "Characters who hold the ancient Greek tragedies together with the emotion and the passion of their virtuous yet disastrous downfalls; these are the tragic heroes. We as an audience feel their pain when they are defeated, and watch the unfolding irony as they lead to their own destruction. These characters always possess this tragic flaw, but are defined by other characteristics as well. One such character seems to meet each qualification of the standard tragic hero perfectly, and she is the title character of Sophocles' Antigone. There has been debate throughout this tragedy's history of whether Antigone's uncle and king, Creon, or Antigone herself is the actual tragic hero. But research of the facts presented in the story has indicated that Creon does not fully meet all the standards for a tragic hero presented by Aristotle, while Antigone clearly does. Each character meets the hero standards to a point, but Antigone exemplifies two of these qualities to a much higher degree. In the Greek tragedy of Antigone, Antigone is the tragic hero due to the greater extent of her doom, or great fall, and the larger responsibility she possesses for her fall."
Tags: creon, literature, tragedy, greek, character
Abstract Aristotle describes the characteristics of the tragichero in "Poetics." Three of these characteristics are: that the character is mainly admirable; that the character exercises free choice in bringing about their own downfall; and that the character has one fatal flaw that leads to their demise. This paper analyzes the character Hamlet and shows that Hamlet meets these three characteristics of the tragichero.
From the Paper "The first of Aristotle's characteristics is that that character is mainly admirable. Hamlet achieves this by having many good traits including intelligence, sensitivity and humility. However, the best evidence of Hamlet as an admirable character is his unwillingness to commit murder, even when given a reason that would justify the act. This shows that Hamlet is basically a good man. In the play, the ghost of Hamlet's father orders him to take action and "revenge his foul and most unnatural murder" (I,iv). Despite being given what at the time, can be seen as an acceptable reason to take action, Hamlet hesitates and procrastinates. It is Hamlet's good nature and his rejection of committing murder that causes this hesitation. This represents the good qualities of Hamlet, his intelligence, his ability to be rational and the inherent goodness of his character. This also shows that Hamlet is a man who does what he believes in despite outside pressure to do otherwise. This shows that Hamlet is an admirable character in many ways."
Abstract Using the four ideas defined by Aristotle of what a tragichero is, this paper shows Macbeth being a tragichero. The four points are that he was of noble birth, he had a huge fatal flaw, he took a great fall at the end of the play, and he showed recognition of what he has done.
From the Paper "A couple thousand years ago, a writer by the name of Aristotle made a set of rules by which many other writers, famous or not, set the basis of their stories and plays. Very well known in his time for his philosophies and his writings, Aristotle's works have been guidelines for all. One specific piece of work has changed the idea for all plays and stories of today: Aristotle's Poetics. In this very well known piece of literature, Aristotle discusses and lays down his guidelines for a tragic play. There are four ideas which he says every character must have in order to be a tragic hero. He must be of noble birth, he must have a fatal flaw, he must take a great fall, and he must have recognition of what he has done. Several centuries later, a man by the name of Shakespeare wrote several famous plays, one of which is named Macbeth. Shakespeare is one of those great writers who followed Aristotle's great idea for a tragic hero. In Macbeth, the main character does many things that seem not to make him a tragic hero, but by definition Macbeth is a tragic hero."
