Examples Of Archetype In The Great Gatsby

Gatsby, A Tragic Love & Life When reading the book, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a person might think about the betrayal, or the lonely ending of such an outgoing personality like Jay Gatsby. However, someone might not make the association with the character being a classic example of a tragic hero. This is a fatal error for someone analyzing the book because it robs the reader of vital understanding. Gatsby is in fact a tragic hero because he shows three Aristotelian characteristics of a tragic hero, Hamartia, Peripeteia, and hubris, he displays naivety believing he ca repeat the past, and his character represents a greater symbol, the decaying American Dream.

Aristotle’s definition of a tragedy portrays a hero or heroine as a flawed character that will succumb to an inevitable and tragic end due to their excessive pride. More specifically they

Oedipus Rex represents the tragic hero archetype throughout the play; shown as he destroys his status and in turn himself as a result of his unyielding arrogance towards the gods; his hubris causes him to be blind to his foolishness and results in his destruction as he tries, again and again, to avoid his fate believing he can best Apollo and the destiny he had set out for him; his eventual demise causes him to recognize the errors of his ways, however like in any tragic play it is too late and he is plunged into a catharsis - blind, poor, and exiled from his kingdom.

The tragic hero must have a flaw or error of judgment which can come in the from of justice or vengeance. As seen in Creon and Oedipus' story that the justice they serve is immortal and wicked. The hero must also experience a setback of fortune brought forth because of the hero's inaccuracy in discernment. The realization or recognition that the setback was brought by the hero's own actions. Excessive Pride is the most common of tragic hero's flaws which bring forward the remaining of the part the predicaments.

It was a cruel foreshadowing of the insubstantiality of

In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Romeo is the Tragic Hero. A tragic hero is the main character who suffers a downfall from good fortune because of his tragic flaw. According to an article on the Alabama Virtual Library, “ the tragic hero as a man of noble rank and nature whose misfortune is not brought about by villainy but by some “error of judgment” (academic.eb.com). A tragic flaw is the character defect that causes the downfall of the protagonist of a tragedy. Romeo’s tragic flaw is that he is immature.

The relationship quickly switches stages unexpectedly to the deterioration stage. This stage is “characterized by a weakening of the bonds… you view the future with your partner more negatively,” (DeVito 227). This occurs when Gatsby begins pressuring Daisy into leaving Tom. This scares Daisy and causes the bonds between the two to weaken because she is quickly reminded by Tom about the reasons she loves him. This is especially shown in this scene when Daisy says, “Even alone I can’t say I never loved Tom,” (Fitzgerald 133).

According to Aristotle, a tragic hero stands as impeded by a distinguishable characteristic or character trait, which leads to his/her ultimate demise. The “flaw” in a hero’s personality has the driving force behind their demise. This characteristic is said to not only lead to the hero's demise ,but may also enable the reader to sympathize with the character. It follows that in Oedipus the King, a Greek tragedy, the tragic hero Oedipus should have some sort of flaw. Further in the text, it slowly becomes more clear that oedipus’s flaw is his own pride.

After marrying a man of a lower social class, Myrtle finds herself unsatisfied and filled with regret. She then places the blame on her husband, Wilson, by accusing him of misleading her to believe that they were perfect for each other. When she finds herself in an unsatisfied state, she convinces herself that Wilson forced her to cheat in order to be happy. Myrtle sees this cheating as her only resort as Wilson “...wasn’t fit to lick [her] shoe”(34). Myrtle specifically shifts the blame onto Wilson in order to free her conscience of any guilty emotions.

Macbeth 's downfall comes from his own actions, and despite the effect that his wife 's constant push to take the throne must have on him, it is ultimately by his own hand that Macbeth meets his end. Shakespeare 's portrayal of Macbeth as a tragic hero illustrates the capability of a person to go entirely too far for power. However, the question remains, is Macbeth fully in control of his actions or is he truly insane? If he is not insane at the beginning of the play, does his wife 's invocation of evil spirits make him so? Either way his death is his own fault, but his character seems to beg for a deeper examination of the why rather

Whether it is the people in the book or the reader, catharsis is evident because humanity learns from Kino’s poor decisions. Hamartia; the mortal flaw, is shown through greed, and when Kino suffers the effects of this, it is called the catastrophe. At the end of the story, society learns from his mistakes, therefore making catharsis also evident. Kino is a tragic hero because he exemplifies hamartia, catastrophe, and catharsis; elements of Aristotle’s System of Tragedy. These characteristics appear in many other pieces of literature and help us understand what is happening in the story and what the author is trying to

The definition of a tragic hero according to csus.edu is ‘‘A tragic hero is a person of noble birth with heroic or potentially heroic qualities. This person is fated by the Gods or by some supernatural force to doom and destruction or at least to great suffering. But the hero struggles mightily against this fate and this cosmic conflict wins our admiration.’’ When Hamlet is faced with the quest to seek his father 's vengeance he does not act on impulse. Hamlet decides the make a play reacting the death of his father that was described to him by his father 's ghost this can be seen as Hamlet seeking the truth before making his decision which leads to his outcome.

Gatsby died looking at his killer, but George Wilson shot him from behind. Gatsby was madly in love with Daisy Buchanan. When Gatsby was younger he told Daisy how he felt and she said sorry but she dose not marry poor boys. It was a devastating blow to Gatsby and he sent off to get rich for Daisy.

F. Scott Fitzgerald is an author who is acclaimed for using a great deal of symbolism in his literature to illustrate and help readers understand the meanings of his work. Fitzgerald used many symbols in his novel The Great Gatsby which gave the story a whole new meaning in the sense that it has many underlying interpretations of the symbols. The story follows Jay Gatsby, a man who has one desire in life: to be reunited with his “golden girl” Daisy Buchanan, the love that he had lost five years earlier. Gatsby’s journey takes him from aridity to prosperity, into the arms of his treasured Daisy, and eventually his death. Fitzgerald’s use of the similarity in the colors gold and yellow in The Great Gatsby emphasize how wealth, social class, and the people in them are not as different as they may seem.

The quality of greatness plays a big part in The Great Gatsby hence the title, The Great Gatsby. Everyone perceives greatness differently, but what distinguishes perceived greatness from actual greatness? In The Great Gatsby, Nick determines that Gatsby is great, but there can be a difference between perceived greatness and actual greatness. In the story Nick sees Gatsby as great.