William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, is centered around the infamous day of the Ides of March in 44 BC, Rome. Background Info Brutus is a very prominent member of society and is well respected by his fellow candidate, qualifying him to be the tragic hero. His naivety is just one of many fatal flaws that Brutus has which ultimately leads him to his downfall, proving that he is the tragic hero. Additionally, Brutus is the tragic hero because he is able to recognize his tragic flaw and experiences redemption after his death. Because Brutus is a prominent member of society, he has numerous fatal flaws that result in his downfall, and he recognizes his fatal flaw before he is redeemed, Brutus is the tragic hero.
In a tragedy, a tragic hero possesses heroic qualities that were lost because of a tragic flaw or a terrible mistake. Thus, the audience is sympathetic towards the hero’s relatable human qualities. Through the hero’s downfall, humanity’s redeeming qualities are also revealed. Three main theories of the tragic hero are the Aristotelian model, the Shakespearean model, and the modern tragic hero.
In the story of Macbeth, the story’s protagonist, Macbeth, is shown as an example of a Shakespearean tragic hero because he shows the characteristics of Aristotle's’ defined tragic hero. A result of Macbeth’s demise is caused by the tragic flaw Macbeth has, which is ambition. Macbeth’s development of character is shattered from a man of nobility to his own destruction. “A tragic hero is a person of noble birth with heroic or potentially heroic qualities,” all which Macbeth meets the standard of. Macbeth’s tragic flaw is ambition, Macbeth desired more that he had, and sacrifices his honor, mind, life, and relationships to have authority and power.
According to Aristotle the characteristics of a tragic hero are to provoke sad emotions, such as pity or fear, from the audience. When these sad emotions are provoked from the audience, it is hoped that after seeing the tragic hero leading themselves to downfall or death it will transform the audience into good human beings. The characteristics of a tragic hero are shown through Blanche in the play A Streetcar Named Desire, showing tragic flaws. Hamartia is when a tragic flaw causes downfall for a hero.
One such philosopher is Aristotle. His concepts of the Tragic hero is articulate and shed more light on what the modern - day literature laureates define as the tragic hero. To begin with, Aristotle gives a very comprehensive understanding of who a tragic hero character in plays. He asserts that the real and ideal tragic hero is the one charged with the mandate of making the audience feel a catharsis at the end of the play and make the audience experience cleansing sessions after watching or reading a play. The catharsis experienced by the audience is as a result of the twist and turns of the protagonist trying to do well.
Creon, the king of Thebes, perfectly fits the wrole of tragic hero. His’ tragic flaws and downfalls make him the best fit for the role. His actions and consequences support the idea that he is the tragic hero, rather than Antigone, another main character. Creon, the king of Thebes, is a dignified, superior character.
Different but Similar Both Homers’ epic, the Odyssey, and Aeschylus’ tragic trilogy, the Oresteia, tell the story of Agamemnon and what led to his doomed death. Both the poem and the play are similar in their plots except for few differences in their significance, presentation and details. This shows how flexible ancient myth is and how it can adapt to suit a particular author and audience. Agamemnons’ death in the Odyssey is a very good example of how people can be, through their own foolishness, bring destruction upon themselves. It also serves as an example of an epic hero failing to return home, which is known as nostos, thus for Odysseus, the epic hero, it delivers a foil for the successful voyage back to his home, Ithaca.
According to the dictionary, “A tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction.” In Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, there are multiple instances of tragic heroes within the storyline. Despite this, the character Brutus appears to be a significant character, and tragic hero in the play. Brutus’s actions had a vast part in the play’s actual storyline, and the choices he made greatly impacted the life of other characters. Although there are many potential tragic heroes in Julius Caesar, Brutus is the greatest tragic hero because he has proved himself to be incredibly honorable, he’s shown that he cares greatly for his country, but still consistently demonstrates a tragic flaw, which eventually leads to the deaths of many other characters.
In the The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus and Caesar both have major flaws that lead to their downfall. There can only be one tragic hero in a play since a tragedy revolves around a tragic hero. With all the characteristics of a tragic hero, Brutus is the one that would be shown as the tragic hero in the play since he shows all of the characteristics of one. Brutus in the Tragedy of Julius Caesar is shown as the tragic hero, and his downfall is begun by all of his major flaws.
In Greek Theatre one of the main components of a tragedy is the tragic hero. A tragic hero is a man, or a woman, of high standing who is capable of great suffering. They must posses many great qualities but in the end will display a single fatal flaw in character that will lead to his or her demise. They audience must accept this downfall because of this flaw in character.
OEDIPUS THE KING-SOPHOCLES DRAMATIC IRONY ESSAY SUMAIA FARAH In the play Oedipus the King, is a story that takes place in Thebes, Greece. This mythological sytory is about a King named Oedipus who has fulfilled his familie’s curse of killing his father Laius ( former king), and marrying his mother. Throughtout this mythical story, sophocles emphasizes the dramatic irony that enhances the tension throughtout the story. Dramatic irony enhances tension by making the readers anxious, by making it more interesting -attention grabbing.
Oedipus, the tragic hero of Sophocles’ play Oedipus Rex, has a flaw that causes his downfall. Aristotle, in his Poetics, says that “Tragedy is essentially an imitation not of persons but of action and life, of happiness and misery” (135). This tragic flaw is what causes Oedipus’ fate to hurt him and is why he loses everything. Oedipus’ tragic flaw is his blindness, which is seen in the play when he argues with the blind seer Teiresias, when he ignores the messenger from Corinth, and when he does not connect the evidence from Iokaste.
Could one's own act of pride and anger be the result of their downfall? Throughout the play Oedipus is seen as a great hero and savior to the people of Thebes however, we soon start to learn that Oedipus has a tragic flaw. Oedipus’s tragic flaw lies in his pride and anger which blinds and leads him to his demise. From the start of his journey to the end of it Oedipus was always blinded by both his pride and his anger. During a feast at Corinth a man taunted him for not being the son of Polybus and blinded by his pride he could not think of anything else.
Exploring the Writings of Sophocles: The Tragic Hero, Oedipus The greeks sure do love their tragic heroes, in fact, lots of plays had one. But what makes up a tragic hero and why is Oedipus one? In King Oedipus, we see recurring themes such as blindness and sight that guide our hero Oedipus through his journey. Idealisms such as these relate to the traits of Oedipus being a tragic hero. In the Classic Greek Tragedy “ King Oedipus”, the traits that make Oedipus a tragic hero are his Hamartia and his Great Suffering or Falling from grace.