Anger Can Be Consuming: An Archetypal Analysis of Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats
(Introduction) (Thesis statement)
Growth is the epitome of the human experience. Every narrative has a dynamic character who changes and growths throughout the story. Often the change is positive, and the protagonist comes to a certain realization about themselves and instead of being selfish, they begin to give back to others. Other stories have a protagonist who has gone through a tragedy and must learn how to cope and move past the experience. This particular story is alluded to in American’s hit song, “Before He Cheats” from her album Some Hearts. The journey expressed in this song follows the archetype of rebirth recorded in Northrop Frye’s 1951
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He is a mixture. A hero with a balance of good and bad will invoke pity or terror. The tragic effect will be stronger if the hero is better than the rest of us, of higher moral character or of higher position. This hero suffers a fall from grace or wealth or position because of a mistake. He makes this mistake, or even a series of mistakes, because of his tragic flaw—some trait that he feels is positive but in fact causes his poor choice. (3)
Underwood’s song relates to the listener that struggles often lead to personal growth and an acquisition of wonderful strength; a rebirth of one’s self into a more powerful and serene
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The emotional piece describes this rebirth and aims to spark a revolution in the hearts of listeners to also overcome personal tragedies. Immediately, the listener can infer a kind of psychological control that had been held over the hero. However, these lyrics are followed by:
Right now, he’s probably up behind her
With a polo stick
Showing her how to shoot a combo
And he doesn’t know. (lines 7-10)
Therefore, with this being said she’s expressing that he’ll never know what hit him after what she’s encountered and catching him having an affair with another woman. She’s no longer the “witch” because, she isn’t the one that made the mistake of cheating, therefore, his actions reflect from the multiple mistakes that he made coming up to this point.
“The Archetypes of Literature” in The Kenyon Review, “In the tragic vision of the human world is a despotism, or anarchy… [and] the deserted or betrayed hero (105).”
The emotions in the lyrics throughout the song are static as she is singing with anger and never reaches forgiveness. In addition, this song is realistic and relatable because, it skillfully navigates the emotional aspect of unfaithful relationships as well as having coping mechanisms during a difficult time in one's personal
In addition, the final aspect of a tragic hero is a sudden change in course of action, caused by their major flaw, which brings about their p...
What is a tragic hero? A tragic hero is typically defined as a character in a literary work who has a lot of pride and makes a judgment error that leads to their ultimate demise. The downfall usually has to do with their pride.
A tragic flaw, a fatal flaw, hamartia, a personality defect -- people can call it what they like, but ultimately, a tragic flaw is a personal fault in a character that leads to his downfall. The person who has the tragic flaw is known as the tragic hero. However, there are several more components that make up a such an individual. One idea is that tragic heroes in a story are usually dynamic; they change at least once throughout the narrative. An example of a tragic hero is King Creon in the play Antigone, but real people can be regarded as tragic heroes as well. Like Creon, in the play Antigone by Sophocles, Drew Barrymore should be considered a tragic hero because both have high status, noble qualities, and a tragic flaw. They recognize their flaws and suffer the consequences.
Works Cited and Consulted Anonymous, “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, ed. Abrams, et al., et al. New York: Norton, 1993, 200. Carl Gustav Jung, “The Principle Archetypes” in Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends, ed. David H. Richter (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1989), 666.
In other words, he is not a tragic hero, but rather a misfortuned hero that
Murphy, B. & Shirley J. The Literary Encyclopedia. [nl], August 31, 2004. Available at: http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2326. Access on: 22 Aug 2010.
The defenition of a tragic hero 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. This defenition is perpetuated most clearly by one of the major characters. This character is the noble roman Brutus. Brutus is the tragic hero because of the fact that he fulfills the requirements of a tragic hero. He is a person of noble bith. He does have a tragic flaw, he does come to some understanding, and he does finally meet his end due to his tragic flaw. The tragic flaw of Brutus is his idealistic view, which ultimately leads him directly and indirectly into his death.
By definition, a tragic hero is a protagonist that due to some tragic flaw loses everything he has. Throughout history, literature has always been filled with main characters possessing some tragic flaw. In Macbeth, Macbeth’s tragic flaw is his enormous ambition to become king. In Hamlet, Hamlet’s tragic flaw is his need for revenge for the death of his father at the hands of his uncle. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh’s tragic flaw is his need to be remembered. In the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf, Beowulf also has a tragic flaw, excessive pride and the search for fame, which ultimately leads to his demise.
In the world today people consider a hero to be someone like Superman or Spider-Man. In the dictionary a hero is considered or defined as a person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for their brave deeds and noble qualities. Though a hero is thought to be free of mistakes they all have tragic flaws like everyone else. A tragic flaw is explained by Aristotle’s definition, which says that: a tragic hero as a character of great reputation and prosperity whose misfortune is not due to depravity or vice, for the hero is a virtuous man or woman but to an error in judgment resulting from a tragic flaw. Sometimes this flaw is an excess of virtue. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare people are arguing over who is the perfect tragic hero Julius Caesar or Marcus Brutus. They both fit the criteria of a tragic hero, but Marcus Brutus proves to be the better and more fit of the two.
A tragic hero could be considered a "noble person with a fatal flaw" or "an opponent of society who is willing to take action that 'sensible people' might applaud
own destructive downfall. A tragic hero can be described as a great or virtuous character in a
Hughs, Richard E. The Lively Image: Four Myths in Literature. Cambridge, MA: Winthrop Publishers, 1975.
of the 'evil' witches as he was sure that witches were out to get him
A tragic heros is someone who faces adversity and has courage and they have similar characteristics throughout different literature. A hero often times experience a downfall, but confronts the situation in a way that causes them to be given the title of a tragic hero. Aristotle once stated about tragic heroes and recited “A man doesn’t become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall.” Aristotle also came up with six characteristics that all tragic heroes have. Romeo is a prime example of a tragic hero by the quick judgements he makes due to his love for Juliet. He decides to attempt suicide when he sees Juliet faking her death, this shows his character falls in love too fast and too hard. The way he loves Juliet is Romeo’s downfall
A tragic hero can be defined by several different factors; the hero usually has a major flaw that prevents him from seeing the truth that lies in front of him, which contributes to the character’s peripeteia due to mistaken judgement. This mistake then leads to achieving anagnorisis, usually at the end of the play, but is too late to change anything, and results in death.