Tamburlaine and Tragic Heroism
In his two plays, Tamburlaine the Great, Parts I and II, Marlowe deviates from the norms of the theory of tragedy in his depiction of Tamburlaine. According to the Aristotelian theory of tragedy, a tragic hero is of a noble origin and enjoys a great rank right from the very beginning of the play. Furthermore, a tragic hero is, in a simple sense, a man likeable for his goodness or greatness. A tragic hero, in addition, is doomed to make a serious error that will cause his downfall and tragic death finally evoking pity and fear in the audience. In fact, Tamburlaine's character noticeably violates these three elements of the model tragic hero.
Firstly, Tamburlaine is ironically of a base birth. In fact he is a Scythian shepherd by birth and does not enjoy any noble rank in his environment. The irony is underlined when he unrighteously wins the crown of Persia. Mycetes' crown is taken over by Tamburlaine neither by means of physical power nor by righteous nobility, but strangely enough by means of astounding speeches. Tamburlaine is endowed, instead of noble birth, the ability to produce soul-stirring speeches. He, for instance, easily provokes the admiration of Theridamas to such a degree that makes him say: "Not Hermes, prolocutor to the gods, could use persuasions more pathetical." (pt. 1, I.ii.210) Moved by Tamburlaine's speech, Theridamas treacherously throws Mycetes aside and sides with Tamburlaine. It is worth shedding light in this context on the fact that as Tamburlaine acquires the military power, he turns to depend on it rather than on his speeches. We seem him only negotiate once; not feeling strong enough, he negotiates Theridamas to gain him to his side, but later on he merely depend...
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...to the element of Catharsis, which is the evocation of pity and/or fear in the audience. Actually, Tamburlaine's end does not arise much pity since the pity of the audience is at its maximum only when the character is noble, which is a feature that Tamburlaine lacks as indicated earlier in this essay.
Finally, Tamburlaine fails to fit into the definition the tragic hero. He is merely a low classed man who rises by illegitimate means and then naturally goes back to his lowliness. The maximal point of interaction between the audience and the tragedy is when Catharsis is provoked, a point that Tamburlaine fails to meet. Well, the historical background of the play tells us that Tamburlaine the Great, Part II did not reap much of the audience's admiration; again this is theoretically attributed to the fact that Tamburlaine mismatches the definition of tragic heroes.
What is a tragic hero? The most well known definition of a tragic hero comes from the great philosopher, Aristotle. When depicting a tragic hero, Aristotle states "The change in the hero's fortunes be not from misery to happiness, but on the contrary, from happiness to misery, and the cause of it must not lie in any depravity but in some great error on his part." In addition, he explains the four essential qualities that a tragic hero should possess, which are goodness, appropriateness, lifelike, and consistency. All of these necessities help to classify the character of John Proctor in Arthur Miller's The Crucible as the tragic hero of the play. Not only does he unfortunately fall to desolation, but also his character captures the sympathy and pity from the audience or readers. Proctor's downfall in the play is initiated by a human flaw, which to a great extent qualifies him to be the tragic hero.
A Greek drama is a serious of actions within a literary presentation in which the chief character has a disastrous fate. Many Greek dramas fall under theatrical category of a tragedy due to the tragic events and unhappy ending that cause the downfall of the main character. During the famous play “Antigone” the Greek author Sophocles incorporated several features of a tragedy. These features include a morally significant dilemma and the presence of a tragic hero. Grand debate over which character can hold the title of the tragic hero has discussed in the literally world for ages. A tragic hero can be defined as someone with a substantial personality flaw that causes them to endure great suffering with a reversal of character near the end. Antigone possesses certain traits that could potentially render her the tragic hero but Creon truly embodies all characteristics. Creon is the tragic hero in “Antigone” due to several qualities he displays throughout the play; he can’t accept a diminished view of himself, he endures great suffering and he is enlightened in the end.
Most readers are aware of the many famous deaths or acts of death within the Shakespearean plays. And when the main characters die in Shakespeare’s plays, indeed, the readers would categorize the play as a tragedy. The problem with any tragedy definition is that most tragic plays do not define the tragedy conditions explained or outlined by Aristotle. According to Telford (1961), a tragedy is a literary work that describes the downfall of an honorable, main character who is involved on historically or socially significant events. The main character, or tragic hero, has a tragic fault, the quality that leads to his or her own destruction. In reading Aristotle’s point of view, a tragedy play is when the main character(s) are under enormous pressure and are incapable to see the dignities in human life, which Aristotle’s ideas of tragedy is based on Oedipus the King. Shakespeare had a different view of tragedy. In fact, Shakespeare believed tragedy is when the hero is simply and solely destroyed. Golden (1984) argued the structure of Shakespearean tragedy would be that individual characters revolved around some pain and misery.
Tamburlaine has retained the fascination of audiences over the centuries due to his ability to hold his self-perception nearly constant through a meteoric rise to regional and then global power. What makes this possible, and which might contribut...
A tragic hero is a protagonist with a fatal flaw which eventually leads to a character's downfall. The tragic hero is often introduced as happy, powerful and privileged, and ends up dying or suffering immensely due to their own faulty action. John Proctor’s, the protagonist in the play, flaw that lead to his “downfall” was his inability to accept his fate and his pride in which he holds in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. John Proctor had displayed the four characteristics of a tragic hero goodness, superiority, a tragic flaw, and has an eventual realization
Tragedy is a form of drama based on human suffering that invokes in its audience a pleasure in viewing. One of the greatest philosopher, Aristotle, depicts a tragic hero as a noble man that had an "error in judgment" which led to "a reversal of ending" and "a fate that is greater than deserved". Similarly, Miller, the author of the play, The Crucibles, defines a tragic hero as a common man that is ready to give up his image in society as well as facing the later consequences that may be greater than deserved. In the play, The Crucibles, John Proctor, one of the main protagonist, is known to be a tragic hero. Proctor had committed adultery which lead to Abigail's love for him and ultimately ended up starting the witch trials. The wrong decisions, the noble choices he made, and the fate that he experienced allows him to be called a tragic hero.
If nothing else, this essay has proven the synthesis of Aristotelian and unconventional tragic elements, through the use of the tragic hero, the three unities and the support of a cathartic response from the audience. Also though, with disregard to many Aristotelian rules, to create perhaps not a dramatic success by Aristotle?s ideals, but undoubtedly an effective and challenging text which is Medea.
The definition of a tragic hero is perceived as on who is neither wicked nor purely innocent, one who “is brave and noble but guilty of the tragic flaw of assuming that honorable ends justify dishonorable means”. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus takes the role of the tragic hero. Brutus’s honor, nobility, and self-righteousness makes him “a tragic figure, if not the hero” (Catherine C. Dominic).
Tragic heroes are within everyone, but cannot be fully exposed or understood without the essential tragic qualities. One must be a potentially noble character who endures heroic qualities and has respect and admiration from the society. Consequently, they must be essentially great. Also within the character must be a flaw or weakness that leads to a fall. Lastly, one is required to possess an element of suffering and redemption. Remorse and regret is a necessity for ones wrong doings or deeds. One’s pays for their wrong doings because of failure to find happiness and regrets for actions taken. Therefore they die heroically. In the play “Macbeth” this quality of a tragic hero is portrayed though the character Macbeth.
Tragic heroes, who destined for a serious downfall, are the protagonist of a dramatic tragedy. A tragic hero is usually a great hero, who gets the most respect from other people; on the other hand, a tragic hero can also lose everything he gained because of his mistakes. His downfall is the result of a wrong judgment, a flaw which might combined with fated and external forces. The downfall can cause the tragic hero to suffer for the rest of his life. In many literary works, the downfall of the tragic heroes usually happen in their highest point. In the same way, Macbeth is a tragic hero in the play called “The Tragedy of Macbeth” which is written by a legendary writer, William Shakespeares. Macbeth is a great general who gained many respect from the people and even the king. In the highest point of his life, because of seeking for greater power, it created Macbeth’s downfall. Macbeth, a tragic hero, causes suffering for himself and others by committing murders and creating distress, which are the negative effects of seeking for a greater power.
William Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello puts on exhibit an obvious hero and other not-so-obvious heroes. Let us examine them all in this essay.
Catharsis is when the readers or viewers feel pity and fear toward the protagonist. Throughout the play viewers cannot help but feel fear and pity for Desdemona and Othello’s future. As Iago is planning to destroy the couple, viewers worry for their situation and fear how it will end. A moment when the audience feels catharsis in the play is when Othello says, “I will withdraw / To furnish me with some swift means of death/ For the fair devil.” (III.iii.544-545). The audience can sense fear because Othello has vowed not to change course until he has killed her. Viewers fear for Desdemona, especially because they know she is honest and pure. Viewers also feel pity toward the protagonists when they see the pain Iago forces upon them. Othello and Desdemona were wealthy, honest and confident people. They both were very honorable; this could be one of the many reasons viewers feel pity towards them. The audience feels pity when Iago deceives two honest and innocent people into their death. When Othello kills Desdemona and then himself, viewers feel pity because they know, Iago has tricked him, and that their love is doomed from the
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.
As Aristotle’s Poetics states; a tragedy is an imitation of an action of men that is serious and also having magnitude that arouse pity and fear where with to accomplish the catharsis of those emotions. With this definition of a tragedy he also stated the components of the tragedy, ranking them in importance. The first was the plot, which had a recognition scene, the tragic hero’s reversal of fortune, and also a scene of suffering. The plot must have unity and also relate universally to the audience while also being probable. Ranked second was character, which was used to support the plot and bring an organic movement from beginning to end. The main component of character was the tr...
The tragedy of Hamlet, Shakespeare’s most popular and greatest tragedy, presents his genius as a playwright and includes many numbers of themes and literary techniques. In all tragedies, the main character, called a tragic hero, suffers and usually dies at the end. Prince Hamlet is a model example of a Shakespearean tragic hero. Every tragedy must have a tragic hero. A tragic hero must own many good traits, but has a flaw that ultimately leads to his downfall. If not for this tragic flaw, the hero would be able to survive at the end of the play. A tragic hero must have free will and also have the characteristics of being brave and noble. In addition, the audience must feel some sympathy for the tragic hero.