The Comic Hero in Aristophanes and Charlie Chaplin
The comedic works of both Aristophanes, a fifth-century ancient Greek playwright, and Charlie Chaplin, an actor of the early twentieth century, center around one character. Aristophanes' play Clouds, first produced in 423 B.C.E., concerns Strepsiades and his many debts; he plans to learn from Socrates the art of the Inferior Argument so that he may convince his creditors that he does not have to pay them anything after all. In his later play Birds, first produced in 414 B.C.E., the main character is Makemedo, a man so determined to get out of Athens that he convinces a collection of birds to defy the gods, establish themselves as the rulers over the earth, and build a brick city in the sky from which they can reign and where he can also live. In each of Chaplin's films The Immigrant (1917), The Count (1916), and Easy Street (1917), he acts as a kind of "tramp" who overcomes his low status in society and achieves what he wants, even if only for a short time. Strepsiades, Makemedo, and Chaplin all shamelessly pursue their desires with little regard for the rules and standards of society around them.
In his published lecture concerning Aristophanes' plays, Cedric H. Whitman discusses what he considers as the general template of all of Aristophanes' main characters: the comic hero. Whitman defines a comic hero as possessing great individualism, a good deal of poneros, meaning wickedness, and striking a balance of eiron and alazon, which translates into being a mixture of an ironical buffoon, who makes fun of himself for his own amusement, and an imposter, who disguises his true identity or feelings. He sees the comic hero as one who is extremely self-motivated and self-centered: "whatever is heroic is individualistic, and tends toward excess, or at least extremes. It asserts its self primarily . . ." Whitman also declares that poneros is necessary in the character of the comic hero, that this person is villainous, manipulative, and very convincing. The comic hero is shameless in expressing his desires, and he has no shame in pursuing them by any means necessary, whether such acts would be considered right or wrong. Whitman also recognizes the mixture of eiron--ironical buffoonery--and alazon--being an imposter--in the comic hero of Aristophanes' plays. "The mere buffoon, says Aristotle, makes fun for the sake of getting a laugh for others; the ironical man makes fun for his own amusement, which is more worthy of a free man.
“Effective to secure the privilege against self-incrimination”, the court noted that, “ The modern practice of in- custody interrogation is physical oriented,” and that, “ The blood of the accused is not the only hallmark of an unconstitutional exquisite.” The court specifically outlined the necessary aspects of remain silent and the right to
Who doesn’t love a happy ending? Where the guy gets the girl, the nice guy defeats the villain, and everything in the world is how it should be. Having a happily ever after makes the audience have instant satisfaction, in the end all the chaos and drama within the story gets resolved. There is no disappointment from the audience because the story is settled; everything works out in the end. The readers tend to find hope and peace within the successful conclusion. This encouragement grants them an escape into a world of fiction and allows them to believe that happiness awaits at the end of insurmountable trials. The epic hero is a common tool that is used in this “feel-good” literature. This character depicts a noble and honest protagonist,
The Supreme Court case Miranda v. Arizona in 1966 affected the rights of the accused and the responsibilities of law enforcement. Miranda v. Arizona is known as the “right to remain silent” case. “I must tell you first you have the right to remain silent. If you choose not to remain silent, anything you say or write can and will be used as evidence against you in court. You have the right to consult a lawyer before any questioning, and you have the right to have the lawyer present with you during any questioning. You not only have the right to consult with a lawyer before any questioning, but if you lack the financial ability to retain a lawyer, a lawyer will be appointed to represent you before any questioning, and to be present with you during any questioning.” The court established new guidelines to ensure that the individual is accorded to his privilege under the Fifth Amendment not to be compelled to incriminate himself. Before the case, it was unclear what rights criminal suspects had when taken down to the police station, so the police did little to clarify the situation, which means they acted as if they had no rights and the police questioned suspects as if they as police are entitled to an answer. John Flynn argued the cause for Miranda while Gary K. Nelson argued the cause for Arizona. Those in favor of Miranda were Warren, Black, Douglas, Brennan, and Fortas while those in favor of Arizona were Clark, Harlan, Stewart, and White. “Now the issue before the Court is the admission in evidence of the defendant’s confession under the facts and circumstances of this case over the specific objections of this trial counsel that it had been given in the absence of counsel,” said John J. Flynn, who argued for Miranda. “I believe...
The great Sophoclean play, Oedipus Rex is an amazing play, and one of the first of its time to accurately portray the common tragic hero. Written in the time of ancient Greece, Sophocles perfected the use of character flaws in Greek drama with Oedipus Rex. Using Oedipus as his tragic hero, Sophocles’ plays forced the audience to experience a catharsis of emotions. Sophocles showed the play-watchers Oedipus’s life in the beginning as a “privileged, exalted [person] who [earned his] high repute and status by…intelligence.” Then, the great playwright reached in and violently pulled out the audience’s most sorrowful emotions, pity and fear, in showing Oedipus’s “crushing fall” from greatness.
Miranda v. Arizona is a case that enabled the Supreme Court to fully identify and reiterate the rights of the accused and the responsibilities of the police. The “Miranda Rights,” or “Miranda Warnings” are based off of these legal obligations: “Police must warn a suspect “prior to any questioning that he has the right to remain silent, that anything he says can be used against him in a court of law, that he has the right to the presence of an attorney, and that if he cannot afford an attorney one will be appointed for him prior to any questioning if he so desires.”
The average male produces up to 14 gallons of semen in his lifetime. To put that into perspective, imagine three 5 gallon paint buckets. And to top it all off, when ejaculated, it can travel an average of 28 miles an hour! (link 3) Suddenly, spermatophobia doesn’t seem so absurd anymore.
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.
The Tragic Heroes in Antigone and Julius Caesar & nbsp; & nbsp; The two plays, "Antigone" and "Julius Caesar" both contained two very similar characters. In Antigone the nobleman, Creon, claimed the throne after his nephews, heirs to Thebes, killed each other in battle. Assuming that the populous was going to find him inadequate, he laid a strict rule in order to keep the people under his control. Creon wanted Thebes to prosper and grow and was willing to do anything to achieve this. Through a chain of events, Creon killed his entire family. & nbsp; Brutus, a senator in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, claims the life of Julius Caesar in order to preserve Rome, his country and home.
According to Aristotle, tragedy requires an admirable hero with power and in a high state, but more importantly, he or she possesses a tragic flaw that leads to their downfall. This tragic flaw most closely relates to a character’s hubris, excessive pride in themselves or their judgment. But sometimes a character cannot be categorized as tragic, and one can argue whether or not the tragic character violates the requirements. In Sophocles’ Antigone Creon and Antigone serve as tragic characters in the play; however, Creon’s character exemplifies Aristotle’s theory of tragedy.
Shakespeare´s definition of a tragic hero stands between the epic hero and the scondrel: he is an exceptional being though not completely noble; he has a flaw of character which contributes to his degeneration and eventually leads to his downfall, that is to say death: be it physical or moral, preceded by transfiguration. This redemption serves the purpose of restoring heroic qualities and takes place just before the hero´s demise, in recognition of his flaw. In the particular case of Margaret Edson´s so acclaimed play Wit, the protagonist, Vivian Bearing fits perfectly into the definition of the tragic hero. Her intellectual rather than emotional life, the irony of her role reversal from teacher to lab rat together with her degradation exemplified by her need for affection and her eventual transfiguration largely constitute the central components of Edson´s protagonist, undoubtedly a tragic heroine by the above standards.
Courageous and admirable with noble qualities defines a heroine. In Aristotle’s Poetics he describes a tragic hero as a character who is larger than life and through fate and a flaw they destroy themselves. Additionally, Aristotle states excessive pride is the hubris of a tragic hero. The hero is very self-involved; they are blind to their surroundings and commit a tragic action. A tragedy describes a story that evokes sadness and awe, something larger than life. Furthermore, a tragedy of a play results in the destruction of a hero, evoking catharsis and feelings of pity and fear among the audience. Aristotle states, "It should, moreover, imitate actions which excite pity and fear, this being the distinctive mark of tragic imitation." (18) For a tragedy to arouse fear, the audience believes similar fate might happen to them and the sight of the suffering of others arouses pity. A tragedy's plot includes peripeteia, anagnorisis, hamartia and catharsis. Using Aristotle’s criteria, both characters in Oedipus The King and The Medea share similar qualities that define a tragic hero such as being of noble birth, having excessive pride, and making poor choices. They both gain recognition through their downfall and the audience feels pity and fear.
Characters in comedy and tragedy are generally quite different. Comic characters are (or used to be) lower class individuals (Aristotle, Goldsmith). Indeed this is the case with t...
Before the twentieth century plays were mainly written as either a tragedy or comedy. In a tragic play the tragic hero will often do something that will eventually destroy him. In the book Oedipus the King, Oedipus is the tragic hero. In this tragic play the main character, which is portrayed as Oedipus, will do a good deed that will in turn make him a hero. This hero will reach his height of pride in the story, and in the end the action, which he had committed earlier, will return and destroy this man who was once called a hero.
One might think of a tragedy being a terrible and destructible event in one’s life that causes great pain and may contain great loss. One particular play written by William Shakespeare – one of the most well known poets in history, happens to be a tragedy-filled story. Othello, the Moor of Venice, set during the captivating renaissance era portrays a character named Othello who reveals characteristics of a tragic hero. The brilliant philosopher Aristotle from the fourth century B.C. developed his own definition and idea of what a tragic hero is. Eric Engle, author of “Aristotle, Law and Justice: The Tragic Hero,” said, Due to Aristotle’s influence, his tragic flaw has distorted western thought ever since its conception” (Engle). “The enquiry of whether Othello is a true tragic hero is debatable. Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero was a protagonist who is socially superior to others, but then has a downfall due to a “tragic flaw,” typically caused by the character’s solitary weakness. Due to Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero, Othello possesses the qualities from his definition that fulfill the role of being a tragic hero.
Irony used from beginning to end and with each statement made by Oedipus about finding the killer of Laius. Although the audience is familiar with the story they are fully invested in Oedipus. Because Sophocles uses irony in his play it makes the audience empathize with the protagonist. Oedipus becomes human, a tangible character that experiences the same emotions as everyday people. The thing that makes Oedipus even more human is that he is a victim of a fate assigned to him before he was born. He unknowingly carries out the prophecy destined for him which leads to the discovery that he was abandoned at birth by his biological parents; with this discovery a sense of his identity is taken from him. A character so arrogant normally does not receive empathy from the audience, however, he is still very much an innocent fragile human being punished for his father’s defiance. Sophocles used irony to bring a new twist to a familiar story. The use of irony keeps the audience ahead of the protagonist yet still eagerly awaiting his reaction to the obstacles before him; even though they know his fate the audience wants to see how he deals with his unfortunate