The Tragic Hero and the Tragic Story in William Shakespeare's Writing Shakespeare's tragedies are, for the most part, stories of one person,
the "hero," or at most two, to include the "heroine." Only the Love
Tragedies (Romeo and Juliet; Antony and Cleopatra)are exceptions to
this pattern. In these plays, the heroine is as much at the center of
action as the hero. The rest of the tragedies, including Macbeth, have
single stars, so the tragic story is concerned primarily with oneperson.
THE TRAGIC HERO ANDTHE TRAGIC "STORY"
* The tragic story leads up to, and includes, the death of the hero
* The suffering and calamity are exceptional
* They befall a conspicuous person
* They are themselves of a striking kind
* They are, as a rule, unexpected
* They are, as a rule, contrasted with previous happiness and/or
glory
On the one hand (whatever may be true of tragedies elsewhere), no play
that ends with the hero alive is, in the full Shakespearean sense, a
tragedy. On the other hand, the story also depicts the troubled part
of the hero's life which precedes and leads up to his death. It is, in
fact, essentially a tale of suffering and calamity, conducting the
hero to death.
Shakespeare's tragic heroes will be men of rank, and the calamities
that befall them will be unusual and exceptionally disastrous in
themselves. The hero falls unexpectedly from a high place, a place of
glory, or honor, or joy, and as a consequence, we feel that kind of
awe at the depths to which he is suddenly plunged. Thus, the
catastrophe will be of monumental prop...
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...erful, advancing, scattering the opposition until, late in the
4th act, when a reversal of the situation starts taking place.
Opposing forces begin to openly resist and to make plans for the
removal of the tragic hero, and the hero's power is obviously
declining as the opposition's power advances.
TRAGIC RESOLUTION
In the final acts, then, the opposition reaches its full strength and
defeats/destroys the isolated, weakened hero. This is where Tragic
Recognition takes place, and the final scenes of the play are normally
such that we become aware again of the greatness of the soul that has
just been dispatched. Macbeth is dead; Hamlet is dead; Lear is dead:
and though we can see the justice of it, the usual feeling of
satisfaction at the death of a tyrant or killer (an Iago, for example)
is conspicuously lacking.
Northrop Frye once said, “Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them, great trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass. Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divisive lightning.” Othello is the pillar of tragic heros, first playing the part of a loving husband with a beautiful wife, then being manipulated into believing his wife was cheating on him and killing her. Throughout the play, he played the part of the protagonist, everyone hoping he would figure out Iago was lying to him. Othello being the protagonist made the fact he was also a villain bittersweet. His apparent love for his wife Desdemona, his ‘just’ reasoning for killing her, and Iago’s deserving end all contribute to the tragic work as a whole.
When people hear the word “hero” they usually don’t think about the word “tragic”. A tragic hero is a great or virtuous character in a tragedy, destined for downfall, suffering, or defeat. Aristotle also thought about the ideas of a tragic hero. William Shakespeare proves this through his character Romeo in Romeo and Juliet. Romeo’s family is of high status and virtuous. Romeo’s punishments exceed his crimes and his tragedies arouse many “unhealthy emotions of fear and pity. Romeo’s actions prove he is a tragic hero. The story of Romeo and Juliet entices the reader as the tragedy proceeds through the scenes.
In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare there are more than one tragic hero. A tragic hero is a character that falls from good fortune and is enlightened of their mistakes by the end of the story. In this play several conspirators are going against Caesar in fear of him becoming the next king of Rome. They decide to kill him on the ides of March in the senate house and then to play it off as a favor to the people of Rome. Mark Antony then speaks to the people to seek revenge on the conspirators, when this happens, Brutus and Cassius lead an army against Antony and both Brutus and Cassius die. The best example of a tragic hero in this play is Brutus. He was a highly honored man in Rome, but he made some bad choices like conspiring against Caesar. This causes him to lose his honor, family, and Roman respect. Brutus is the tragic hero because he has a fatal flaw, a series of bad choices that he makes, and can be felt sympathetic towards in the end.
A tragedy, in literary terms, is defined as a literary work in which a great person suffers extreme sorrow, or is destroyed as a result of a character flaw or a conflict with an overpowering force, often through no fault of their own. William Shakespeare is known as one of the greatest play writers in the world. Many of his tragedies exemplify this common theme: some things in life seem destined to happen, regardless of the path we take. Three of his most famous tragedies, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, and Romeo and Juliet, illustrate this theme.
is far from insane, but rather, "playing mad" for a purpose of his own. Madness
In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is "a tragic hero.” This is according to Aristotle’s definition, a tragic hero is a character “who is neither completely good nor completely bad, but also a member of royalty.” Romeo is a tragic hero because he does many good things, but many bad things, as well. For example, he is a Montague and he marries Juliet, who is a Capulet. This is prohibited, so Romeo is bad. However, Romeo does everything he can to keep Juliet happy and risks his life for her, which makes him good. Romeo is also a man of royalty because he is Montague’s son. Romeo’s character has many contradictions, which makes the audience think, “is he good or bad?” Asking these questions and not knowing the answer leads us to believe that Romeo is a tragic hero, according to Aristotle’s definition.
Shakespeare tragic story, “Hamlet”, illustrates the miserable character under such a tragic reality. Hamlet is a clear representation of Shakespeare's tragic hero, as he possesses all the necessary characteristics of such a hero. Hamlet is seen as a tragic hero as his father king Hamlet died and his uncle who is the murder of old Hamlet took over the power and his unfortunate fate with Ophelia and etc. These character traits and distinctiveness make Hamlet a Tragic Hero.
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.
Will Hamlet avenge his father’s death? Who killed King Hamlet? Is Hamlet really mad? These are the things that keeps the reader intrigued throughout Hamlet. Throughout Hamlet, the main character, Hamlet, is shown to be the tragic hero of the play. A tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgement error that inevitably leads to his or her own destruction. A Greek philosopher, by the name of Aristotle, said that any tragic hero must have a tragic flaw. Hamlet is a perfect example of a tragic hero because of the many tragic flaws he has. Hamlet also experiences suffering in the play and he also learns lessons. The tragic hero is an important character; without one, there wouldn’t be a tragic play.
the law he brought back for the sake of lust. Angelo is an immoral and
Webster’s dictionary defines tragedy as, “a serious drama typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force (such as destiny) and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that excites pity or terror.” A tragic hero, therefore, is the character who experiences such a conflict and suffers catastrophically as a result of his choices and related actions. The character of Hamlet, therefore, is a clear representation of Shakespeare’s tragic hero.
Tragic heroes tend to have very pre-determined paths; usually making the most virtuous of characters destined to suffer. The hamartia or ‘tragic flaw’ is the typical reason the hero falls. Shakespeare was noted to be one of the best writers of tragedies, one of his most prominent to be Othello. In Othello, we find a number of tragic flaws two including pride and ambition. In William Shakespeare’s play, Othello, pride and ambition are used to identify the outcomes for the main characters in the play when seeing the resolution of the play, perceiving those who survive and those who don’t, and considering each character’s role in the turn of events.
Shakespeare has been a part of the American Society for many years. Compared to other Authors, he has a different style of writing but within his own writings, they are all very much alike. He has written many plays including Othello and Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare was a man who wrote plays that followed the same literary conventions. These conventions included tragic hero, fallacy, irony, and also suspense.
The second most important part of a tragedy is Character. Characters actually play a secondary role to the plot in the “perfect” tragedy. The actions of the characters make them responsible for their fate, not a higher power. There should be a protagonist and a tragic hero. Tragic heroes are also exceptional beings; Hamlet was very intellectual, giving him a brilliant mind and a quick wit. The tragic hero is the ma...
A tragedy, in terms of literature, is when the main character is not seen as indestructible. The main character has flaws and a tragic ending. One of the most famous writer of tragedies is William Shakespeare. Shakespeare, author of Hamlet, (biography.com) was alive between the years 1564 and 1616. His occupations were playwriting and poetry and he was brilliant. William, being the poet and play writer he his, wrote almost 400 different pieces. Some of his most famous plays include: Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet. Hamlet is considered a tragedy because Hamlet, the main character, has a character flaw which is being very reluctant. Also throughout the play nothing really seems to go the way that Hamlet plans. Finally, the end of the play ends expectantly with a death from just about every main character except Horatio, Hamlets best friend.