Gertrude: The Tragic Heroine of Hamlet Hamlet is perhaps English literature's most renowned play; a masterwork by the greatest of all masters, Shakespeare, from its very appearance Hamlet has not ceased to delight audiences and confound spectators. The complexity of the main character, prince Hamlet, is so vast that all who have attempted to decipher his character fulsomely have failed. Amidst his own grandeur, Hamlet makes the other characters pale. As they blur into literary oblivion due to
Katherine of Aragon - Tragic Heroine of Henry VIII Among the bevy of female characters to grace the Shakespearean stage, Katherine of Aragon in Henry VIII is perhaps the most enigmatic. Despite the range of possibilities in other female roles-such as Cordelia and Desdemona, in whom one certainly finds desirable traits-Katherine stands out as a tragic heroine: a secure, strong-willed woman who is articulate, passionate, charismatic, and altruistic. The unique qualities of Katherine are achieved
A tragic heroine is characterized by a protagonist capable of great achievements, but is destined to fail, whether it is due to unforeseen circumstances, their own fatal flaws or a series of poor decisions. In the literary criticism titled, “Blanche DuBois as the Tragic Heroine,” Bert Cardullo makes great points to show how the character Blanche DuBois from A Streetcar Named Desire is in fact, a tragic heroine. After Blanche’s discovery of her husband’s sexuality, her inability to show compassion
He felt spectators seeing and experiencing great hardship befall the play’s hero or heroine would achieve this emotional state and benefit from it. The tragic hero, according to Aristotle, must be essentially good and be of high or noble birth. The misfortune that precedes their downfall must evoke compassion and pity. The tragic hero must experience a peripeteia. Two of the most famous Greek tragic heroes (heroines) were Medea and Clytemnestra. They share characteristics Aristotle deemed essential
Who is the real tragic hero in The Madea, Madea, the princess of Colchis or Jason, the king of Iolcus? The tragic story is about a woman Madea, whom gives up her home, family and everything else in her life for Jason. Against her father’s wishes she helps Jason defeat his quest to a Golden Fleece. Madea eventually marries Jason and raises two sons. Unfortunately, Jason abandons Madea and marries the beautiful daughter of Corinth. Madea went from a lover and partner in crime to an obsessive prideful
Macbeth: A Tragic Heroine The definition of a tragic hero is much more than a heroic character with a tragic ending. In William Shakespeare Macbeth, there are many detailed qualifications as to being the tragic hero. Although it is said that a Shakespearean tragic hero must be a male, it is highly arguable that Lady Macbeth is a potential contender as the tragic hero in the play Macbeth in replace of the main character, Macbeth. Firstly, an important characteristic of a Shakespearean tragic hero is
The Character of Ophelia in Hamlet Of all the pivotal characters in Hamlet, Ophelia is the most static and one-dimensional. She has the potential to become a tragic heroine; to overcome the adversities inflicted upon her, but she instead crumbles into insanity, becoming merely tragic. This is because Ophelia herself is not as important as her representation of the duel nature of women in the play. Ophelia serves a distinct purpose: to show at once Hamlet's warped view of women as callous sexual
reduced to the lowest level possible. Classically the tragic hero began a piece as a man of high position since this made his demise all the more tragic. That the tragic centre if Ibsen's play is both female and not particularly birth is a distinct departure from the classical condition of tragedy. Ibsen has moved many concepts of the genre and placed them in a domestic setting. In order to see the way Nora can be viewed as a true tragic heroine it is useful to examine some of the concepts which Greek
mental and emotional demise of a determined, yet fragile, repressed and delicate Southern lady born to a once-wealthy family of Mississippi planters.3 No doubt that the character of Blanche is the most complex one in the drama. She is truly a tragic heroine. First she is introduced as a symbol of innocence and chastity.4 She is aristocratic and intelligent, and sensitive and fragile at the same time, also beautiful and this delicate beauty has a moth-like appearance. But these positive characteristics
Loving Desdemona William Shakespeare, in his tragic drama Othello, creates a most exquisite character in the person of Desdemona. Her many virtues clearly require that she be given detailed consideration by every Christian member of the audience. David Bevington in William Shakespeare: Four Tragedies describes the depth of virtue within this tragic heroine: We believe her [Desdemona] when she says that she does not even know what it means to be unfaithful; the word “whore” is not
Eleanor Marx Eleanor Marx has not been remembered as an economist. Her life, though more so her death, has captured the imaginations and curiosities of novelists and biographers and her existence has been cast into the role of the “tragic socialist.” Yet, as the daughter of Karl Marx, she was a prominent writer and activist for socialist reform. She edited Marx’s unpublished texts after his death and contributed several articles of her own on economic topics. Similarly, in her daily interactions
before Charlotte Bronte finished Jane Eyre. Despite the difference in the times of writing, they bore apparent similarities. Nevertheless the writers adopted different techniques to portrait two heroines. The two novels were both growth novels, to a certain extent, which depicted the changes of the heroines as they grew up. In order to illustrate the changes, the authors employed similar plots and writing skills. The two novels both started from foster families and ended with happy marriages.
The Witches as the Heroines of Macbeth Traditionally, the witches of Shakespeare's Macbeth have been treated as symbolic manifestations of the potential for evil. Many students and critics of Macbeth enjoy blaming the witches, along with Lady Macbeth, for Macbeth's downfall. Regardless, it may be argued that the witches are the heroines of the play. One eminent modern literary critic, Terry Eagleton, has addressed the issue of the witches as heroines directly: To any unprejudiced reader--which
There is no doubt that Eustacia Vie is the Heroine of the tragedy "Return of the Native". Without the majestic air that Miss Vie adds to the novel we are left with a typical period soap drama. Eustacia Vie is on more then one occasion compared to classical characters of Greek mythology, and even in her death the nobility of her figure evokes images of classical sculpture."Pallor did not include all the quality of her complexion, which seemed More the whiteness; it was almost light. The expression
Hamlet’s Heroine, Ophelia In Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet there is, technically, no heroine. But the female character who comes closest to qualifying for the role is not Gertrude, whose sinful past precludes this, but rather Ophelia, the “universal victim” of the drama. She is truly a good, upright person although she is victimized by her father, brother and boyfriend. Harry Levin, in the General Introduction to The Riverside Shakespeare, elaborates on the special kind of prose which the
Emilia, A Heroine of Shakespeare's Othello Shakespeare, in his tragedy Othello, presents a minor character who does great things in the final act. Her character is deserving of analysis. Kenneth Muir, in the Introduction to William Shakespeare: Othello, explains the motivation of Emilia through most of the play: Emilia’s character, too, is determined by the plot. In the source, the villain’s wife is privy to the nefarious designs. Shakespeare wisely makes her, like the other characters
Desdemona, the Heroine in Othello In William Shakespeare’s Othello Michael Cassio’s praises of the richly blessed Desdemona, as he awaits her arrival on Cyprus, are well deserved. This essay will amply support this statement. Blanche Coles in Shakespeare’s Four Giants interprets the protagonist’s very meaningful four-word greeting to Desdemona which he utters upon disembarking in Cyprus: Othello’s four words, “O, my soul’s joy,” tell us that this beautiful Venetian girl has brought
slowly became publicly acceptable. Her poem "Goblin Market" comments on the institutions in Victorian society that she and her feminist contemporaries wished to see altered, creating modern female heroines to carry out its messages. The goblins serve as malicious male figures to tempt the innocent heroines, sisters Laura and Lizzie, to corruption. According to the Victorian definition, a gentleman "never takes unfair advantage . . . or insinuates evil which he dare not say out," and possesses, among
The Powerful Imogen of Cymbeline Shakespeare’s Cymbeline developed a female protagonist who led the literary world as one of the original heroines. Centuries before women were recognized as capable and authoritative, a character is presented on stage who bears these qualities, thus representing the ideals of the future. Shakespeare boldly displayed a woman warrior to a male-dominated society. Imogen, the daughter of King Cymbeline, is indeed the central character of this play. She braves a
The Heroines of the Western Schoolhouse "School-Teacher Wanted: One room schoolhouse seeks a young, single white woman who is willing to leave her sheltered life and come teach twenty to thirty classes a day, for a variety of students ranging in ages from five to twenty-two. Teacher must be able to perform with inadequate teaching materials and minimal funding for her salary and for the maintenance of the school." If you fit these qualifications, you would've been a wonderful addition to the