...Okonkwo As A Tragic Hero A tragic hero, by the definition of Aristotle, is one who gives readers or an audience a sense of pity or fear. The hero must be an overall good willed character but have a fatal flaw that leads to his or her downfall. Okonkwo, from the novel “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, fits this definition for many reasons. The main few being that Okonkwo has one fatal flaw that leads to his downfall, and he is a good person at heart, which arouses pity in the audience when faced with the tragedies that befall him. While Okonkwo may not be considered a modern day hero, he is a tragic hero by the definition of Aristotle. Okonkwo is a tragic hero because he has one fatal flaw that leads to his downfall in the end. His fatal flaw is his fear. The novel says, “Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness (Achebe, 13).” Okonkwo’s life is overrun by fear, mainly due to his father being a disgrace within the clan. He strived to be everything his father was not, which caused him to become severely aggressive and abusive to his family. His aggression eventually leads to him being banished from his home for seven years, which...
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...to the tragic hero. Typically when we hear the word hero our minds think of one who has superpowers and protects their citizens, such a Superman and Spiderman. But when it comes to the Aristotle, a tragic hero in the Greek world often refers to the character that belongs to a higher class, but yet is one who has their very own human flaws. After reading the play, many readers believe that the tragic character is in fact Antigone because she is the main character, but that is not the case. The real tragic hero that is being portrayed throughout the story is Creon. Creon posses all of the qualities that a tragic hero must have, such as his authority, high status, actions and many flaws that later on leads him into a vicious cycle. Since the death of Antigone’s parents, Creon has turned into the powerful, wealthy king. Creon holds such an authoritative role throughout the story that it allowed him to fall into the character of a tragic hero. The people were so loyal to Creon and this showed throughout the burial...
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...A tragic hero, without an audiences' sympathy, is nothing more than a wasted character. The hero must have nobility, enough to reward him credibility with their audience. From there, he must reach a turning point from his former fortune to utter misery by the hands of his own landmark flaw. With these three combinations, he must, without exception, achieve audience sympathy; without it his lesson becomes useless, just he himself does. Though she may not fit the mold of the tragic Aristotle defined, Nora surpasses the title entirely. While still holding the three key features of nobility, harmartia, and peripetia, Nora claims victory over Oedipus as audiences willing give her their sympathy, making her the more affective tragic hero. Despite...
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...The Tragic Character of Antigone In any type of literature, there will always be a hero who experiences the stages of a tragic hero and fall into their depths of misery. In the play of “Antigone,” Creon and Antigone or two of the two tragic characters mentioned in the play met similar tragic fates and endings. Both of the characters also similar caused their own downfall and tragic endings by their ignorance (harmania), flaw (hubris), and mistakes earlier in the story. But as any tragic hero, Antigone did meet her tragic fate as any character would, she isn’t the tragic character in “Antigone”. Although she met a similar fate she’s just another main character to help push Creon into becoming a tragic hero. One of Creon’s flaw that led him...
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...Creon’s Tragic Fall: A Look at Sophocles’ Antigone A tragic hero is defined by Aristotle’s Poetics as the protagonist in the story to whom something happens that elicits pity from the audience. For the most part, a tragic hero is a “virtuous” person whose life changes from being prosperous to being a life full of misfortune (Aristotle, Poetics). In other words, the tragic hero is someone of great social standing who begins the story at a very high point, but suffers their downfall because of a tragic flaw. In Sophocles’ Antigone the central theme of this play is the struggle between Antigone and her uncle Creon. The issue of burying Antigone’s brother Polynices is based on the ancient Greek philosophy of death, where any unburied body condemns its soul to torment. Basically, it was the duty of the family to bury their dead. Yet, this issue extended beyond family loyalty to a decree of piety by the gods. However, in the play, Creon goes against this celestial decree because he sees Polynices as a traitor for warring against him as a member of another army. As a means to set an example about the repercussions of disloyalty, Creon issues an edict to leave him unburied. As a man who starts the drama in as the respected king of Thebes, he gradually loses his family, his objectivity, and his power to his stubbornness and hubris that ultimately results in his downfall. Hence, Creon is a tragic hero in the Sophocles’ Antigone because his unbending pride results in tragic downfall...
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...ALICE SEKYERE OBENG AUUG09120013 CLASSIFYING OKWONKWO IN “THINGS FALL APART” AND NANAYAA IN “ IN THE CHEST OF A WOMAN” AS TRAGIC HEROE AND HEROIN RESPECTIVELY, WITH REFERENCE TO THE BOOKS. In every story or novel, there is both a protagonist and antagonist ,the protagonist could either be a tragic hero, a hero, or a heroine among others .In things fall apart which was written by Chinua Achebe, a Nigerian, there is a tragic hero who is okwonkwo, the story weaves itself around him till the end and tells of how he and his people lived without the white man, when he came and after he came and also tells of how Okwonkwo forced to fight change which eventually lead to his death. With “in the chest of a woman” however, Efo Kodjo Mawugbe, a Ghanaian writer who unfortunately passed away recently tells his story in legs instead of acts and scenes which makes it unique, and also woven around Nanayaa who comes off as a strong, bold and daring character comparable to a heroine. In the play, she would stop at nothing to achieve her lifelong dream and selfish ambition of becoming a queen instead of her younger brother, and when that is not possible she resorts to disguising her daughter as a male, so she could be king. This plan backfires as the true identity is revealed at the end. Although these characteristics classify them both as a tragic hero and heroine, there are also some major characteristics that enforces that fact including that they were both noble persons, or usually of...
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...World Literature I 1. In your opinion, is Oedipus a hero? Think about what you found heroic in previous characters we encountered: Gilgamesh, Enkidu, Roland. How does Oedipus compare? Also, does Oedipus have a character flaw that affects his fate? There are many types of heroes, but Oedipus happens to be a tragic hero. Throughout the story, it is pretty safe to say that Oedipus is a tragic hero. In Aristotle’s work, he has made this point very apparent. There are three main reasons why I think Oedipus is a tragic hero. First, by his own actions, he ascertains his own fate. Secondly, he falls from great esteem. Lastly, Oedipus’ story ascends fear and sympathy. The way Oedipus discovers his fate is by his own actions. If he did not inquire about the murder of Laois, he probably would have never discovered that he in fact was the murderer. The saying “curiosity killed the cat”, is a perfect example of how Oedipus’ story dwindled and unwounded. If Oedipus did not seek Teresias he would have still been in the unknown of the murder. When he asked Teresias, the answers that were given were nonetheless the answers that Oedipus was seeking. For example, Teresias replied to him and said, “You are the murderer of the king whose murderer you seek.” After hearing this information, he still does not believe it or understand, so he seeks Jocasta. He has hopes of her telling him that there is no truth to what Teresias is saying. When he arrives, the news that Oedipus hears is the...
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...Divya Kumar Mr. Kirley ENG3U1-05 November.11.2015. The Crucible: Is John Proctor truly a tragic hero? A tragic hero is a person with admirable qualities yet they have a tragic flaw that leads them to their downfall. In Miller’s play “The Crucible,” the protagonist, John Proctor, is a tragic hero known for his good reputation yet commits adultery with Abigail thus making it a tragic flaw that leads to his death. John Proctor is a tragic hero because he is a well-mannered person that has a good reputation. John strongly believes in Elizabeth’s good morals by proving his honesty and bond towards Elizabeth and speaks up for her as he tries to get her and his friends’ wives out of jail. He tells Danforth...
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...The story opens in ancient Britain, where the elderly King Lear is deciding to give up his power and divide his realm amongst his three daughters, Cordelia, Regan, and Goneril. Lear's plan is to give the largest piece of his kingdom to the child who professes to love him the most, certain that his favorite daughter, Cordelia, will win the challenge. Goneril and Regan, corrupt and deceitful, lie to their father with sappy and excessive declarations of affection. Cordelia, however, refuses to engage in Lear's game, and replies simply that she loves him as a daughter should. Her lackluster retort, despite its sincerity, enrages Lear, and he disowns Cordelia completely. When Lear's dear friend, the Earl of Kent, tries to speak on Cordelia's behalf, Lear banishes him from the kingdom. Meanwhile, the King of France, present at court and overwhelmed by Cordelia's honesty and virtue, asks for her hand in marriage, despite her loss of a sizable dowry. Cordelia accepts the King of France's proposal, and reluctantly leaves Lear with her two cunning sisters. Kent, although banished by Lear, remains to try to protect the unwitting King from the evils of his two remaining children. He disguises himself and takes a job as Lear's servant. Now that Lear has turned over all his wealth and land to Regan and Goneril, their true natures surface at once. Lear and his few companions, including some knights, a fool, and the disguised Kent, go to live with Goneril, but she reveals that she plans...
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...certain sense of audience fulfillment. The roots of the tragedy are related to ancient Greece. A Greek tragedy is a sad story, which represents a character with a tragic flaw leading to his downfall. In addition, in traditional tragedy, the main character falls from high authority and often it is predetermined by fate, while the audience experiences catharsis (Bloom 2). Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman is considered to be a tragedy because this literary work has some of the main characteristics of the tragedy genre. In this play, the main character Willy Loman possesses such traits and behaviors that lead to his downfall, and the audience experiences catharsis. Willy Loman as a real tragic hero comes to the decision to commit suicide because of serious financial problems of his family (Phelps 79). This play has already been criticized by a number of literary critics who represented different opinions on the plot of the book. The major goal of this paper is to critically evaluate the play Death of a Salesman written by the well-known American writer Arthur Miller, paying special attention to the play’s characteristics of a tragedy. In the play Death of a Salesman, the author investigates human nature and represents his main character as a person whose dissatisfaction with his own life leads to his tragic end. The plot of this literary work is rather simple. The play consists of two acts. In the first act, Willy Loman, the main character of Miller’s play returns home...
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...In The Tragedy of Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, there are many different aspects of tragic heroes and downfalls. Overall, the protagonist Lord Macbeth displays the greatest characteristics of a tragic hero because of his large and prominent downfall. Macbeth showed all of the tragic hero characteristics which include: goodness, superiority, tragic flaw, and self realization. These characteristics help define who Macbeth is, and who he progresses into as the play advances. The prophecies of the Witches seemed to control Lord Macbeth in the worst way. They took over his decision making and rational thinking forcing him to make dense choices which would eventually result in his downfall. Goodness; the quality of being good, in particular. Some say Lord Macbeth lost of all his morality by the greed of ambition but I very much disagree. Macbeth may have made rash decisions and chose to do wrong but he did all of which with a stable, sane, and understanding mind. “I’ll go no more. I am afraid to think of what I have done. Look on’t again I dare not.” (II ii 65-68). This shows that Lord Macbeth is aware that what he just...
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...Othello: An Aristotelian Tragic Hero or Not? Thesis Statement Othello: An Aristotelian Tragic Hero or Not? By reviewing the definition of tragedy and tragic play, we could agree that the play Othello fits the mold of a tragic play. The question that remains unanswered is does Othello fit the definition of a tragic hero? Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, developed the definition of the Aristotelian tragedy/ tragic hero. The play Othello does not fit all of the criteria to be considered an Aristotelian tragedy; however it is more of a tragic play. Outline 1. Overview of tragedy and tragic play Provide overview of Othello 2. Is Othello a tragic hero? 3. Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero Person of high estate, royalty 4. Aristotle’s second criteria Protagonist must fall from power 5. Weakness of character 6. Misfortune is not warranted 7. Tragic hero learns of his misstates before his downfall While researching the definition of the word “tragedy,” I learned that it is a very heartbreaking or catastrophic event. To further my research, I looked up the definition of a tragic play, and learned that it is a serious play with a tragic theme that often involves a heroic struggle which leads to the downfall of the main character. William Shakespeare’s play, Othello certainly fits the definition of a tragic play. The protagonist in the play, Othello, is a high ranked general in the Venetian army who is held in very high esteem...
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...defined as a literary work in which the main character or characters suffer extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with unfavourable circumstances. William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is a well known play that falls under the genre of a tragedy because it’s very dramatic, contains numerous murders and has an overall suspenseful atmosphere throughout the play. Hamlet follows the elements of a classic Shakespearean tragedy such as the tragic hero, a tragic flaw, and a tragic story. Hamlet is the quintessential tragic hero, he begins with good intentions but by the end he does not survive to see the full outcome of his actions. Hamlet possesses positive traits and demonstrates those traits throughout the play but Hamlet was incapable of defeating his own greatest flaw, his inability to take action which led to the demise of not only himself, but many around him. The third element is the tragic story, which leads up to and results in the death of the hero, the suffering that usually befalls the hero is unusual and disastrous. Hamlet follows all elements of a classic Shakespearean tragedy with Hamlet as the tragic hero, his tragic flaw, and the tragic story that results in death. Tragic heroes often begin at a high position of nobility, as Hamlet is the prince of Denmark; he has a lofty position to fall from. When he is first introduced in Act 1 Scene 2, He is a young prince who is mourning the death of his father, only to discover...
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...According to Aristotle, the definition for tragic hero is a character who is noble or a man of high status, has a tragic flaw, and discovers his fate by his own actions. Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe could be easily classified as a tragic hero because his character satisfies all the requirements set forth by Aristotle. Because Okonkwo was a powerful and respected man in Umuofia, possessed the flaw of the fear of failure and weakness, and his unwillingness to change after returning from exile resulted in his demise, his character is undoubtedly that of a tragic hero. In order to be classified as a tragic hero, Aristotle requires that the character must be noble or a man of high status. Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart was “well...
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...Is it possible to see Baba as a tragic hero? (21) The definition of a tragic hero is a noble person with heroic or potentially heroic tendencies; however has a tragic flaw that leads to his downfall and a reversal of fortune. The audience typically pities this character. Although it may be argued that Baba is, in fact, a tragic hero, I do not believe that he is. Some readers may see Baba as a tragic hero as Baba does hold some of the characteristics needed for him to be a tragic hero. For example, he is sometimes noble, as on occasion, he quite clearly shows that he has high moral principles, as a noble person would. For example, when he stands up for the woman in the truck. ‘I’ll take a thousand bullets before I let this indecency take place.’ This is considered particularly noble as, given the context in Afghanistan in 1981, to stand up to a Russian soldier in order to stand up for your morals, is noble and heroic. Readers may also view Baba as a tragic hero, because, as a character, he most certainly does have flaws. From the way he treated Amir ‘Baba grunted, didn’t answer.’ (Chapter 2) to the adultery with Hassan’s mother, a high crime in Afghanistan in the past, especially with a servant, resulting in the birth of Hassan. The fact he kept this hidden for so long is a flaw in itself, as he sees himself to have the moral high ground on many occasions, for example, when he forgives Hassan from stealing from Amir. However, these flaws do not instigate Baba’s downfall...
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