To Be Or Not To Be: Aristotle’s Tragic Hero Aristotle defined a tragic hero as one that possesses certain characteristics, including a fatal weakness or mistake in judgment (hamartia), a reversal of fortune (peripeteia), a revelation that the misfortune the character experiences has come about due to his own behavior (anagnorisis), enormous pride (hubris), and an ultimate outcome of fate that is greater than deserved. In the 1601 play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the titular character serves as
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Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon has traits within its plot and characters that make it comparable to some of the classic tragedies. According to Aristotle in his Poetics, a tragic hero must have a reversal of fortune, hamartia which is a flaw in judgement or character, and their character must be true to life. Pilate has all these traits and could easily be the tragic hero within the novel. Pilate experienced her reversal of fortune rather early in her life. Some might argue that this was in the
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considered Oedipus Rex to be the perfect tragedy and the basis for his thoughts in Poetics. He defines tragedy as, “an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its catharsis of such emotions…Every tragedy, therefore, must have six parts, which
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Pessimism is defined as having a negative, cynical view on one’s life and surroundings and is demonstrated frequently in Thomas Hardy’s poetry. He shows a fixation with the past in his work and expresses regrets about several failed romances in his life, most notably with his first wife, Emma and these become a recurring theme in his poetry. He romanticises the past, both on a personal level and when considering wider society. I partly agree with the statement because he seems to view life as a
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situation, regarding HIV/AIDS in particular, when articulating the experience of the speaker losing a loved one to AIDS. When it comes to human suffering and overcoming affliction, fear prevents one from surviving, understanding, and accepting the tragedy in which they are suffering from. To start, Miller Williams’ poem, “Thinking about Bill, Dead of AIDS,” begins with looking at the concept of suffering in a physical sense, rather than in its emotional form, We did not know the first thing about
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My Verdict I believe the statement “Miller doesn’t present the downfallof a tragic hero, but the pathetic demise of a small man” is very controversialbecause there are some traits that Willy Loman acquires that may be viewed astraits of a small man rather than a Tragic hero, such as his poor backgroundand unsuccessful career opposingly he might present the downfall of a tragichero based purely on the fact that he is slowly “dying” as Linda states. Aristotle’s belief is that in order for a tragic
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Why do most teams go for the difficult win when they could go for the easy tie? The thinking that goes on after going for the win and losing is similar to what Oedipus from Sophocles’s Oedipus the King and Othello from Shakespeare’s Othello the Moor must think after they have lost everything they once had even though they didn’t have to. Oedipus the King, born royal, runs away from his prophecy to Thebes, his new land, where he completes what the prophecy had in mind. Othello the Moor, a general
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The next reason why Creon is a Sophoclean hero is that he strongly believes an idea, but later learns that his belief was incorrect. Throughout the play, he sticks to his law of punishing Antigone for the burial. It is not until Tiresias, a blind prophet, tells Creon that the gods are angry that Creon begins to realize his mistake. He tells the chorus, “Oh it is hard to give in! but it is worse/ To risk everything for stubborn pride.” (Scene 5 Lines 93-4). Here he is realizing his hamartia and starts
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What would you do if your choice was to save your name or get hung? Would you die? John Proctor died for his name. He signed a document saying he was a witch but then he thought to himself that if they posted that on the church door, he would lose his last name, meaning, his last name would not be a name people wouldn't want to hear. John Proctor was a tragic hero because, he died for his pride, his integrity, and hysteria. John Proctor had a few flaws; one of them that really hurt him was his pride
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During the course of the book Anthem, Equality transitions from feeling oppressed to being confident in himself. In the very beginning of the book while in his tunnel, Equality confesses, “We were born with a curse. It has driven us to thoughts which are forbidden. It has always given us wishes which men may not wish” (Rand 18). Equality thinks that he is different from everyone else because he does not conform like the others and he hates himself for it. Using the word “curse” in this phrase shows
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