"A man cannot become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall”‚ a wise quote from Aristotle himself. Aristotle defines a tragic hero as one who is born of a noble status‚ one who contains a tragic flaw‚ one who has a reversal of fortune‚ one who has an increase of self-awareness‚ and one who evokes pity or fear from the audience. Considering these particular characteristics‚ Brutus fits the bill as the tragic hero of William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. William Shakespeare
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Sophocles‚ contains a very prominent tragic hero: Oedipus. A tragic hero‚ by Aristotle’s definition of one‚ must possess six traits. One of them is that the tragic hero must be of noble stature. Another trait of a tragic hero is a tragic flaw. A third trait defined by Aristotle is that a tragic hero must have a period of recognition of his crimes. Oedipus strongly displays each of the three aforementioned‚ necessary traits; and he is‚ then‚ an obvious tragic hero. Oedipus’ noble stature is immediately
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In Shakespeare’s plays‚ tragic heroes are described as a person of high status having poor judgement and fatal flaws‚ leading to their realization and downfall. In the play‚ The Tragedy of Julius Caesar‚ Shakespeare retells the story of Julius Caesar attaining victory against Pompey. Cassius explains to Brutus how Caesar’s ambition could destroy Rome‚ convincing him that Caesar is not fit to be an emperor. Brutus agrees and decides to help assassinate Caesar for the sake of Rome. By analyzing The
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nowadays consist of people who fight for justice and those whose stories are not so tragic. Well‚ throughout our past history‚ the stories of heroes were very tragic and sometimes emotional. These stories were made that way due to a man named Aristotle. Aristotle was an ancient Greek Philosopher who had created many ideas and philosophies‚ even in literature. One of his most famous contributions to literature are his ideas about a form of story-writing called tragedies. Aristotle had basically developed
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The difference between being a tragic character and a tragic hero depends on the role of the main character in the play. In Death of a Salesman and Oedipus‚ the main characters undergo a tragedy at the end of the story when they overcome a self realization. The arrogance that is seen through the storyline of these plays‚ allows the two characters to relate to one another. Willy‚ the main character in the play Death of a Salesman written by Arthur Miller is an average man in the city that lies to
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Hamlet The Tragic Hero The playwright William Shakespeare reveals a tragic hero in his greatest tragedy "Hamlet". This hero is the young prince Hamlet. He fulfills all of Aristotle’s requirements for a tragic hero. Three key events in the play demonstrate these requirements: First‚ when Hamlet does not murder Claudius at his first opportunity after being asked by his father’s ghost‚ Secondly‚ his confrontation with Ophelia regarding her returning his gifts‚ and lastly his reaction to Claudius’s
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Introduction Death of a Salesman reveals the story of an American man confronting failure in a success-driven society and shows the tragic path which eventually leads to his suicide. Willy Loman believes in what he considers the promise of the American Dream wholeheartedly‚ which is based on the Declaration of Independence stated by Thomas Jefferson in 1776: "We believe that all men are born with these inalienable rights - life‚ liberty and the pursuit of happiness."(Malone‚ 28) However‚ Willy
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Hamlet as a Tragic Hero By‚ Kassidy Neudorf What is a tragic hero? Well‚ according to most critiques on the Internet‚ it is simply a “protagonist of a tragedy”. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet‚ Hamlet is the Tragic Hero. Most tragic heroes contain a tragic flaw‚ so what tragic flaw of Hamlet makes him the tragic hero of this story? It may be his lack of motivation to take action; in other words‚ procrastination. Or how he does not have a concept of balance between reality itself and contemplation over
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Oedipus; The Tragic Hero In the Fourth Century BC‚ a famous philosopher named Aristotle wrote about the qualities that a tragic hero must possess. Ever since that time‚ there have been many examples of tragic heroes in literature. None of those characters‚ however‚ display the tragic hero traits quite as well as Oedipus‚ the main character from the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. Oedipus is‚ without a doubt‚ the absolute quintessence of a tragic hero. His example shines as clear as a sunny summer
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Characteristics of a Tragic Hero He must be; better than we are; a man who is superior to the average man in some way. In Oedipus case‚ he is superior not only because of social standing‚ but also because he is smart he is the only person who could solve the Sphinx riddle. At the same time‚ a tragic hero must evoke both pity and fear‚ and Aristotle claims that the best way to do this is if he is imperfect. A character with a mixture of good and evil is more compelling that a character who is merely
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