A tragic hero is a person of noble birth that displays heroic traits; however, is fated by supernatural forces to live a life of suffering and in most cases, end with a tragic death. Miloš Forman’s One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society both have characters that display the essential qualities of a tragic hero. In One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the main character, Randle McMurphy is a patient at a mental institution who cares deeply about his friends that he met there. He tries to help them seize back some power that Nurse Ratched has stolen from them with her rules. In Dead Poets Society, the main character, John Keating is a newly hired English teacher who comes into the lives of these students and changes their…
Aristotle said, a tragic hero is a man of noble stature. He is not an ordinary man, but a man with outstanding quality and greatness about him. His own destruction is for a greater cause or principle. The novel, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, is about a young man, Christopher Johnson McCandless, who leaves his whole life behind to go live in the Alaskan wilderness. Chris is a great example of a tragic hero because he did not agree with society and abandoned all his worldly possessions to find himself and discover his true identity.…
A tragic flaw is an error in judgement or a weakness in a character, such as pride or arrogance. (Literature 1058) Creon the tragic hero has a tragic flaw of hubris or excessive pride that leads to his terminal downfall. Sophocles develops the tragic hero in the Greek Tragedy Antigone to be Creon because he suffered the most, he recognizes his own error after it's too late and his downfall is caused by his tragic flaw of hubris.…
Tragic Hero To be a tragic hero a person must be high born, have a tragic flaw, a flaw that causes their downfall and have a catharsis. In the story “Antigone” by Sopholes a tragic hero is described exactly by those four components. A person can not be defined as a tragic hero unless they consist of all those components. In “Antigone” a character by the name of Creon is born into a royal family and eventually becomes king over his capital.…
Two female characters, Marji from Persepolis, and Tambu from Nervous Conditions, go through struggles to overcome entrapment and ultimately escape. Throughout these two novels, Marji and Tambu both embody most of the ten characteristics of an archetypal female hero. Marji and Tambu both experience gender expectations, become an outcast, and go on a journey to create a better life. Also, in the beginning of both novels, Marji and Tambu live an ordinary life, then confront gender oppression, decide to act, and finally create a new beginning. Marji, from Persepolis, is forced to go through these experiences because of the circumstances of her society.…
Alex Stidham English III Dobson March 16, 2017 Jay Gatsby a Tragic Hero A tragic hero is defined as a man of man of noble stature. Not an ordinary man, yet a man with greatness and outstanding quality about him. His own destruction is meant for a greater purpose of cause. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is a great example of a tragic hero, he is a dreamer who wishes to fulfill his romantic dreams and his ideal by winning the heart of the love of his life, Daisy.…
A tragic hero is described as “a virtuous character that is destined for downfall, suffering or defeat”. Tragic heroes also tend to possess tragic flaws. In the movie Beowulf, Beowulf was a powerful Viking that sailed to Geatland to slay a demon named Grendel. Beowulf contained several tragic flaws, which soon led him to his death. Beowulf was boastful, greedy and extremely lustful.…
What is a tragic hero to you?Aristotle defined a tragic hero as someone who was of noble birth and has a tragic flaw that ultimaly leads to his or her own destruction. An aristolian tragic hero was designed to die or suffer at the end. He said a tragic hero MUST have these certain 5 traits.1) is of noble birth or has noblness.2) A fatal flaw,this flaw is often hubris.3) A reversal of fortune brought about because of the heros main error,hero dies.4)…
A tragic hero is a person with heroic potential who is fated by some supernatural force, eventually leading to destruction or to great suffering. F. Scott Fitzgerald, wrote one of his utmost famous novels, The Great Gatsby, that focused on Jay Gatsby, a romantic fantasist who wishes to fulfill his American Dream by flaunting his wealth in hopes of impressing and eventually winning the heart of the love of his life, Daisy. Gatsby’s tragic flaws lie beneath his incapability to view reality, which leads to his downfall. Similarly, in the play Othello by William Shakespeare, Othello, a Christian Moor, is a powerful and respected figure to those around him. Despite this, he is an easy target to approach because of his race, age, and life as…
Throughout human history, recurring stories and themes pop up around the world, crossing borders of both language and culture. Though they can vary from tales of a great flood to how the world came to be, the most common and easily-identifiable is the Hero’s Journey. Outlined by Joseph Campbell, the Hero’s Journey is the story of a great person travelling to a strange, otherworldly place (literal or metaphorical,) facing a fearsome enemy, and returning to the “normal” world having gained wisdom and experience. The most famous of these tales, like The Odyssey or the Epic of Gilgamesh, have masculine heroes, defined by traits like bravery, strength, or fearlessness. However, two famous stories of a descent into a literal and metaphorical underworld…
Who is the tragic hero of Antigone? When the word. ‘Tragic hero’ is mentioned, many individuals visualize a tragic hero as a character whom plays the role of both a victim and as a hero of a plot of the story. Occacionately, others view a tragic hero as someone who derives from being a main hero, or main character, to being the compassionate victim.…
What do you think makes a tragic hero? According to “an old dead Greek dude”, otherwise known as Aristotle, the very same who created the guidelines of what would qualify as “a good body of text”, a tragic hero is noble or wise, has a fatal flaw, a reversal of fortune, a realization that their fatal flaw is what caused their misfortune, and a greater fate than they deserved. I personally completely agree with Aristotle’s ideas of a tragic hero. They need to be noble or wise so the audience can have some form of respect for the character. They also need their fatal flaw so the audience can relate to the character and be able to put themselves in their position, ultimately making them think about the situation through their own eyes.…
What is a tragic hero? A tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgement error that inevitably leads to his or her own destruction. The story of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley revolves around a young scientist who is mesmerized by the ideas of science. In the story, he focuses on the idea of scientifically creating life. This fascination leads to the creation of a horrid creature and the start of Victor Frankenstein’s downfall.…
A tragic hero is someone who is of high position in his culture. A tragic hero, is extraordinary, however not perfect. The audience is able to relate to him or her as a human being. The hero 's downfall is the result of a fatal flaw in his character. It is the result of free will, not of an accident or insignificant destiny.…
To be a tragic hero one must possess nobility, misfortune, recognition, tragic flaw, irony, and catharsis. These elements characterize the strength of a true tragic hero. Each aspect allows those to understand the meaning, the motive, and the misery each tragic hero faces. Tragic heroes overcome what most cannot, and still thrive for greatness in the mix of it all. Any hero must obtain a noble birth; must be a great warrior, must be known for his heroic acts, and must face supernatural foes or receive supernatural help.…