To Act or Not To Act: Tragic Flaws in “Hamlet” “Conscience doth make cowards of us all,” (Shakespeare 3.1.83). This quote from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a starting point to show a main characters tragic flaws. For Hamlet, the main character in the play, he often procrastinates in completing tasks. Moreover, even once he completes an action he tends to overthink his decision. By allowing Hamlet to have destructive flaws, one being procrastination and the second being indecisiveness it shows that these flaws bring Hamlet to his downfall. First of all, Hamlets fault of procrastination ends up leading to his downfall and inevitably kills him. Later on, Hamlet and Horatio are discussing the recent problems they have faced and in…
The Tragic Hero: Fated by Their Flaws In many pieces of literature throughout history the theme of tragedy has played a large role. One of the most well known types of tragedy is the downfall of a specific character in written works, known as the tragic hero. Herman Melville's Moby Dick and Shakespeare’s Macbeth demonstrate prime cases of the tragic heroes, how one dangerous flaw can over take a person leading to their ultimate demise and what that shows us about fate and free will. A…
Macbeth, was a play written by William Shakespeare in the 17th century. He wrote this paly to express ones mans desire for power, and what such a desire can cause. Macbeth, the main character of the play, is often said to be a terrible person, however he was not innately evil, He was a tragic hero, who's circumstances left him doomed to fall into madness. If it had not been for the whitches and his wife then the paly would have ended very differantly. Like Every tragice hero Macbeth had…
The downfall of mankind is an essential part of comprehending human nature. If there is nothing tragic, then inversely there is little happiness to be taken from comedy. Nonetheless, every tragedy requires a hero with a tragic flaw. The protagonist being human makes the character relatable and even more pitiful because the audience is aware that his inevitable downfall is to come. His tragic flaw not only harms himself but harms others in the story as well. Works such as Sophocles' drama Oedipus…
Tragic flaw: Who’s responsible In “The Birthmark”, both Aylmer and Georgiana was at fault in creating a downward spiral plummeting their happy romance into a devastating tragedy. One was through the obsession with perfection while the other was through love and compassion. In literature, a tragic flaw refers to when the main character ends up dead or defeated by a characteristic flaw that leads to their demise. “Hamartia” which was introduced by Aristotle, means that an error in judgment…
After becoming king due to the deaths of his two nephews in battle, each by the other’s hand, Creon displays the characteristics of a tragic hero due to his flaw of character, which leads to an error in judgement and then an irreversible mistake, an admission of his mistake and finally an excessive punishment for his failure. Creon’s tragic flaw, arrogance, is evident during his first lines of the play. He gives a speech addressing the battle and his new kingship. While establishing the first…
A tragic hero is a character that is a good person but has one tragic flaw that can cause their own downfall. After reading a book called Things Fall Apart, the main character Okonkwo became the target of interest to be analyzed. He was one of a few major leaders in a town called Umuofia in Africa. He has done many questionable things for example, he killed a young man that he looked at as his own son, he almost killed one of his wives, and he killed a visiting missionary. Although he has done…
3.47) hero with tragic flaws, or a robust general who is actually an aggressive coward. F.R. Leavis suggests that Othello “was responsible for his own downfall” (Warren, "Othello: York Notes for AS & A2"). While A.C. Bradley emphasizes “the newness of marriage makes his jealousy credible” (Warren, "Othello: York Notes for AS & A2"). Although Othello made irrational decisions, he was still a noble general who was blinded by jealousy and absolute passion. Throughout the play, Othello was…
Oedipus Rex, a tragedy written by Sophocles, features Oedipus as a tragic hero with an unavoidable fate. This tragedy explores Oedipus’ quest for his true identity. His search for Laius’ murderer leads him on a search for the truth regarding his birth. Eventually, Oedipus discovers he has committed murder and incest, resulting in his exile from Thebes and his ultimate downfall. According to Aristotle’s view on tragedies and tragic heroes, a tragic hero must possess a tragic flaw that leads to…
was called a hero because he won the battle between Scotland and Norway. This is when his tragic fall is about to begin, when three witches tell Macbeth that he is going to be Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland. Then he was eager to become king all of a sudden. When the three witches tell Macbeth that he was going to be king at that right moment, everything changed about Macbeth. At that time his mind started to become dark and have evil thoughts to become king, and that is when everything…