Hamartia

Shakespeare structured his work after ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle’s (384-322 B.C.) Poetics, the first book of Western literary criticism. In it, Aristotle discusses the characteristics of a tragic hero and the four elements of a tragedy: hamartia, peripety, anagnorisis, and catastrophe. In this paper, I analyze how Shakespeare implemented the Aristotelian standards of tragedy in Othello. Elaborating on the traits of a tragic hero, Aristotle writes that the necessary…

plays that he cannot simply be disregarded because of his autocratic personality. His presence should rather be seen as the thread that stitches everything together. The role of hamartia, however, is deeply rooted in The Oedipus Plays since each main character, Oedipus, Antigone, and Creon become victims of their own hamartia. One important characteristic of a tragic hero is their hubris or excessive…

A Different Strategy When there is no concept of hell, or any other horrifying threat, how is one supposed to keep robbers and murderers off the street? When one thinks about it, the truth is that many of us refrain from immoral activities not just because of the burden of wrongdoing that one will inevitably find, but also because in many religions, people are naturally petrified of going to hell or some other type of afterlife where they will be tortured for their sins on Earth. And even those…

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. The tragic hero of Sophocles Antigone, was Creon. Creon was a very headstrong and arrogant man who would never take advice from anyone and would…

philosopher Aristotle, defines a hero as “a person who must evoke a sense of pity and fear in the audience”, a person that is confronted with adversity and faces downfalls. Some of the characteristics that depict a tragic hero in Aristoteles’ eyes are Hamartia, Hubris, Peripeteia, Anagnorisis, and Catharsis. The tragic hero of The Crucible is John Proctor. He is considered a tragic hero because his character shows all the traits that would be found in a tragic hero, as described by Aristotle.…

described to have great misfortune that was not entirely deserved, ending in a fall, but not total destruction (Johnson and Arp, p.1249). In the drama, Oedipus Rex, Sophocles develops his tragic hero, Oedipus, through the establishment of noble stature, hamartia (tragic flaw), a downfall, and punishment greater than deserved; moreover, according to Aristotle’s…

A Tragic Hero The play I am writing about is Antigone by Sophocles, a greek tragic playwright. The main characters are Creon and Antigone, but as the play goes on it becomes more about Creon and his hamartia. Hamartia is a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero. A character named Teiresias who is a prophet serves as a foil for Creon’s character by highlighting Creon’s stubbornness, anger, and disrespect towards the other characters. When Teiresias passes his argument in…

Tabassom Abrari Professor Rima Gulshan English 112 12/14/2016 Antigone The tragic play “Antigone” was written by Sophocles, one of the three great writers of tragedies in ancient Greece. Antigone is one of Sophocles’ Theban plays. Theban Plays consist of three plays which are Oedipus the king, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone (Russello). These three plays represent the history and faith of Thebes during king Oedipus’ and king Creon’s Kingdom. The play starts with Antigone talking to her sister,…

The Tragic Hero in Macbeth Humans possess the gift of free will and the ability to make decisions, yet it is the consequence of these choices that determine one’s future. The story of Macbeth by William Shakespeare tells the tale of a virtuous thane’s transformation into a ruthless king. Driven by his lust for power, Macbeth becomes king by means of murder, forcing him down a path of wickedness as his conscience continuously deteriorates. In this story, Macbeth would be considered a…

possess. Creon is the character that best exemplifies Aristotle’s tragic hero because of his virtue, his hubris, and his realization of his fate; however, others may argue that Antigone is a better example of a tragic hero because of her virtue and her hamartia, but in fact, Creon displays more qualities of a tragic hero Aristotle has…