Hamartia

There are many things that can define the qualities of a person as a whole. In general, a person is defined by the things that they like or dislike, what they do, and how their actions affect others. Many people like to believe the best of themselves, but really their perceptions are skewed due to their point of view. Okonkwo, a character from Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, thinks highly of himself as a man, but in reality his actions contradict many things that he stands for.…

context, Macbeth highlights that excessive and disproportionate hubris will have terrible, tragic consequences. In the beginning, Macbeth’s ambition has been fuelled by devious characters such as Lady Macbeth and the three witches; this reveals the hamartia of the protagonist and the irreversible perversion of his moral compass. Shakespeare’s intent in this play is to convey the psychological and character impact that comes with excessive power and its abuse, obsession and particularly,…

Antigone is very prideful, a hamartia which drives her to purposefully defy the laws of the state and blinds her to the consequences her actions might bring, ultimately leading to her demise. Antigone knowingly disobeys the laws of her ruler by burying her brother, Polyneices, and is proud to do so out of the conviction to remain loyal to her family and the laws of the gods. Polyneices died in battle as a traitor to the country of Thebes and King Creon has insisted that “no traitor is going to…

in the text. Although the achievement of creating life is mesmerizing, Frankenstein has played with fire and that decision echoes throughout the novel, which is full of references to fire and imagery that contrasts light and dark. Frankenstein’s hamartia is seen in “Life and death appear to me ideal bounds which I should first break through and pour a torrent of light onto our dark world”. These moments suggest that not only the spark of Prometheus’s fire but the power of radical ideas to…

In search of the American dream, one may unknowingly have their lives corrode away little by little. In Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman is out in search the American dream, seeking to become wealthy in order to love and support his family. However, a crucial flaw suspends him from success, causing him to almost perfectly fit into Aristotle’s ideology of a tragic hero. Yet Arthur Miller does not create Willy as one among kings, rather Miller forges an everyday man, with the same potential for…

In The Cask of Amontillado and The Tell-Tale Heart, Poe showcases a unique style of writing, rendering unique pieces of literature. These stories are within the genres of horror and romanticism, however, Poe does not conform to these genres as they were in the 19th century. Poe branches out of horror and romanticism, developing gothic romanticism and pioneering psychological horror. Aspects of both genres are distinguishable and apparent in both texts. This is because Poe uses narration and…

Antigone's hamartia was her extreme devotion towards her family. Antigone thought it was desperately important to give her brother a proper burial. She was so determined to honor her blood that when she asked Ismene to help Ismene refused and Antigone still didn’t give…

Macbeth Macbeth’s path leads to his own downfall. Through his choices, personality, and sense of right and wrong he slowly becomes a power-thirsty tyrant. All these ingredients mix together to create “an untitled tyrant bloody-scepter 'd” (4.3.104). Hamartia is a big word for a fatal flaw. All of Shakespeare 's tragic heroes have a fatal flaw. For Brutus in Julius Caesar it was that he saw the world the way…

THE INTUITIVE BOND BETWEEN KEATS AND BATALVI A born-romantic, lonely and passionate singer, like Keats and Shelley, Batalvi had a intuition of his untimely doom : "This lyric of mine took birth with me, And with me it's to sojourn to Heaven. I'll sing my own song and depart the next dawn." Lovelorn poet Batalvi, physically also resembled Keats. And almost all his lyrics were addressed to some "La Belle Dame Sans Merci." During his…

Lady Macbeth is equally to blame for the murder of Duncan as she took advantage of Macbeth’s hamartia, influencing him to kill Duncan. As a result, Macbeth made errors in judgment that guided him to commit the deed that leads to his downfall. In addition, disgrace is the most powerful punishment one must face. When confronted by MacDuff, Macbeth…