Peripeteia

The tragic hero is one of the most commonly misused terms in literature. Although difficult to find a character fitting of these qualities, Shakespeare’s Macbeth is deserving of the tragic hero status. In accordance to Aristotle’s poetics, Macbeth is not all good and not all bad, he undergoes proper anagnorisis, as well as proper peripeteia, making him a tragic hero. To be a tragic hero, Aristotle writes in Poetics that the hero must be not all good and not all bad. Scholars who argue Macbeth is not a tragic hero say he is solely a tyrant. Conversely, in the beginning of the play, the sergeant refers to him as “brave Macbeth” (1.2.18), even comparing him to “sparrows eagles,/ or the hare the lion” (1.2.38-39). The sergeant is a first hand…

Sophocles’s award winning tragedy Oedipus Rex can be at times disturbing and gory, but it is attention grabbing overall. In a world where people are destined for good or evil and knowledge is blinded by ignorance, one can say it is a tale about life. A life in which one’s worst fears became reality and the truth is hidden behind a clear screen. The various symbols of Oedipus Rex help to illustrate the theme that the truth will always be revealed no matter how much one may deny it. The symbol…

William Shakespeare makes clear his admiration and interests in the Greeks. Whether Shakespeare references Greek mythology, such as Hymen, the Greek god who led a wedding procession or incorporating G reek conventions, Shakespeare did not fail to include his Greek interests in his plays. In what is known as Shakespeare’s biggest play, Hamlet, Shakespeare definitely incorporates the Greek conventions of peripeteia and anagnorisis. Hamlet is seen as one of the first characters to be similar to…

Macbeth is a classic Shakespearean play which outlines the rise and eventual fall of a general in Scotland due to his own actions and intentions. The play looks at Macbeth and his path through the royal hierarchy. Ultimately, the path chosen is not the wisest and leads to his drastic demise. A tragic hero is a common element within Shakespearean plays which is a highly esteemed/prosperous main character who falls into misfortune on account of his mistake(s) according to Aristotle. Macbeth…

tragedy “Antigone”, completed by Sophocles, is one of the three Theban plays. A piece of Greek mythology was created in 441 BC. Talking about the characters of the play, the foremost attention should be paid to protagonist and antagonist of the “Antigone”. The protagonist: Antigone The most likely candidate to be the protagonist of the “Antigone” is … Antigone. To my mind, there is a lot to discuss when it comes to Antigone. Of course, Creon is the one who spends more time on the stage, which…

would perform both comedies and tragedies. However, the most famous plays today are their tragedies. People have been performing in theaters in ancient Greece since the 6th century BCE. The Greeks would perform both comedies and tragedies. However, the most famous plays today are their tragedies. Fascinated by tragedies and their complex plots, people began to study tragedies to see if they could discover any correlations between different plays. Aristotle believed that in every good tragedy,…

In Ancient Greece, tragedies were seen as the best form of drama and were admired throughout Greece. Tragic heroes were the stars of these tragedies and were the key to an amazing ending that left the audience into a state of catharsis. Aristotle, a famous philosopher, created a guideline that a protagonist in a story MUST follow in order for the protagonist to be considered as a tragic hero. This hero is defined as an Aristotelian hero and must follow the five characteristics;…

whether a character is a tragic hero or not. Factors including: being of higher class, dying by the end of the literary work, and/or possessing a fatal flaw. The character Brutus is considered the tragic hero because he possesses a fatal flaw, he makes a judgement error that leads to his own destruction, and he experiences peripeteia. First, Brutus possesses the fatal flaw of being easily manipulated/tricked. This ultimately is Brutus’s downfall as he is easily controlled by his peers. In the…

War, death, humiliation, pride. All prove to be events in a tragic hero’s time of fame. According to Aristotle, a tragic hero should basically be a good man with a minor flaw or tragic trait, in his character. In Antigone, Antigone meets many of the requirements to be a tragic hero because of her suffering, but Creon comes out to be a stronger candidate in the tragedy. In Sophocles Antigone, Creon proves to be the tragic hero because of his hubris, pathos, and peripeteia. In every Greek…

The widely accepted definition of a tragic hero, a literary character who makes a judgement error that inevitably results in their destruction, was conceived by Aristotle. Aristotle's tragic hero must experience a flaw in judgement (hamartia), a reversal of fortune (peripeteia), and a realization that they caused their lot (anagnorisis); they ultimately receive a fate much harsher than deserved due to their hubris. John Proctor, the protagonist of Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible is this…