The Tragic Hero of Drama
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The tragic hero derives from the Greek drama, as elucidated by the criticism of Aristotle in particular. Tragedy in this conception is struggling against something over which we really have no control, and the tragedy develops from a recognition of the futility of the struggle, leading to the resignation of the tragic hero to his or her fate and indeed even to the embracing of that fate. The hero often knows his fate but still does not see it coming, as it were. He or she then takes responsibility for that failure--this is the lesson learned and imparted to the audience and only reinforces the power of the gods and the need for the human spirit to obey. Underlying the actions of the tragic hero is a fatal flaw in his character, and it is because of this flaw that he or she is not able to escape fate. The flaw is usually a form of pride, but it need not be that particular characteristic. As developed by Shakespeare, the flaw and its consequences can be seen to take different forms in different plays and always to emphasize both the blindness of the hero in not seeing what is happening to him beforehand and/or his inability to do anything other than what he does. This conception of tragedy has been emphasized in slightly different ways in different time periods, as can be seen in a comparison of the heroes of Sophocles Oedipus, Shakespeare's Hamlet, and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. Aristotle approaches different subject matter with a similar methodology while a
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use he is seen as passive rather than active for most of the play. Early in the play he is charged with the task of avenging his father, a task given him by his father's ghost, and yet for most of the play he does nothing about it. He is highly reflective but inactive until the very end of the play when he does his duty, destroys the man who killed his father, and is himself destroyed. Critics have pondered the question of why he waits so long. Hamlet is called upon to kill Claudius and so to revenge his fathers' death. and this act will also restore order to the kingdom. Many critics find that his supposed hesitation is due to circumstances also beyond his control, related to the social and political realities of the time. This hesitation may be the tragic flaw that the tragic hero must possess, and yet if this is so it is different from the tragic flaw of any other tragic hero. For one thing, the crime Hamlet is to avenge is not of his making--he is not atoning for any error on his part and is instead carrying out a son's duty imposed directly by the father's ghost. He will be destroyed for doing so.
Hamlet is tragic because of the position in which he finds himself and because as the son of the king he has to sacrific
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2021
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)
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