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The Tragic Hero of Drama

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 also varying his method to the degree necessary to cope with the different subject matter. In his Poetics, Aristotle begins by making a statement of his purpose:

The subject I wish to discuss is poetry itself, its species with their respective capabilities, the correct way of constructing plots so that the work turns out well, the number and nature of the constituent elements [of each species], and anything else in the same field of inquiry (Aristotle 540).<...

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The Tragic Hero of Drama. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 09:02, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1690093.html