Topic- Tragic Hero

Name-  Mansi D Rajyaguru

Paper- Literary Theory & Criticism

Topic- Tragic Hero

Class- M.A 2 (Sem 1)

Year-2012-13

Submitted to,

Dr. Dilip Barad,

Dept of English,

M.K Bhavnagar University,

Bhavnagar.

Topic- Tragic Hero

A tragic hero, in Shakespeare and such, is a character born noble, but no necessarily virtuous. There is some aspect of his personality that he has in great abundance.

ie. great intelligence, ambition, honour.

*This great aspect of his personality is often his weakness, as well as his greatest personality trait, leads him into conflict. However often a lesser man would have been able to escape this tragic end because he wouldn't have this trait to such an abundance that it can interfere with his perceptions.

*During this conflict the hero is torn by internal struggles. This tragic flaw leading to either action or inaction is the beginning of the character's downward sprial, which was originally caused by his great character trait.

" It is his greatest attribute, and his greatest weakness. "

Definition of "TRAGIC FLAW"

a flaw in character that brings about the downfall of the hero of a tragedy

Aristotle on Tragedy : Tragedy depicts the downfall of a noble hero or heroine, usually through some combination of hubris, fate, and the will of the gods. The tragic hero's powerful wish to achieve some goal inevitably encounters limits, usually those of human frailty (flaws in reason, hubris, society), the gods (through oracles, prophets, fate), or nature. Aristotle says that the tragic hero should have a flaw and/or make some mistake (hamartia). The hero need not die at the end, but he/she must undergo a change in fortune. In addition, the tragic hero may achieve some revelation or recognition (anagnorisis--"knowing again" or "knowing back" or "knowing throughout" ) about human fate, destiny, and the will of the gods. Aristotle quite nicely terms this sort of recognition "a change from ignorance to awareness of a bond of love or hate."

 The Tragic Hero:

The tragic hero is "a [great] man who is neither a paragon of virtue and justice nor undergoes the change to misfortune through any real badness or wickedness but because of some mistake."

a) a great man: "one of those who stand in great repute and prosperity, like Oedipus and Thyestes: conspicuous men from families of that kind." The hero is neither a villain nor a model of perfection but is basically good and decent.

b) "mistake" (hamartia): This Greek word, which Aristotle uses only once in the Poetics, has also been translated as "flaw" or as "error." The great man falls through--though not entirely because of-some weakness of character, some moral blindness, or error. We should note that the gods also are in some  sense responsible for the hero's fall.

 Plot

Aristotle distinguished six elements of tragedy: "plot, characters, verbal expression, thought, visual adornment, and song-composition." Of these, PLOT is the most important. The best tragic plot is single and complex, rather than double ("with opposite endings for good and bad"--a characteristic of comedy in which the good are rewarded and the wicked punished). All plots have some pathos (suffering), but a complex plot includes reversal and recognition.

In literature, the tragic flaw is a character trait that brings about the downfall of the protagonist; ironically, in some works, this "flaw" is the character's greatest strength taken to an extreme. The tragic flaw may be a lack of judgment or self-knowledge, but most often it is pride or hubris. Regardless of intention, worthiness, station in life, or the character's best efforts, the tragic flaw will bring about the destruction of the character. Along with a change from ignorance to knowledge (anagnorisis) and a negative reversal of fortune (peripeteia), the tragic flaw (hamartia) is one of the three necessary elements of a classic tragedy.

My Views on tragic hero and "Hamartia"

According to Aristotle in his work "Poetics" a tragic hero is "A man not pre-eminently virtuous and just, whose misfortune is brought upon him not by vice and depravity but by some error in judgment.

The story starts with the narrator explaining how Santiago, the old man, had gone 84 days without catching a fish.

Here in this novel the hero Santiago has an error of judgment. Owing to his pride, he goes too far in the sea. Though he is too old to sail or catch fish, he goes too far in the sea and the result of the story clearly shows hubris caused his defeat. If he had gone out too far for the fish, he wouldn't have lost the fish. Here one can see the error of Judgment in the character of Santiago.

         One can say that the old man broke the rules of fisherman by going out too far. That was the sin of arrogance for that he is punished by losing the fish. So with the help of the character of Santiago we can say that he is a tragic hero with hamartia.