The Tragic Hero

Alyssa Bearoff

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 Defining Tragedy
• “tragedy shows us the downfall of a once prominent and
powerful hero” (http://condor.depaul.edu)
• Tragedy:
– “An imitation of an action that is serious, complete,
and of certain magnitude; in language embellished
with each kind of artistic ornament, the several
kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in
the form of action, not of narrative; through pity
and fear effecting the proper purgation of these
emotions” (The Poetics of Aristotle).



 Defining Tragedy
 Tragedy consists of:
 Plot
Recognition
 Thought
Reversal
 Character
Melody “ In ta lkin g o f tra g e d y , p e rh a p s w e
sh o u ld a vo id th e te rm ‘ fre e
 Magnitude w ill’ a n d u se ra th e r th e id e a o f
p a rticip a tio n in th e e n co m p a ssin g
Diction p ro ce ss w h ich w o u ld n o t b e q u ite th e
sa m e if w e w e re n o t h e re to
 Spectacle a ct a n d th in k a n d fe e l” ( Le e ch ).
What is a Tragic Hero?
• A literary character
that makes an error of
judgment or has a fatal
flaw that, combined with
fate and external forces
brings on a tragedy.
• In order for the tragic hero to
arouse these feelings in
the audience, he cannot be
either all good or all evil
but must be someone the
audience can identify with;
however, if he is superior
in some way(s), the tragic
pleasure is intensified. His
disastrous end results from
a mistaken action, which in
turn arises from a tragic
flaw or from a tragic error
 Characteristics of a Tragic
Hero
 "A man cannot become a hero
until he can see the root of his
own downfall” (Aristotle)
• “A man is usually a king or
prince either by right of birth
or through conquest or
usurpation” (Leech)
•
• Main pieces of a Tragic Hero’s
life:
•
 -Hamartia
Peripeteia
 Catharsis
• the purging of
emotions or • “Tragic catharsis,
purification however, cannot be
reduced to the
purgation of the
emotions. As
Aristotle put the
catharsis clause at
the end of the
definition of
tragedy, catharsis
must be the final
cause of making
tragedies and
represent the proper
effect of the
 Tragic Hero in Macbeth
• Has worked his way up
to be more and more
powerful, becomes
king which is noble
and a leader.
• Character that came
from an ordinary
background
• Flaw of wanting all the
power
• Reversal, people start to
fight against him
• The people of Scotland
are not as happy
• Tragic downfall where he
Catharsis in Macbeth
• Macbeth kills the king
out of want for power,
an outburst of emotion
because he cannot
hold back his desires.
• Killing of Banquo
because of fear, and a
“purification” of
emotions for killing
the king.
• Both of these are people
Macbeth was close to
 Work Cited
• "Aristotle Poetics Overview." Hawaii English. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2010.
<http://www.english.hawaii.edu/criticalink/aristotle/index.html>.
• Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com.
Web. 03 Feb. 2010. <http://www.dictionary.com>.
• "Elements of a tragic hero in literature - Shakespeare." Shakespeare -
Humanities & Social Sciences. Web. 03 Feb. 2010.
<http://shakespeare.learnhub.com/lesson/4435-elements-of- a-tragic-hero-
in-literature>
• Golden, Leon. "Epic, Tragedy, and Catharsis." JSTOR. The University of Chicago
Press, Jan. 1976. Web. 3 Feb. 2010. <http://www.jstor.org/pss/268520>.
• Kitano, Mashiro. "Tragic Catharsis in Poetics." GPWU. Bulletin of Gunma
Prefectural Women's
University, n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2010.
<http://www.gpwu.ac.jp/~kitano/papers/comic.html>.
• Leech, Clifford. Tragedy (Critical Idiom). New York: Routledge, 1969. EBSCOhost.
Web. 3 Feb. 2010.
• Simpson, David L. "Comedy and Tragedy." Condor Depaul. DepaulUniversity,
1998. Web. 3 Feb. 2010.
<http://condor.depaul.edu/~dsimpson/tlove/comic-tragic.html>.  
 Picture links
• http://www.stenudd.com/myth/greek/images/aristotle.jpg
• http://www.melbournecinematheque.org/2008/films/images/macb
• http://www-tc.pbs.org/shakespeare/images/works/hamlet-v2-post
• http://home.comcast.net/~lord_bezalel/theatre_of_tragedy-theatr
• http://personal.monm.edu/ysample/images/oedipus3.jpg
• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Death.jpg
• http://www.btrcc.lancs.sch.uk/curric/Key%20Stage%203_files/blac
jpg
• http://cahaly.net/gallery2/albums/Earth-Paintings/Global_Catharsi
• http://kelseybrongo.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/macbe

•
• http://www.twelfth-night.info/clicknotes/macbeth/Macbeth.jpg