Direct From Death Row The Scottsboro Boys

An increasing amount of contemporary literature traces its origins back to the early works of Greece. For ages, humans have fascinated themselves with the impossible notion of perfection. Unrealistic expectations placed on those who were thought to be the noblest or most honorable individuals have repeatedly led to disappointment and frustration, either on the part of those particular individuals or those they influence. Classic characters, like Odysseus and Oedipus for instance, exemplify the excess of some positive character trait, like pride or honesty, which ironically leads to their personal misfortune.

Shakespeare's play, “Othello, the Moor of Venice,” is a powerful example of a tragedy and it’s main character, Othello, is an excellent illustration of what Aristotle constitutes as a tragic hero. The play imitates life through basic human emotions such as jealousy and rage. In addition, Othello is far from being a perfect character - another quality that meets Aristotle's requirements. Othello also matches Aristotle's ideas of tragic hero because our Othello realizes the error of his ways, causing us to feel sympathy for him. If we carefully examine the third scene in the third act, we can see how Othello fits into Aristotle's definition of tragic hero. This passage reveals how much Othello has deteriorated as far as his ability to reason

In order to gain a proper perspective on the concept of what a tragic hero is, we must synthesize information from the following play’s, “The Death Of A Salesman”, and “Oedipus The King”. Both plays takes the stance on the idea that validates the ultimate notion,  “tragic hero. From Willy’s hubris personality to his questionable and mysterious death, to Oedipus dynamic and complex choices and kingly personality that determines his fate. A tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgement that leads to his/her downfall. In other words, even though both characters made incredible contributions and left a very noble legacy, their choices and decisions determined their ultimate fate. In today’s world tragic heroes are commonly present,

A “tragedy, for Shakespeare, is the genre of uncompensated suffering” (Dutton and Howard, 2003, p. 9). To really understand the play Othello is to truly understand a tragedy; thus, this researcher will analyze Aristotle’s view point and compare it to phrases (or quotes) from Shakespeare’s Othello.

Tragedy always involves human suffering, but not everyone who suffers is a Tragic Hero. According to Aristotle, there are five basic criteria that must be met for a character to be considered a Tragic Hero. Aristotle’s ideas about tragedy were recorded in his book of literacy theory titled Poetics. In it he has a great deal to say about the structure, purpose and intended effect of tragedy. His ideas have been adopted, disputed, expanded, and discussed for several centuries. In this essay, I will examine these criteria in regards to Antigone’s Creon, King of Thebes.

Classical tragedian Euripides’s play Medea is often hailed as a work of art and one of the best plays to survive from ancient Greece; however, if examined by Aristotle's standard, outlined in his book Poetics, it lacks all the necessary elements of a well-written tragedy. In his book, Aristotle clearly states that a good tragedy must imitate things as they have the possibility of being, but not merely recounting what has already taken place; they must incorporate peripety, recognition, a plot that meets his standards, a tragic hero, and catharsis.

‘Tragic hero’ and ‘tragedy structure’ are terms coined by ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, both informally defining the features a character must embody to be considered a protagonist. Sophocles play ‘Antigone’ includes Aristotle’s theories of ‘tragic hero and tragedy structure’ and personifies the features within his protagonist. The players of Antigone are introduced by the chorus as; ‘Antigone the girl who will rise up alone and die young,’ and ’Creon, king of Thebes, bound to the duties of rule’. Sophocles has included Aristotles ‘tragic hero’ traits in both the characters, and in this regard Creon takes the crown as protagonist, exemplifying all of Aristotle's features. In regards to Aristotles ‘tragedy structure’, Creon again fulfils

The extent of which Othello is a tragic hero has been open to much debate; the basis on which he is judged falls to Aristotle’s established view of the crucial elements that distinguish whether a person is truly tragic. According to Aristotle, a tragic protagonist is a nobleman or person from high status, who contributes to his own demise and illustrates a flaw or weakness in judgment. The tragic protagonist must make a fall from a high state of being to a low state or death. The tragic hero’s downfall, said Aristotle, was brought upon by some error of judgement. Aristotle’s theory is not the final word on tragedy, however it can support in pinpointing the pivotal traits in

            To identify the tragic hero in Sophocles’ renowned play “Antigone”, we should first consider both the elements present in Greek tragedies and what characteristics define a tragic hero. Aristotle’s definition of tragedy is: “Tragedy is a story taking the hero from happiness to misery because of a fatal flaw or mistake on his part. To be a true tragic hero he must also elicit a strong emotional response of pity and fear from the audience. This is known as catharsis or purging of emotion.” In most cases the tragic hero begins

Before beginning, however, it is necessary to examine the aim of Tragedy. A Tragic work, according to Aristotle, was simply one that showed men as better than they typically are in everyday reality. Tragedy served to show mankind at his noblest, without, however, depicting man as unreal or unbelievable. To represent a noble man

Oedipus is one of the most famous tragic heroes in drama history. His bizarre fate leads him to a tragic defeat that leaves the audience and reader feeling emotionally overwhelmed. According to Aristotle’s definition, Oedipus’ story makes him as a tragic hero. Oedipus is the personification of Aristotle’s characterization of a tragic hero through his ability to maintain and keep his virtue and wisdom, despite his shortcomings and situation in life. Aristotle’s observation of a tragic hero does not reveal the lack of morality or the evil of the character, based on an error in judgment. The tragedy and drama fit the Aristotelian characteristics of Oedipus.

The plot pattern of a tragedy has been used all throughout literature dating back to ancient Greece. The idea of a tragic hero originates from the great Greek philosopher Aristotle. Aristotle recognized a tragic hero as: a man of great importance, and in possession of a hamartia. This principal has been widely accepted. Although, Arthur Miller’s essay entitled “Tragedy and the Common Man” has given the world a new and modern view. Within his essay Miller states; “I believe that the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were.” (Miller, Tragedy and the Common Man). The truth in Miller’s statement is startling, as almost all tragic heroes are presented as kingly heroic figures. Yet, it is evident that once tragedies

exercising his free choice by making bad decisions . Oedipus certainly meets these portrayals of a tragic hero. The dialect of tragedy consists of two circles: one is a relative point and the other is impacted and the effect on its audience. Sophocles and Aristotle’s achieve that task with absolute clearness. The modern reader, coming to the classic drama not entirely to the enjoyment, will not always surrender himself to the emotional effect. He is apt to worry about Greek ‘fatalism’ and the justice of the downfall of Oedipus, and, finding no satisfactory solution for these intellectual difficulties, loses half the pleasure that the drama was intended to produce . In dramatizing stories, there will dependably blends of passionate sentiments, suspense, and fervor to discover what’s

Greek tragedy authors tend to use their writings as a means of social, political, and religious commentary. Both of the authors we read of, use their characters and the storyline development to test their reader’s moral boundaries.

In both ancient and modern theater, tragedy is prevalent. Audiences everywhere enjoy watching these stories of tragic heroes unfold as they experience catharsis or purgation of the emotions, leaving them feeling better instead of worse. After observing many tragedies in the fourth century B.C., Aristotle created a now famous description of tragedy and its heroes. He recognized tragic heroes had a tragic flaw or hamartia, were of high estate, eventually came to recognize their flaw (anagnorisis), experience a fall or reversal of fortune, and affect the audience, purging them of their hidden emotions. Both Othello and Troy Maxson possess some of these characteristics, however Troy Maxson should not be classified as a tragic hero like Othello