Avery Kohler
AP English 12 Hour 2
Julien
8 January 2018
Excessive Pride
It is a commonly known occurrence, in real life and in literature, of someone who has excessive pride to allow it to alter their attitude and personality and affect their fate. In many cases, having this pride can lead to a fatal or tragic flaw. In ancient Greek tragedy, heroes tend to have incredible amounts of pride which causes imprudence and their destiny is altered because of this pride. This is known as hubris. With this hubris comes hamartia, where the character’s fate stems from a tragic flaw. In Shakespeare’s well-renowned play, Hamlet, the protagonist, Hamlet, is a victim of great hubris. Throughout the novel, Hamlet is continuously attempting to determine factors
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Because of his pridefulness, as he is trying to avenge his father’s death, he consistently has the inability to act until the end of the novel. This is Hamlet’s fatal flaw. One of the best examples of hubris, other than Hamlet, is in Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex. In this novel, Oedipus suffers from excessive pride, this pride being his tragic flaw. Because of his extreme pridefulness, Oedipus tries to defy his destiny from the gods, but eventually he realizes that he could never escape his fate and does exactly what he was warned against. Hubris in real life can be reflected through the many dictators in our world’s history. Not only can many dictators be characterized with extreme pride, mainly because of their associates who provided constant praise, but with this trait leads to an inevitable downfall. Characters and people who carry a hubristic trait seem to be quite ignorant, while Oedipus and Hamlet may not have been in the same situation, the two have many similar traits personality-wise. Hamlet expresses his hubristic trait when it comes to someone other than himself, he tends to lack compassion and be more selfish than anything. Moreover, the use of hubris and hamartia in Hamlet,
Within everyone's lives, self-motivation affects the relationships that one has with others. In William Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark,” characters struggle with adherence as they continually attempt to benefit themselves. Throughout the play, very few genuine friendships with loyalty were recognizable as the characters seek revenge to deceive Hamlet in the time of King Hamlet's murder. When the benevolence and sincerity were true as Horatio had shown, personal gain did not interfere. This compares to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s fake affair, who harmed to better themselves. Finally, Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude shows betrayal towards Hamlet, with the marriage of Claudius.
In William Shakespeare’s tragic drama Hamlet, the hero, Hamlet, appears to be guilty of hubris, an overstepping of the bounds of both his and humanity’s destinies, which ultimately leads to his downfall. Reading the play with a consideration as to how Hamlet’s hubris manifests itself sheds light on why he performs certain actions, and simultaneously enlightens the reader to the dangers of attempting to overstep the confines of humanity. In this essay, I will prove that Hamlet has extreme pride, and is therefore guilty of hubris; in accordance with Harold Skulsky’s assertion in his article, ““I Know My Course”: Hamlet’s Confidence,” Hamlet is hubristic because while he believes that his own soul is impenetrable based on his external
Throughout history, class distributions have constantly been a serious issue. Many compositions today display social disparity; however, to recognize it, one needs to look through the proper lens. Literary critical lenses help to understand a work from a different angle which leads to a further interpretation of the composition. There are many lenses and aspects in literature, and one of them is the Marxist Theory. Also known as the Conflict Theory, this idea asserts that class struggle is a powerful divider in society. Although it is a social idea, this concept also relates to literature. In his play Hamlet, William Shakespeare demonstrates class struggles. Looking at this composition through the lens of the Marxist Theory, one uncovers that the dominant ones suppress and exploits the others seeking to display their superiority.
Prince Hamlet's decision to feign madness does not follow the traditional method of a tragic hero's flaw being associated with an internal weakness such as having too much pride, ambition, or passion that causes his fall from happiness into destruction. For example, the Greek philosopher Aristotle defined the tragic hero with Oedipus as the archetype: a great man at the pinnacle of his power who, through a flaw in his own character, topples, taking everyone in his jurisdiction with him. In contrast, Prince Hamlet pretends to feign madness because he wants to have more time to plot his plan of revenge, which includes spying on his mother and uncle. He admits his decision as he tells Horatio, "How strange or odd some'er I bear myself- / As I perchance hereafter shall think meet / To put an antic disposition on" (1.5.170-72). Once more the
In Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Hamlet, a studious young man and Prince of Denmark, struggles to face the death of his father and the task to kill his father’s murderer, Claudius. He was once known as a charming, smart young man before his father’s death. However, Hamlet experiences depression and anger at the world, causing him to look outwardly on society but failing to look inwardly on himself. The death of his father and the task for vengeance leads him to question whether or not he should follow through in killing Claudius. He becomes a man of thought rather than a man of action. In addition, the delay of King Claudius’ murder leads the readers to believe that he wishes not to kill him; he
In the scene where Oedipus sends for Tiresias, the blind prophet, Tiresias says to him, “So, you mock my blindness? Let me tell you this. You with your precious eyes, you’re blind to the corruption of your life” (Oedipus Rex Line 468). It is pretty ironic actually, that a blind man can clearly see Oedipus’s corruption when, Oedipus himself is left unaware. In most cases of hubris behavior the individual believes they are so prideful, they actually believe they’re on the same level with God. It is clear that Oedipus has the same perspective of his life, and of his power. Hubris behavior is a tragic flaw, in which the individual is only setting themselves up in order to fall.
Everyone has flaws. Someone may get a little too angry and saw something they do not mean. Maybe someone's pride stops them from asking for help when they need it. Either way, no one is perfect; hubris always finds a way to ruin peoples lives. Sophocles’s two plays Oedipus the King, and Antigone are prime examples of how hubris can lead to ones ultimate downfall, which can be seen through the characters Antigone, Oedipus, and Creon.
Hubris is Oedipus's tragic flaw. He is now overly full of himself because: he rescued the city of Thebes from the Sphinx, people admire him, the citizens worship him as if he were an idol, the citizens think of him as their hero, and the Thebans have such a high esteem for him, that they made him King. One instance that proves he is filled with overbearing pride is when he proclaims, "I, Oedipus, a name that all men know." (8) This statement also brings about irony. It is ironic because his name will be remembered and well-known everywhere--as a polluter, the
Custer’s Last Stand. The Battle of Stalingrad. Napoleon’s Russian Campaign. The introduction of the Pontiac Aztek. All epic failures, yes, but moreover, all epic failures caused by arrogance on behalf of the aggressor. Custer’s rampant jingoism caused him to assault those Native Americans with only a meager squad of troops. Napoleon’s Napoleon complex pushed him to drive his troops thousands of miles across Eurasia only to face the Red Army in winter. GM’s bravado at an upswing in the market cycle led it to release a hideous crossover with no true target audience. Whether it is some raging lust that blinds us to our faults or an innate flaw that leads us to secretly desire carnage and disorder, pomposity is often the cause of the pockmarks
One of the elements that can be compared in the plays “Hamlet”, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, and “Agamemnon” is hamartia. Attempt has been made to analyse the main characters’ personality traits and provide the reader with specific examples that help to clarify how hamartia is present in each of the three plays. In order to analyse all the three characters’ personalities and their roles in the plays, it would be best to know first what hamartia means to further connect them with this element. By definition, hamartia is a flaw in the hero’s personality that allows them to commit certain tragic or fatal
“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness ‘’, a quote by Martin Luther King. This quote relates to one of the principal themes in Hamlet. As a synonym for selfishness, greed also ties in to the theme of the play. The egocentricity of the character Claudius and his brother King Hamlet had a very large impact on several lives. He is the perfect example of ‘’one must do whatever it takes ‘’.
The theme of hubris can be seen throughout Oedipus The King, and is the reason for the downfall of more than one character. Oedipus’ parents, are the first to commit hubris; instead of letting destiny take its course, they acted as if they were more powerful. They attempted to destroy their child and change their fate. Oedipus’ adoptive parents also commit hubris, as they lie to him about his past. Like his parents, Oedipus’ believes that he can change his own destiny. His hubris leads to him being irrational, and jumping to conclusions without first analyzing things. This is what leads him to eventually kill his biological father. Oedipus might have been able to save his biological mother’s life, had he not been too
In the tragedy play “Hamlet” written by William Shakespeare, had an underlying theme of heroism. Throughout the entire play, Hamlet has proven himself to be a hero in disguise. He is a good representation of how an ordinary individual can be a hero. However, as we continue to read the play, we soon discover that he is incapable of certain things and carry traits that go against what a typical hero is believed to have. Hamlet is not the stereotypical hero you would expect. Instead, he is a flawed hero. Every time we look at Hamlet, he is different, unpredictable, but never cease to surprise us with his acts. Our relationship with Hamlet changes each time we read the play. The play offers a different standard than what is typical for what defines
Individuals are often put into situations in which they must compromise their happiness to achieve what they desire. The loss of this happiness can be extremely detrimental to the individual's emotional state. In the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare explores the idea of how happiness can be conceded in the pursuit of ones’ goals and how conceding this happiness has negative impacts. Hamlet, the main character of the play, is pushed into a situation where he must murder his uncle to avenge his father. In Hamlets’ pursuit of this goal, he sacrifices his freedom, his love, and his overall well-being, leaving him an emotionally broken individual.
Hubris is defined as excessive pride or self-confidence, while fate is defined as the supposed force, principle, or power that predetermines events. Ancient Greeks believed in Hubris, or pride. Pride may have been seen as good or bad. Many people that exhibit pride may come off as being proud of their achievements or lives; however, pride can rise to levels in where it may annoy or offend others. Therefore, pride may cause ones downfall. Sometime fate can also cause ones’ downfall such as pride. , since events in someone’s life are predestined. In a play, there may be such a