Assignment Paper-3

                                      Assignment

Name: Jalondhara Ravji. J.

Roll No: 35

Enrollment No: 2069108420180024

M.A. Sem-1

Year: 2017-18

Paper No: 3

Email Id: ravjijalandhara@gmail.com

Submitted To: Department of English, M.K. Bhavnagar University

Topic: Shakespeare’s play in Tragic Hero’s


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                                                          “Tragic Hero”

Ø Introduction:

            The tragic heroes in William Shakespeare's tragic plays often show repeating traits and parallelisms. Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear all show very similar attributes which all suggest a basic mold used by Shakespeare for his characters. Beyond the hamartia of pride, which is shown in all of Shakespeare's tragic heroes, a number of other flaws and quirks are repeated as well as basic beliefs and morals. This often repeated mold of a tragic hero has lasted well beyond Shakespeare's tragedies and has evolved to become the standard form for the tragic heroes of today's tragedies, both in literature and film.

           One theme used often by Shakespeare was insanity, whether faked, natural, or incited by wild emotions. Insanity moves between a number of his tragedies and is used to help set and advance the mood and theme often. In Hamlet insanity plays a major part in both the character development and the story line when Hamlet takes upon an antic disposition, or a feigned insanity, as a disguise so that he can learn many secrets. This insanity evolves into a temporary insanity incited by extreme emotion when Hamlet kills Polonius and ignores this act and also in the scenes where he jumps in a grave or the end where he kills his stepfather and uncle Laertes. This insanity of emotion then connects Hamlet to Othello-who is the tragic hero from Othello, a play which came a few years after Hamlet-as Othello commits acts of emotion and temporary insanity from his extreme emotions when he kills Desdemona or commits suicide.

Ø Hamlet as a Tragic Hero:

                 William Shakespeare, the greatest playwright of the English language, wrote a total of 37 plays in his lifetime, all of which can be categorized under tragedy, comedy, or history. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Shakespeare's most popular and greatest tragedy, displays his genius as a playwright, as literary critics
and academic commentators have found an unusual number of themes and literary techniques present in Hamlet. Hamlet concerns the murder of the king of Denmark and the murdered king's son's quest for revenge. Its main character, Hamlet, possesses a tragic flaw which obstructs his desire for revenge and ultimately brings about his death. This tragic flaw makes him a tragic hero, a character who is destroyed

               Shakespeare's play, Hamlet illustrates the tragedy of a young prince's pursuit to obtain revenge for a corrupt act, the murder of his father. As the exposition unfolds, we find Prince Hamlet struggling with internal conflict over who and what was behind his father's death. His struggle continues as he awaits the mystic appearance of a ghost who is reported to resemble his father. Suddenly it appears, proclaiming, "Pity me not, but lend thy serious hearing / To what I shall unfold". The ghost continues to speak providing an important clue: "The serpent that did sting thy father's life / Now wears his crown".

             In the history of literature, if the question of who was the most indecisive character was brought up, Hamlet would be a prime candidate. Hamlet had numerous chances to reap revenge for his father’s death but was only able to follow through after the accidental murder of his mother. Hamlet’s inability to make a decision ultimately leads to his demise, and for that is his tragic flaw.

                Next, Hamlet's flaw of irresolution is shown after his third soliloquy, the famed "To be or not to be…" lines. Hamlet directly identifies his own tragic flaw, remarking of his own inability to act. Hamlet, unsure whether or not the his uncle Claudius was responsible for his father's murder, schemes to have The Murder of Gonzago presented to the royal court, with a few minor changes, so its contents would closely resemble the circumstances behind the murder. Reflecting on his own guilt, he talks of death, referring to it as the undiscovered country, and then continues by riddling his own feelings. He declares "conscience does make cowards of us all" and that the natural ruddy complexion of one intent, or
resolute, on an action is "sicklied" over with the "pale cast of thought". This makes an individual second guess his own actions and often times take no action at all, due to his own irresolution.

                The tragedy of Hamlet, Shakespeare’s most popular and greatest tragedy, presents his genius as a playwright and includes many numbers of themes and literary techniques. In all tragedies, the main character, called a tragic hero, suffers and usually dies at the end. Prince Hamlet is a model example of a Shakespearean tragic hero. Every tragedy must have a tragic hero. A tragic hero must own many good traits, but has a flaw that ultimately leads to his downfall. If not for this tragic flaw, the hero would be able to survive at the end of the play. A tragic hero must have free will and also have the characteristics of being brave and noble. In addition, the audience must feel some sympathy for the tragic hero.

Ø Othello: The Tragic Hero:

              In William Shakespeare’s Othello, Othello is the tragic hero. He is a character of high stature who is destroyed by his surroundings, his own actions, and his fate. His destruction is essentially precipitated by his own actions, as well as by the actions of the characters surrounding him. The tragedy of Othello is not a fault of a single villain, but is rather a consequence of a wide range of feelings, judgments and misjudgments, and attempts for personal justification exhibited by the characters. Othello is first shown as a hero of war and a man of great pride and courage. As the play continues, his character begins to deteriorate and become less noble.

              The nature of Othello's character is of a dark man. Not only because he is black, but also because his whole person is very mysterious. He is mysterious in that he believes there is magic everywhere. With this dark side, he is also very outgoing, and not very bright. He is not observant and the schemes of Iago work well on him. For all the dangers and encounters he has been involved in, this man is still naive of the corruptness of other individuals. Othello has a trusting nature in which he gives it all. He put all his trust in Iago during times of war and during Othello's marriage to Desdemona. Everyone considered Iago as honest, and it would be out of character for Othello to believe any different. For example, Othello had told Duke:

          "So please your grace, my ancient; A man he is of honesty and trust. To his conveyance I assign my                                         wife, with what else needful your good grace shall think, To be sent after me"

                Even if Othello was not as trusting or corrupt, he still would not realize Iago was lying. Othello commits his first act of violence against Desdemona by hitting her. This shows now Othello's tragic flaw. He made himself susceptible to Iago and the jealousy within him begins to lead to the end of others.

             Othello has been described as one of William Shakespeare’s most popular plays because the play focuses on its themes of good and evil, military, politics, love and marriage, religion, racial prejudice, gender conflict, and sexuality; but the controversy and debate surrounding Othello is “Why is Othello a qualification for a tragedy?”
Most readers are aware of the many famous deaths or acts of death within the Shakespearean plays. And when the main characters die in Shakespeare’s plays, indeed, the readers would categorize the play as a tragedy.

               Othello is a tragic hero because of his greatnesses and his weaknesses. He is a noble man who possesses all the qualities of a military leader, which he is. He has control over himself and shows courage as well as dignity. Just as Othello is a virtuous man there are some flaws within him, these flaws complete him f as a tragic hero. Othello is often blinded by trust and can not see a person for who they really are. He trusts the people around him even when they mean to afflict harm upon him. Through this, it can be seen why Othello is one of the most tragic hero out of all the characters from Shakespeare’s many plays.

Ø Macbeth as a Tragic Hero:

             The play ‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare charts the rise and fall of the Scottish general Macbeth, through a tale of treachery, deceit and death. First performed in 1606 ‘Macbeth’ is inspired by a story of the Scottish monarchy. A tragic hero is one who at the outset is not wholly good or bad but has a character fault that causes them to make tragic mistakes resulting in their eventual downfall. ‘Macbeth’ is a renaissance tragedy and we can see that Macbeth’s decisions to move away from war hero to noble aggressor as an example of him being an archetypal renaissance tragic hero.

             Macbeth feels guilt at the very beginning and very end of the play, contributing to his weaknesses. This weakness is one that benefits Macbeth’s society, but is disadvantageous to his own cause. At the initiation of Macbeth, the title character’s plan to murder Duncan is almost overturned due to his own guilt.

              In the wake of King Duncan's murder, Macbeth is well liked and treated with respect by the people, but this soon changes as his character starts to shatter with the amount of power on his hands. In this second stage of Macbeth's life, we find him to be stronger, yet he does not use his strength and bravery to good use. His new found strength mixes with his paranoia and his appetite for power creating him into a tyrant king.

             Macbeth is an epitome of a tragic hero. He had a good nature, but was driven by greed and a quest for power. Macbeth had been a military hero, loved and praised by the people, but his blind ambition resulted in his destruction, and all his past greatness and happiness were lost. This essay will explore Macbeth’s path toward destruction and show how he became the epitome of a tragic hero.

             Macbeth was full of courage and bravery, yet he used it in sinful deeds. His murder to Duncan and crowned himself King was a sacrilege, but he did not exhibit any remorse and dared do anything to get rid of those who could threaten his power. His next wrong turn was to kill Banquo, as he feared that it would be Banquo's descendants to succeed to his throne as the witches cursed. He said, "¡Kin his (Banquo) death is perfect."

             We know that Macbeth has had enormous courage before, but there's a powerful irony manifesting itself in the fact that his evil has made him terrified of his inner self. He stands up to that fear and that terror--in fact throughout most of the second half of the play Macbeth is obsessed with removing his inner torment.

             In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth is a classic example of a tragic hero who is constantly struggling with his fate. In the opening scene of the play Macbeth receives a prophecy from three witches. They proclaim that he will be the thane of Cawdor. He responds by saying, “By Sinel’s death I know that I am thane of Glam is/ but how of Cawdor”.

              Macbeth is the epitome of a tragic hero who rises high then falls rock bottom to his death. Macbeth, once a noble man, follows the advice of witches, finds himself King, abuses his power and then gets killed. Macbeth goes through four stages until he reaches the end of his life; his original state, his tragic flaw, his downfall and finally his suffering. These four stages help to justify Shakespeare's tragic hero.

          A tragic hero is usually a person of high esteem or social ranking cursed with a flaw or obsession that will eventually lead to their demise. Macbeth is a tragic hero. Examining the events that occur as Macbeth travels the typical path of a tragic hero easily supports this claim.



           Before Macbeth is even introduced to the audience, Duncan and Ross speak of his greatness. When it is discovered that the Thane of Cawdor has surrendered, Duncan decides to give Macbeth this title: "What he hath lost noble Macbeth hath won". This lets the audience see Macbeth's rank, which starts him in the right direction for a tragic hero.

Ø To Wind up:

              A tragic hero is a character who attains a "heroic" stature, brought about after their downfall, which occurs as a result of the characters' own flaw. In this play, "Hamlet", Hamlet is perhaps a hero, but he is certainly a tragic hero. And in order to be a tragic hero, he must first have a flaw. Tragedy is defined as a drama or literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw . This tragic flaw is inborn to the main character. The tragic hero must be noble, having a higher stature than most men, must have a tragic flaw and this flaw must play the primary role in his downfall. In William Shakespeare's Othello, Othello is a tragic hero. William Shakespeare, in his play Macbeth, portrays his main character Macbeth as a classic tragic Hero. The play is the story of Macbeth's devious climb to the throne as King, and his own death affects on others' lives because of his chosen course, although fate shadows Macbeth's destiny, as a tragic hero, ultimately, he falls because he chooses one course of action over another. Characteristic of literary tragic heroes, Macbeth's primary flaw is his excessive pride.

Works Cited

https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Hamlet-as-a-Tragic-Hero-in-William-FK9W3AZVC.

www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/7808.html .