...Hamartia in Oedipus the King According to the Aristotelian characteristics of good tragedy, the tragic character should not fall due to either excessive virtue or excessive wickedness, but due to what Aristotle called hamartia. Hamartia may be interpreted as either a flaw in character or an error in judgement. Oedipus, the tragic character in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, certainly makes several such mistakes; however, the pervasive pattern of his judgemental errors seems to indicate a basic character flaw that precipitates them. Oedipus’ character flaw is ego. This is made evident in the opening lines of the prologue when he states "Here I am myself--you all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus." (ll. 7-9) His conceit is the root cause of a number of related problems. Among these are recklessness, disrespect, and stubbornness. Oedipus displays an attitude of recklessness and disrespect throughout the play. When he makes his proclamation and no one confesses to the murder of Laius, Oedipus loses patience immediately and rushes into his curse. Later, he displays a short temper to Tiresias: "You, you scum of the earth . . . out with it, once and for all!," (ll. 381, 383) and "Enough! Such filth from him? Insufferable--what, still alive? Get out--faster, back where you came from--vanish!" (ll. 490-492) If an unwillingness to listen may be considered stubbornness, certainly Oedipus would take advice from no one who would tell him to drop the matter of his...
Words: 4487 - Pages: 18
...Poetics A tragic hero according Aristotle’s Poetics, is an ideal noble man with a flaw. Oedipus fits into the context of a flawed man, a man with given stature, and catharsis that propel him into a tragic hero. Oedipus as a tragic hero is caring concerned king whom the people trusted and loved. However, his impulsive temper caused him to make mistakes. On, the other, hand, Willie Lowman was a tragic hero as he was ready to lay down his love for the love of his family. Miller gives the flawed sense of a tragic hero in the sense of personal dignity that Lowman is willing to fulfill even in his death. The characteristics that Miller offers in terms catharsis and stature fits Lowman, he involved himself in a car accident so that his son Biff could use the insurance money to start a business and become a successful person in the society. This paper will discuss Willie Lowman, and Oedipus, as tragic heroes based on the stature, tragic flaw, and catharsis in their respective stories. A tragic hero according to Miller is a common person as opposed to the belief that a tragic hero must be a form of a king. He says, “we are often held to be below tragedy or tragedy below us……… that tragedy fits only for the highly placed… where this admission is not made in so many words it is often implied.” A tragic hero, therefore, is a common and both a highly placed person in the society. The belief that tragedy does not affect a common forces Miller to use a common, in his, novel as the tragic hero. Willie...
Words: 995 - Pages: 4
...Sophocles' Oedipus is a perfect fit to Aristotle's Ideal Tragic Hero. Oedipus follows all of the rules, with a hamartia, an anagnorisis, and a peripeteia. The audience is introduced to the hamartia, or tragic flaw, of Oedipus early in the play. Oedipus believes he can dodge the oracle given to him at Delphi that he will kill his father and marry his mother. By leaving the city of Corinth and heading to Thebes, Oedipus thinks that he can outsmart the will that the gods have for him. However, the audience knows that one cannot run away from an oracle. The oracle will come true no matter what is done. Therefore, the hamartia of Oedipus is his belief that he can evade his oracle. Oedipus' anagnorisis, recognition, later comes when he is told that it was he who killed the former King Lauis and that he is, in fact, now married to his own mother. The city of Thebes had been searching for King Lauis' murderer in order to drive him out of Thebes to save the city from the plague. With this anagnorisis Oedipus is finally led to his peripeteia, or downfall. First of all, Oedipus is put to shame in front of his entire city because of his incestuous act of marrying his mother. But, more importantly, he realizes that he had not successfully avoided the oracle. In order to try to save himself he blinds himself. If he is not able to see the truth with his own eyes, he should not be able to enjoy the gift of sight. http://personal.monm.edu/ysample/aristotle.htm Oedipus follows ten of the points...
Words: 3052 - Pages: 13
...5–7-pages) essay that addresses one of the plays from the Drama Unit. A minimum of six citations, including the primary source and at least five secondary scholarly sources, is required for this assignment. Before you begin writing the essay, carefully read the guidelines for developing your paper topic that are given below. Review the research paper Grading Rubric to see how your submission will be graded. Gather all of your information, plan the direction of your essay, and organize your ideas by developing a one-page thesis statement, outline, draft, and bibliography for your research paper. Format the thesis statement and the outline in a single Word document using MLA, APA, or Turabian style (whichever corresponds to your degree program). You have the opportunity to receive helpful instructor feedback if you submit your thesis, outline, draft, and bibliography by the end of Module/Week 7. The research paper is due by the end of Module/Week 8, and should include a title page, thesis statement, and outline, followed by the research essay itself and your correctly documented sources page. Guidelines for Developing Your Paper Topic Chapters 40 and 41 provide helpful pointers for writing about plays and for developing research papers. Be sure to review both chapters thoroughly before you begin doing any further work for this assignment. Choose one of the prompts below to address in your paper: 1. Write an essay explaining how Sophocles’ Oedipus exemplifies...
Words: 640 - Pages: 3
...Willy and Oedipus Tragedy Essay Oedipus is a play by Sophocles about a man who saves a town from a sphinx, becomes king,weds with his mother, and kills his father. His whole path is driven by fate. Death of a Salesman is a drama by Arthur Miller about a salesman named Willy Loman who has this big dream to be successful. He ends up failing and commits suicide. Both Oedipus and Willy are exquisite tragic figures, but Willy is superior because he has a higher relation to the audience, had a chance to make it, and Oedipus had no control over what happened to him. Aristotle and Arthur Miller had very different views on what a tragedy entaled. Aristotle thought that a tragedy must start out great, but end in a tragedy. It must have magnitude and...
Words: 840 - Pages: 4
...Title The properties and characteristics that constitute a tragedy have evolved since the time of the Greeks. Recently, in the 20th century, Arthur Miller published an essay that gives a modern definition of what a tragedy is and lists the properties and characteristics that a play must contain to actually be considered a tragedy. Miller states that a play is recognized as a tragedy when it presents a character that is willing to “lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing–his sense of personal dignity.” This character is trying to find his “‘rightful’ position in society,” but is eventually destroyed by shame that is caused by what is perceived as unfair treatment. Therefore, according to Miller, tragedy is the consequence of a man’s need to evaluate himself fairly (Miller “Tragedy”). The three dramas being evaluated, The Tragedy of Othello, Oedipus Rex, and Death of a Salesman, all fit this definition of a tragedy to some degree. The degree to which the parameters of dramatic tragedy are fulfilled in each play increases from The Tragedy of Othello to Oedipus Rex to Death of a Salesman. Out of the plays being analyzed, The Tragedy of Othello is the least tragic of the three. Othello, as a character, is a tragic hero that does actually give his own life in order to secure his sense of personal dignity (Shakespeare 1542). Othello feels that, despite the influence of Iago, he himself caused Desdemona's death as well as much of the other damage and tragedy that...
Words: 608 - Pages: 3
...Google oedipus rex thesis research paper WebImagesVideosNewsShoppingMoreSearch tools About 365,000 results (0.35 seconds) Search Results Free oedipus Essays and Papers - 123HelpMe.com www.123helpme.com/search.asp?text=oedipus Free oedipus papers, essays, and research papers. ... Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles - In “Oedipus the King,” an infant's fate is determined that he will kill his father ... Oedipus the King a Story of Fate - Research Papers ... www.termpaperwarehouse.com › English and Literature Feb 8, 2012 - Read this essay on Oedipus the King: a Story of Fate . ... Thesis: “Oedipus the King” by is generally a story about fate as it deals with its ... Oedipus Rex and Blindness Research Papers are Written ... www.papermasters.com › Research Paper Topics Oedipus Rex and Blindness research papers are custom written according to your literature or English 101 research paper requirements. Oedipus the King Research Papers on the play by Sophocles www.papermasters.com › Research Paper Topics In research papers on Oedipus the King by Sophocles, there is the example of the classic tragic hero in the character Oedipus. Often defined in research papers ... Oedipus the King Term Paper Topics - Planet Papers www.planetpapers.com/professional-essays/Oedipus-the-King.aspx Oedipus the King term papers available at Planet Papers.com, the largest free term ... 1000's of FREE Term Papers, Essays, Book Reports & Research Papers. Oedipus Rex Essay - Critical Essays - eNotes...
Words: 499 - Pages: 2
...Oedipus The King ” by Sophocles. Research essay over ” Oedipus The King ” by ... the integration of sources into your paper; organization ... - Research PaperOedipus the king research paper. To convey your essay perfectly, calm down and be sure youll get a nice opportunity to change the situation with a friendly and ...Sample Research Paper. The first theme is the free will and fate. Fate as a theme has been a part of all Greek writings in particular. A factor of inevitability that ...A 7 page research paper that examines the various ways that Sophocles classic tragedy has been interpreted. The writer argues that the Freudian interpretations are ...Essays for Oedipus Rex or Oedipus the King. Oedipus Rex (Oedipus the King) essays are academic essays for citation.Professional Help with Writing Oedipus Essays. ... How to write Oedipus essay: First is to conduct research by finding out about the story, ... Research Paper Help.Get Instant Access to Research Paper On Oedipus The King at our eBook Library. 5/11 Research Paper On Oedipus The King [PDF] class 8 social science guide ncertOedipus the king. Oedipus the king. English and Literature. Paper instructions: Essay Question: What are Oedipus’ main personal qualities, good and bad, and what in ...Oedipus the King In research papers on Oedipus the King by Sophocles, there is the example of the classic tragic hero in the character Oedipus.accessing Research Paper On Oedipus The King Books on your computer, your have found the answers...
Words: 382 - Pages: 2
...it relates to the drama III. The Tragic hero definition and how that applies to the play IV. The big revaltion in the play that Oedipus sees V. Talk about Apollos power and the meaning of that and conclude to paper with that. The first criterion of a Greek tragedy is that the protagonist be a good person; doubly blessed with a good heart and noble intention. Sophocles reveals immediately at the start of the play that Oedipus is such a man. As is common in the Greek tragedy Oedipus is also an aristocrat. Born of the King and Queen of Thebes he is of true nobility. Oedipus on the other-hand believes his parents are the King and Queen of Corinth. Oedipus was abandoned as a baby and adopted by them. Because that information is known to the audience and not to Oedipus prior to the start of the play, it is a perfect example of tragic irony because when he declares that he will find the murderer he is the man that he pursues. Here he is told by Tiresias,” I say you are the murderer you hunt” (1235). The theme of Oedipus the King is not clear-cut. The theme in this tragic play seems to be you can‘t escape your fate. Contentment leads to ignorance as Oedipus lends fate a hand in his bitter end. This trait is touched-on in these lines spoken by Creon. “Look at you, sullen in yielding, brutal in your rage- you’ll go too far. It’s perfect justice: natures like yours are hardest on themselves” (Sophocles 1242-1243). Oedipus is a true hero in the Greek tragedy. He has the fate...
Words: 1827 - Pages: 8
...Sun Hwa Choi English 3 Thursday Evening Class Professor Humphrey Due May 21, 2015 Essay 4: Development of Heroes (+Hamlet) The Heroes of the Greek and Rome poetries share few common uniqueness. They are heroic in that they all sacrifice, they are all intelligent, they all have their own faith or luck, they are all remembered or also known as Kleos and they all wander and deal with many problems. We have read many of them in this course such as Odysseus, Oedipus, Aeneas, Achilles and Beowulf. Then there is the great Hamlet who is not one of the Greek Heroes but a character from a play by William Shakespeare. Today in this essay, I want to compare some of the Greek poetry characters with the Prince Hamlet. First of all, I want to talk about few similarities between Hamlet and one of the Greek poet characters we have learned from this course. In my opinion, the story of Hamlet itself can be very analogous to the story of the poetry Oedipus. Both of the story have a plague or a outbreak going on from the beginning of the story. In the Oedipus the King, it starts with the Plague of Thebes where then Oedipus start to take actions for his people. This is where he shows his heroic features being a great leader for his city and sacrificing himself to solve the problem. The play Hamlet also starts with an outbreak and there seems to be something strange. The play starts with, "who’s there?" (Act 1 scene 1 line 1) by one of the guards. The fact that the play starts out with a question...
Words: 1067 - Pages: 5
...World Literature Students Name: Course Title: Institution: Professor’s Name: Date of Submission: Show how Li Bo’s “Drinking Alone with the Moon” answers the definition of a lyric by citing evidence in it of the lyric features of subjectivity, emotion, imagination. You should not include brevity and musicality. Damrosch, et al (2009) argued that it is examined that emotional intelligence and self-esteem are mediators of the relationship between adult and generally the young attachment orientations and subjective well-being. Damrosch, et al (2009) stated that Bootstrap mediation analysis revealed that both emotional intelligence and self-esteem acted as mediators of the relationship brought about through messages in lyrical form. In addition, a serial mediating role of emotional intelligence via self-esteem is found. Considering this in lyrical form it is used mystically to converse the reality of feelings among human beings. This can further be transformed in diverse form so as to suit the message across any compositions that is majorly lyrical. The different ways these imaginations are rationalized is through blending in the diverse methodologies that try to sensitize the messages that are entailed in lyrically modified means. In what way does Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130: My mistress’s eyes are nothing like the sun” satirize Petrarchan conventions and in what way does it uphold them? Paterson, et al (2010) argued that every aspect of the Sonnet form lends itself to...
Words: 1142 - Pages: 5
...must be of noble/high stature 2 - Hubris (tragic flaw) - pride blinds them 3 - Downfall 4 - Enlightenment (near the end of the play) 5 - Their death Someone of high position; in this time period, that meant royalty. He is 'universal,' meaning that everyone everywhere can relate to the kinds of problems or sufferings or emotions that the hero experiences. He has a 'tragic flaw' - this could be a personality trait (like greed, lust, ambition, jealousy, etc.), OR an error in judgement (a bad decision). This 'tragic flaw' leads to his downfall - usually ruins his career, reputation, power, etc. He is enlightened at the end of the story, meaning he realizes where he went wrong, he is humble, and he accepts the consequences . A tragic hero is a character in a work of fiction (often the protagonist) who commits an action or makes a mistake which eventually leads to his or her defeat. The idea of the tragic hero was created in ancient Greek tragedy and defined by Aristotle (and others). Usually, this includes the realization of the error (anagnorisis), which results in catharsis or epiphany. Aristotelian tragic hero Characteristics Aristotle once said that "A man doesn't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall." An Aristotelian tragic hero must have four characteristics: Nobility (of a noble birth) or wisdom (by virtue of birth). Hamartia (translated as flaw, mistake, or error, not an Elizabethan tragic flaw). A reversal of fortune(peripetia) brought...
Words: 1753 - Pages: 8
...Hamlet realises that "he himself is literally no better than the sinner whom he is to punish".[83] Freud suggests that Hamlet's apparent "distaste for sexuality"—articulated in his "nunnery" conversation with Ophelia—accords with this interpretation.[85][86] John Barrymore's long-running 1922 performance in New York was characterized as "revolutionary in its use of Freudian psychology; in keeping with the post World War I rebellion against everything Victorian, he eschewed the genteel, idealized 'Sweet Prince' of 19th-century tradition, imbuing his character with danger and sexuality."[87] Beginning in 1910, with the publication of "The Oedipus-Complex as An Explanation of Hamlet's Mystery: A Study in Motive,"[88] Ernest Jones—a psychoanalyst and Freud's biographer—developed Freud's ideas into a series of essays that culminated in...
Words: 4481 - Pages: 18
...Drama Essay “Othello, the Moor of Venice” Jami Bruno Liberty University In the drama “Othello, the Moor of Venice”, written by Shakespeare around 1604, we find Othello in a downfall that was fed by a villain named Iago. Othello soon becomes the tragic hero of this story. Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero is “someone who is a noble soul, from high estates, and has a downfall in the result of his hamartia or tragic flaw” (Kennedy, & Gioia, 2007). Othello is easily persuaded with bad advice, that his wife is being unfaithful and is in love with another man. Othello being insecure, is crushed when he is fooled into believing that his wife Desdemona has been unfaithful. With anger and jealousy in his heart he finds himself causing a downfall in the result of his own tragic flaw. Desdemona continues to stay faithful to her husband even as her husband accuses her of being in love with another man. She is a sweet, kind and intelligent woman who is truly devoted to loving Othello. Heartbroken to find her husband has turned against her and plans to kill her, she tries to defend herself with the truth. She is unable to dismiss the lies told to her husband by the villainous Iago. Iago’s hate for the Moor stems from several different directions. He plays the main reason Othello has a tragic flaw. Fueled by his own jealousy, Iago has started a rumor about Othello’s wife and Cassio, Othello’s honorable lieutenant. Emilia is the wife of Iago and Desdemona’s maid. She is submissive...
Words: 1590 - Pages: 7
...really does. The conundrum that is Hamlet stems from the fact that every time we look at him, he is different. In understanding literary characters, just as in understanding real people, our perceptions depend on what we bring to the investigation. Hamlet is so complete a character that, like an old friend or relative, our relationship to him changes each time we visit him, and he never ceases to surprise us. Therein lies the secret to the enduring love affair audiences have with him. They never tire of the intrigue. The paradox of Hamlet's nature draws people to the character. He is at once the consummate iconoclast, in self-imposed exile from Elsinore Society, while, at the same time, he is the adulated champion of Denmark — the people's hero. He has no friends left, but Horatio loves him unconditionally. He is angry, dejected, depressed, and brooding; he is manic, elated, enthusiastic, and energetic. He is dark and suicidal, a man who loathes himself and his fate. Yet, at the same time, he is an existential thinker who accepts that he must deal with life on its own terms, that he must choose to meet it head on. "We defy augury. There is special providence in the fall of a sparrow." Hamlet not only participates in his life, but astutely observes it as well. He recognizes the decay of the Danish society (represented by his Uncle Claudius), but also understands that he can blame no social ills on just one person. He remains aware of the ironies that constitute human endeavor, and...
Words: 1324 - Pages: 6
