Many of you asked for the opportunity to discuss tragic heroes that either (a) were not of the past two decades or (b) were not actually real people. Now is your opportunity to discuss such figures. Be sure to incorporate Arthur Miller's qualifications for a tragic hero, found here in his article "Tragedy and the Common Man." Have fun with this and open our eyes to the myriad tragic figures that color our world.
Miller states that a "tragedy implies more optimism in its author than does comedy, and that its final result ought to be the reinforcement of the onlooker's brightest opinions of the human animal." The tragic hero has such a positive outlook on life that he is so lost in the image of who he wants to be that he loses grip from reality. Yet, the hero's tragic flaw keeps him from obtaining what he wants. Miller also states that the hero’s “underlying struggle is that of the individual attempting to gain his “rightful” position in his society." This hero has an ideal image for himself and strives to be someone he is not. He is willing to do anything to secure his sense of personal dignity. Erik from The Phantom of the Opera is an example of someone who had an image of who he wanted to be. Born with deformities, he wears a mask on his face in order to save his personal dignity. He falls in love with a woman named Christine and pretends to be "The Angel of Music" so that she will give him her attention. This corresponds to Miller's requirement of the tragic hero trying to secure his personal dignity. He is afraid of Christine's response to both his appearance and identity so he tries to hide himself under the name of "The Angel of Music." Erik is also optimistic as he reveals his true identity to her and hopes that she will come to love him. This is all while he is still his "ideal image" as he is wearing his mask. Yet, when Christine unmasks him, she is horrified. Due to Erik's deformities, he is unable to obtain Christine despite his optimism and ambitiousness.
ReplyDeleteThis contains spoilers for “The Fault in our Stars.”
ReplyDeleteArthur Miller’s definition of a tragic hero revolves around a protagonist with a “tragic flaw,” that causes their downfall. For most tragic heroes’ this flaw revolves around a characteristic of their personality, such as pride, but for Augustus Waters in John Green’s “The Fault in our Stars,” his flaw is his cancer. Miller describes tragic heroes with a belief in fate and “rightful positions,” and Augustus Waters fits that description. Already an optimistic person, he has beat cancer already, and then mocks death by holding cigarettes in his mouth but not lighting them, saying that it’s a metaphor because he “puts the killing thing in [his] mouth, but doesn’t give it the power to kill [him].” He fears oblivion however, in the way that he fears that he will die and eventually no one will remember him. His fear comes alive in that he relapses and dies from the cancer that already plagued him once, and his lover Hazel Grace decides not to tell their story, because it must “die with [them] like all great love stories” and eventually, like everyone else, no one will remember him, a boy who, albeit being handsome and intelligent and caring, did not survive, and gave in to the inevitability of oblivion.
Arthur Miller states a tragic hero has a tragic flaw. "The flaw or crack in the characters, is really nothing and need be nothing, but his inherent unwillingness to remain passive" The tragic hero's flaw is something that really isn't so bad, but because the character is a tragic hero, they don't just let it be. They feel the need to fight against it. Anakin Skywalker, or Darth Vader, is a tragic hero. His tragic flaw is his fear. He loves Padme so much, and after his mother dies he fears losing Padme too. He has a dream of her dying and cannot take it as just a dream. Yoda tells him not to have fear because it leads to anger and jealousy and hate, the traits of the dark side. He needs to prevent her death and to do this he is convinced, by senator Palpatine, to turn to the dark side. He lets his fear of Padme's death grow till it consumes him, rather than letting go of the fear as the jedi advise him. Miller also states "his destruction in the attempt posits a wrong or an evil in his environment." This is saying the tragic hero meets his down fall when he tries to change something wrong with their environment. But earlier it is stated the environment is "unchanging." Whether Padme dies or not isn't something Anakin can change but he tries so hard to do so anyway. Anakin's destruction is when he turns evil and becomes Darth Vader. He goes to the dark side in an attempt to keep out the evil of Padme dying. He fears her death before there is any real evidence to imply she will die, yet he can't let go of the fear that he has.
ReplyDeleteWarning spoilers for Supernatural.
ReplyDeleteMiller states in his essay that "the tragic feeling is evoked in us when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing-his sense of personal dignity". In this sense Dean Winchester is a tragic hero in the television series Supernatural. He is willing to do anything to save his brother Sam. Sam is one of the few people that Dean really cares about, and his only living family member. When he was growing up his father had drilled into Dean the need to protect his little brother. Dean feels as though if anything bad happened to Sam, it would be his fault because he dragged Sam back into this dangerous life of hunting monsters. When Sam dies, Dean believes that it was his fault for not being there for Sam in time. Dean goes to a crossroads and summons a demon to make a deal with. The demon would bring Sam back to life, but the price was that Dean would die after one year. Dean makes the deal, because to him, Sam's life is much more valuable than his own.
Arthur Miller wrote that a tragic hero is a character who has a tragic flaw. A tragic flaw is "[a character's] inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity, his image of his rightful status". This tragic flaw eventually leads to the character's downfall. In Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is considered the tragic hero. Gatsby is a wealthy man who made his fortune from bootlegging alcohol during prohibition. He is the son of a poor farmer, but now is part of the upper class society of New York. The only thing that is holding Gatsby back is his love for Daisy. Gatsby's love can be considered his tragic flaw because it's his love for Daisy that brings his ultimate downfall, his death. Gatsby met Daisy during World War I and fell in love with her. Gatsby's obsession for Daisy leads him to buy a mansion across from her house, and he throws parties every night to get her attention. He does everything he can to take Daisy away from Tom. His love for her leads to his downfall because Daisy runs over a woman and Gatsby takes the blame for it. The woman's husband thinks Gatsby is the killer and shoots him before shooting himself. Because of his love for Daisy, Gatsby ends up getting murdered for a crime he didn't commit.
ReplyDeleteMiller says that a tragic hero is one who has a "tragic flaw" that leads to the destruction of their life and has a "fear of being displaced, the disaster inherent in being torn away from our chosen image of what and who we are in this world." Michael Westen in "Burn Notice" fits the description by being an ex-CIA agent who the agency no longer wants to use because his cover has been made. The whole series is about him finding out who ratted him out and made him lose his position in the CIA. He wants to get back in the CIA and work as he did before, but as of right now he takes cases from people who desperately needs his help, even if it means putting his own life in the line of danger. He jeopardizes his girlfriend, and two friends and occasionally his mother's lives too by needing their help on a case. He will help anyone even if it means destroying famous organizations, or dealing with mobsters. But he will also work on his own case to try and figure out who "burned" him and is willing to kill his old allies in hopes of working with the CIA again. Unfortunately, not everyone is happy with him going out to kill everyone, so there is a hit out on his brother, who dies just a foot away from Michael. His mother is heartbroken, and blames Michael for the death of her other son and this fuels Michael into finding whoever is responsible. His girlfriend is tired of this life on the run from authorities too and leaves him. Michael is left with hardly anyone to rely on in life and is in complete shambles because he still wants to find out who "burned" him, but wants to gain his relationships with his mother and girlfriend back.
ReplyDeleteHitler was almost the ultimate politician. He was the head of the biggest political group in his country with little, if any, rivaling political forces. In addition, the respect his people had for him transcended that of any previous ruler of Germany. However, as a tragic hero, and I use "hero" loosely, "his inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity, his image of his rightful status," manifesting itself in his ambitious expansionist program as well as his antisemitic camps, was his ultimate downfall. Hitler wanted Germany's, and by extension his, status to rise globally, however, his rapid expansion led to it angering many countries, making the world, or at least a lot of it, against him. After he lost the war, Germany fell into a deep economic slump and its antisemitism was broadcasted to the world. Hitler inadvertently bolstered the status of the Jewish in other countries. In America, Jewish were considered white as a result of their help in WWII, thus giving them access to a lot more resources than what they previous had access to as a minority group, Beyond the global implications of Hitler's loss, Hitler, in an attempt to preserve "his sense of personal dignity," committed suicide, Though not a common man, Hitler was truly a tragic hero. His tragic fall devastated not only Germany but also himself.
ReplyDeleteOne tragic hero which I can think of has to be the second president of the United States, John Adams. According to Miller, the tragic hero possesses a tragic flaw which is his ultimate downfall. John Adams was a great politician who was very patriotic. He was willing to do whatever possible for the good of America. His intentions were always good at heart, however not always the best move. He had a stubborn attitude and would not listen to the opinions of others. His rival Thomas Jefferson had really good policies that would benefit the states. Yet, John Adams would fail to realize that his own policies were not as good. He ends up losing the election and would not get another term of presidency. He could have blended the ideas and maybe have won another term. He was now in no position to help the country which he loved so dearly. John Adams had a controversial Aliens and Seditions Act which directly attacked the Federalist party. This was very detrimental to his popularity and caused the popularity of his rival Thomas Jefferson. John Adams became so bitter about losing that he did not even attend the inauguration of Thomas Jefferson. He could not bear to see his rival and his enemy party take over the presidency and America. At this point, there was nothing more which he could do since his downfall was his very own doing.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Arthur Miller, a character's tragic flaw is defined to be "his inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity, his image of his rightful status" (Miller 1). This description of a tragic hero can be applied to Mercutio, from the play "Romeo and Juliet". In a decisive scene of the play, Tybalt openly challenges Romeo to a duel. Mercutio, who is by Romeo's side, encourages him to accept the offer. However, when Romeo refuses, Mercutio is unwilling "to remain passive" in the presence of a challenge to the dignity of his close friend and kinsman, Romeo. His tragic flaw compels him to accept Tybalt's challenge and die as a result of the duel. His will to act upon the "wound of indignity" and "indignation" invoked by Tybalt leads to his downfall, which is represented by his life. Mercutio is a tragic hero as he fufills Miller's qualities of a figure of tragedy by his characteristic tragic flaw. Here, Shakespeare presents a character to us "who is ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing-his sense of personal dignity" (Miller 1). Mercutio was prepared to risk his life in a duel against Tybalt to protect the dignity of Romeo and himself in the face of the bystander townsmen.
ReplyDeleteOne of the qualities of Arthur Miller's definition of a tragic hero is someone who goes through the “underlying struggle" in order "to gain his “rightful” position in his society". Severus Snape from Harry Potter is one of the ultimate examples of a tragic hero. Snape had a terrible childhood as he had to suffer from poverty and parents who constantly argued. He expected Hogwarts to be an escape from misery, yet at Hogwarts he had was constantly bullied and teased. He desired to gain power in order to prove his worth and gain his rightful place in society. He was place into a house that nurtured prejudice ideals against muggleborns (nonmagical people) and unfortunately for him, the his best friend and also the girl that he loves is a muggleborn. He struggles internally, debating whether to choose the girl or the ideals that his society in this case his house has placed upon him. In the end, he chose his house for the fear of being "displaced". In doing so, he loses the girl he loves to his enemy. Snapes continues to descend down the path of power in order to gain his place in society, until he realized that his actions put the girl's life in danger. He decides to change, but it is too late because she is murdered. He proceeds to spend the rest of his life in misery, sacrificing everything he has, in order to protect the son of the girl in order to redeem himself. Snape's desire for power and fear of being displaced cost him his one source of happiness and as a result, he has to suffer for the remainder of his life.
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ReplyDeleteWithin the fictional realm, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy contains many tragic heros, but at the foremost of the clique of tragedy (as if that phrase isn't a tragedy in itself; sorry) is Arthur Dent. Arthur Dent is an Earthling who believes that he has a right to his tea and his status as a mediocre person who should not recieve any trouble from extranneous sources. However, his house is first torn down by the city council. In the midst of protesting this chain of events as a person of status, the Earth is destroyed. Then, after being saved, the first thing that comes to his mind is that he has lost his right to being labeled as an Earthling since Earth is no more. While trying to recreate tea to reclaim his Earthling status, he throws himself into perilous danger. Thus, thrusting the dagger that creates the wound that leads to his downfall. It appears that the writer of the Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy was writing to mock Arthur Miller's definition of a tragic hero who believes they have a right to status and then fall from that status. Arthur Dent reclaims his status multiple times successfully only to realise he's been deluding himself.
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