What is a hero and what character traits do they typically display? What classifies one as a tragic hero?
Tragedy and the Tragic Hero
Student of the philosopher Plato Teacher to Alexander the Great Divided philosophical thought into ethics, physics, and logic
Any serious and dignified drama that describes a conflict between the hero(protagonist) and a superior force(antagonist), and reaches a sorrowful conclusion that arouses pity or fear in the audience(catharsis).
Tragedy is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions.
Complex plots are better than simple ones Suffering is to be included in a tragic plot which should end unhappily. The pity and fear from which the tragedy evokes, should come from the events, not from the mere sight of something on stage.
Recognition is a change from ignorance to knowledge. The new knowledge often identifies an unknown relative or dear one whom the hero should cherish but was about to harm or has just harmed. Reversal is a change of a situation to its opposite.
Is not all good or bad – Audience feels empathy toward Is of the noble class or highly renowned and prosperous Has a tragic flaw Attempts to alter his fate Recognizes his error and accepts the consequences Physical or spiritual maiming.
Why Anakin Skywalker is a Tragic Hero Nobleness or wisdom Ever since Anakin Skywalker was a young slave boy on the desert world Tatooine, he wanted to help people. He built a protocol droid, C-3PO, with spare parts to help his mother with work around the house. He risked his life in the dangerous Boonta Eve Podrace in order to help a group of outlanders, led by Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. All in all, Skywalker had great ambitions to help make the universe a better place, and when Anakin Skywalker was given the rare chance to leave his forsaken homeland and train to become a Jedi, a protector of peace in the galaxy himself, his dreams seemed as attainable as ever.
Tragic Flaw Anakin's charisma and natural Force ability made him a strong candidate for being a future Jedi leader, and perhaps one of the most powerful and influential beings in the galaxy. But the Jedi restrained him because they saw hints of a fatal flaw in Anakin: fear. Anakin feared for the safety of his mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, his wife, Padme Amidala, and also the clone troopers placed under his command.
Reversal of Fortune As a military leader in the height of war, Skywalker hated and feared seeing his friends and subordinates die. As a result of the Jedi Council's distrust in Skywalker coupled with the death of his wife Padme Amidala, he became increasing angry and jaded by his grief and passion. Skywalker assumed the name Darth Vader and did in fact become one of the most powerful beings in the universe, but not as a keeper of the peace. Rather ironically, he embodied the evil and corruption he had always vowed to fight.
Catharsis and Redemption Anakin Skywalker realized his evil doings in Return of the Jedi when, weak and injured from fighting his Jedi son Luke Skywalker, Anakin saved his son's life from certain death at the hands of Anakin's corrupt Master, Emperor Palpatine.
He's obsessed with the idea of bringing inanimate matter to life, to the point where he drops out of school and spends years digging up corpses and sticking them together. But once he's created his monsterpiece (sorry), he rejects it and drives it away. His cruelty to his creation leads to the deaths of several of his friends, so Frankenstein vows to hunt it down. But Frankenstein doesn't even manage to die at the hands of his creation — instead, in the original novel, pneumonia claims his life after he pursues it to the Arctic. He doesn't even manage to die properly!
Harvey Dent:
*tragic hero sheet *review personal hero essay *review SLC writing norms *reminder: vocab is due tomorrow!