Shakespeares Theme of the Tragic Hero - Essay Example

Shakespeare’s Tragedies It has been d in the past that the theme of the tragic hero is one that runs through much of classic literature, from the ancient Greeks to Shakespeare and beyond. In understanding the concept of the tragic hero, it is important to understand the criteria established by Aristotle (“Aristotle”, 1998). According to that illustrious philosopher, there are six major elements required to make up a tragic hero. To begin with, these heroes (or heroines) must have a noble stature, although they don’t necessarily have to be royalty. They are also seen to have excessive pride or what some might politely call a lot of self-confidence. Finally, they all have to have a tragic flaw, usually something related to their source of pride. These three character traits combined lead the character to his or her downfall through a three-step process. This process begins with the first event, the mistake in judgment or action that will eventually cause his ruin. The second event is when the hero realizes finally where he made his mistake. The final event is the reversal of fortunes the hero experiences as a result of his mistake, experiencing the consequences of his mistake (“Aristotle”, 1998), which was usually a surprise to the audience but perfectly logical. With this definition in hand, it is easy to see how Shakespeare’s plays, such as Julius Caesar, Hamlet and King Lear fit within this definition. In the play Julius Caesar, the character Marcus Brutus emerges as a tragic hero because he fits all of the above criteria in character and action. When the play opens, Brutus is seen as one of the only senators to be capable of putting the interests of Rome above his own. He tells Cassius, “What means this shouting? I do fear the people do choose Caesar for their king ... yet I love him well” (I, ii, ll.85-89). This shows his ability and establishes his noble nature above the other men who are all scheming for their own self-interest. However, he is able to discern some level of deceit in other men because he seems very sure of his own noble opinions; that he is always on the side of correct action because he keeps his eye on what is best for the people. He is easily convinced of his own better judgment by Cassius who also suggests that the best course of action would be to kill Caesar. Brutus demonstrates that this is his motive for action when he says, “If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more” (III, ii, 21-24). His fatal flaw is in trusting other people to be capable of the same high ideals he has. Convinced that he acted rightly and that, because of this, Antony must have seen the correctness of it, he allows Antony to speak for Caesar before the people once Antony promises not to stir them up against Brutus and the other senators. He trusts Antony to keep his word. Brutus also progresses through the three major actions of tragedy within the play. First, he allows Cassius to convince him that Caesar should be killed. He is necessary to the plot because of his reputation as a noble man. No one would believe the other senators acted nobly without Brutus’ sanction. Therefore, when deciding to make their move, the other senators says, “Brutus shall lead the way, and we will grace his heels with the most boldest and best hearts of Rome” (III, i, 135-136). However, it was a mistake to listen to the other senators, particularly Cassius, because they were not interested in the best actions for Rome. They only wanted Caesar out of the way so that they could do what they wanted and take advantage of their power. This becomes more and more obvious to Brutus as the play continues, particularly after Antony’s speech and Cassius’ actions. “Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself are must condemned to have an itching palm, to sell and mart your offices for gold to underservers” (IV, ii, 9-12). As Brutus comes to know more and more about Cassius’ true character, he begins to realize the mistake he made, but has no choice but to continue trying to put things right. Finally, he finds himself fighting a losing war and commits suicide by falling on his own sword, with Antony providing the final epitaph, “This was the noblest Roman of them all” (V, v, 68). The character Hamlet also fits within the definition of a tragic hero, making the play written about him a tragedy. He is noble in many ways, first because he is the son of the former king and current queen and nephew of the current king, all of which make him a prince, truly of noble blood. Second, he is noble in that he is dedicated to doing the right thing. Although everyone else has come out of mourning less than two months after King Hamlet’s death in honor of the new royal couple, Hamlet is accused of wearing black to seem more upset than the others. “These indeed seem, for they are actions that a man might play, but I have that within which passeth show – these but the trappings and the suits of woe” (I, ii, 83-86). His pride is in his intellectual abilities, being able to reason out what the right thing might be. This has always worked for him before, so he is sure it will work for him again. Even dealing with the shock of his father’s ghost and the news it brings him, he shows confidence in his intellectual abilities as he warns Horatio of his plan, “Here as before, never, so help you mercy, how strange or odd some’er I bear myself … that you, at such times seeing me, never shall … note that you know aught of me” (I, v, 169-179). However, his fatal flaw is in allowing himself to analyze a situation too much, which slows his actions considerably and provides his uncle with the knowledge that Hamlet suspects his actions. Like Brutus, Hamlet’s fatal flaw leads him into a series of predictable events that result in his own ruin. Because he is so confident in his intellectual abilities to help him see the truth, Hamlet debates with himself through most of the play whether the ghost that demands revenge is a devil sent to condemn his soul or his father sent to demand justice be served for a foul deed. “The spirit that I have seen may be a devil, and the devil hath power t’assume a pleasing shape, yea, and perhaps, out of my weakness and my melancholy, as he is very potent with such spirits, abuses me to damn me. I’ll have grounds more relative than this” (II, ii, 584-589). In order to be convinced, his intellect tells him he must have hard proof of the crime, but this type of proof was much more difficult to get in Shakespeare’s time and even more difficult to find in Hamlet’s. To get the proof he needs, he stages a play before the king that re-enacts his father’s murder. The king’s reaction gives Hamlet the proof he needs but puts him in shock for a little bit. However, the king is now aware that Hamlet knows the truth and Hamlet’s hand is forced to action or justice will not prevail. It isn’t until he is dying of the poisoned wound that Hamlet finally realizes his mistake, but the consequences of that mistake were the deaths of two entire families. Hamlet dies just after his mother and his uncle after he has killed Polonius and Laertes and Ophelia has drowned herself in madness. Finally, King Lear follows the same tragic pattern as Hamlet and Julius Caesar. As the play opens, King Lear is depicted as a strong king gone weak with age. He is tired of the burdens of ruling a country and makes plans to divide his kingdom among his three daughters and then to live out his last years in peace and comfort, being provided for by those daughters he so lovingly set up to be rulers in their own right. His nobility is evidenced in his position as well as in the great respect his subjects show him as well as in his plan to divide his kingdom among his three daughters rather than giving it one only. He takes justifiable pride in the love he commands, but, like the other characters, this becomes his fatal flaw. Rather than simply divide his kingdom up equally among his daughters, Lear decides to make a game out of their love for him, “Which of you shall we say doth love us most, that we our largest bounty may extend where nature doth with merit challenge” (I, i, 51-53). It can also be argued that Cordelia, his youngest daughter, is a tragic hero. She, too, possesses nobility in that she is a princess and remains true to her heart throughout the play. She is proud of this trait, particularly as compared to her sisters, and she is unwilling to trivialize it in any way. When she’s pressed to ‘mend her speech’ in order to gain her father’s favor, all she can say is “Haply, when I shall wed, that lord whose hand must take my plight shall carry half my love with him, half my care and duty” (I, i, 100-102). This, too, becomes her fatal flaw as she is neither able to leave her father to his chosen fate nor keep her from attempting to help him, which nearly gets her killed. The three events of tragedy can be found within the play as well. King Lear encounters his first event very early in the play when he make the mistake to make a game of his daughters’ love and allows himself to be disappointed with his youngest daughter’s response. “Here, I disclaim all my paternal care, propinquity and property of blood, and as a stranger to my heart and me hold thee from this for ever” (I, i, 113-116). Lear also realizes his mistake early in the play when Goneril confronts him with his powerlessness. “O most small fault, how ugly didst thou in Cordelia show! Which, like an engine, wrenched my frame of nature from the fixed place; drew from my heart all love and added to the gall. O Lear, Lear, Lear! Beat at this gate that let this folly in” (I, iv, 257-262). He then suffers madness and a harrowing night on the moors before he is finally reunited with Cordelia again just as he’s dying. Cordelia also goes through the three events of tragedy as she first finds she is unable to make up pretty words to please her father and then is made to suffer the consequences of these actions. However, because this ‘mistake’ was of a noble nature, she refused to tell a lie just to please him, she is eventually reinstated as sole heiress of her father’s kingdom as she should have been from the first. Thus, through each of these three plays, Shakespeare demonstrates a firm knowledge of the essential elements of tragedy in its classical sense. Each of the main characters in these tragedies exhibits the three primary characteristics of a tragic hero. They all have a noble nature that is obvious from the beginning and is, in two of the three cases, actually based upon the concept of royal blood. This is not essential in Julius Caesar because of the unique nature of a Republic in which the common man has equal stature with the former nobility and status is gained or lost based upon the opinion of the public. They are all excessively proud of some aspect of themselves which leads to their downfall, although Cordelia presents another deviation in that her fatal flaw is also a redeeming characteristic. Finally, they are all seen to progress through a predictable series of events that begins with a mistake brought about by their fatal flaw, the realization of their mistake and finally suffering the consequences of their mistake. Works Cited “Aristotle.” Critica Links. The University of Hawaii. (1998). December 10, 2007 Shakespeare, William. “Hamlet.” The Complete Pelican Shakespeare. Ed. Alfred Harbage. New York: Penguin, 1969. Shakespeare, William. “Julius Caesar.” The Complete Pelican Shakespeare. Ed. Alfred Harbage. New York: Penguin, 1969. Shakespeare, William. “King Lear.” The Complete Pelican Shakespeare. Ed. Alfred Harbage. New York: Penguin, 1969. Read More