What makes tragic hero

As a result he endangers himself to protect someone who likely wouldn't do the same in return. Gatsby is not a conventional hero it's strongly implied that he made his money through gambling and other underworld activities , but for the most part his intentions are noble: he seeks love and self-fulfillment, and he doesn't intend to hurt anyone.

So, Gatsby would be a modernized version of Aristotle's tragic hero—he still elicits the audience's sympathy—even if he is a slightly more flawed version of the archetype. The novel contains various subplots but for the most part follows a character named Jean Valjean, a good and moral person who cannot escape his past as an ex-convict.

He originally goes to prison for stealing a loaf of bread to help feed his sister's seven children. After Valjean escapes from prison, he changes his name and ends up leading a moral and prosperous life, becoming well-known for the ways in which he helps the poor. Javert, known for his absolute respect for authority and the law, spends many years trying to find the escaped convict and return him to prison. After Javert's lifelong pursuit leads him to Valjean, though, Valjean ends up saving Javert's life.

Javert, in turn, finds himself unable to arrest the man who showed him such mercy, but also cannot give up his devotion to justice and the law. In despair, he commits suicide. In other words: Javert's strength and righteous morality lead him to his destruction.

While Javert fits the model of a tragic hero in many ways, he's an unconventional tragic hero because he's an antagonist rather than the protagonist of the novel Valjean is the protagonist. One might then argue that Javert is a "tragic figure" or "tragic character" rather than a "tragic hero" because he's not actually the "hero" of the novel at all.

He's a useful example, though, because he shows just how flexible the idea of a "tragic hero" can be, and how writers play with those ideas to create new sorts of characters. Above all, tragic heroes put the tragedy in tragedies—it is the tragic hero's downfall that emotionally engages the audience or reader and invokes their pity and fear.

Writers therefore use tragic heroes for many of the same reasons they write tragedies—to illustrate a moral conundrum with depth, emotion, and complexity. Besides this, tragic heroes serve many functions in the stories in which they appear.

Their tragic flaws make them more relatable to an audience, especially as compared to a more conventional hero, who might appear too perfect to actually resemble real people or draw an emotional response from the audience. Aristotle believed that by watching a tragic hero's downfall, an audience would become wiser when making choices in their own lives. Furthermore, tragic heroes can illustrate moral ambiguity, since a seemingly desirable trait such as innocence or ambition can suddenly become a character's greatest weakness, bringing about grave misfortune or even death.

Tragic Hero. Tragic Hero Definition. Tragic Hero Examples. Tragic Hero Function. Tragic Hero Resources. LitCharts Teacher Editions. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of every Shakespeare play. Sign Up. Already have an account? Sign in. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better.

Literature Poetry Lit Terms Shakescleare. Download this entire guide PDF. Teachers and parents! Struggling with distance learning? Our Teacher Editions can help. Tragic Hero Definition What is a tragic hero? Some additional key details about tragic heroes: The idea of the tragic hero was first defined by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle based on his study of Greek drama. Despite the term "tragic hero," it's sometimes the case that tragic heroes are not really heroes at all in the typical sense—and in a few cases, antagonists may even be described as tragic heroes.

Tragic Hero Pronunciation Here's how to pronounce tragic hero: tra -jik hee -roh The Evolution of the Tragic Hero Tragic heroes are the key ingredient that make tragedies, well, tragic. Aristotle and the Tragic Hero The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle was the first to define a "tragic hero.

According to Aristotle, a tragic hero must: Be virtuous: In Aristotle's time, this meant that the character should be a noble. It also meant that the character should be both capable and powerful i. These traits make the hero attractive and compelling, and gain the audience's sympathy. Be flawed: While being heroic, the character must also have a tragic flaw also called hamartia or more generally be subject to human error, and the flaw must lead to the character's downfall.

On the one hand, these flaws make the character "relatable," someone with whom the audience can identify. Just as important, the tragic flaw makes the tragedy more powerful because it means that the source of the tragedy is internal to the character, not merely some outside force.

In the most successful tragedies, the tragic hero's flaw is not just a characteristic they have in addition to their heroic qualities, but one that emerges from their heroic qualities—for instance, a righteous quest for justice or truth that leads to terrible conclusions, or hubris the arrogance that often accompanies greatness.

In such cases, it is as if the character is fated to destruction by his or her own nature. Suffer a reversal of fortune: The character should suffer a terrible reversal of fortune, from good to bad. For example, hubris is a common tragic flaw in that its nature is excessive pride and even defiance of the gods in Greek tragedy.

Overall, a tragic hero must possess hamartia. Peripeteia refers to a sudden turning point, as in a reversal of fortune or negative change of circumstances.

Therefore, a tragic hero must experience peripeteia for their downfall. Catharsis is the necessary pity and fear that the audience feels for tragic heroes and their inescapable fate. As a result, this sympathetic feeling indicates a purge of pent-up emotions in the audience, released through the journey of tragic heroes.

Many great works of literature feature tragic hero as a literary device. Here are some examples of tragic hero in literature:. She had wandered, without rule or guidance, into a moral wilderness… Her intellect and heart had their home, as it were, in desert places, where she roamed as freely as the wild Indian in his woods… The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread.

Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers—stern and wild ones—and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss. Hester Prynne has been convicted of adultery in a Puritan community.

She remains loyal to her lover by refusing to reveal the paternity of her daughter Pearl. For this, she suffers a consequential reversal of circumstances through imprisonment and public ridicule. Additionally, she is a tragic heroine in that her journey as a protagonist generates catharsis in readers.

It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn; and whether it was the outward substance of things or the inner spirit of nature and the mysterious soul of man that occupied me, still my inquiries were directed to the metaphysical , or in its highest sense, the physical secrets of the world.

Frankenstein succumbs to blind ambition, believing that he can conquer death with science. Therefore, by recklessly playing the role of creator and ignoring natural order, Frankenstein feels he has unlocked the mysteries of nature and defeated death. This results in over-confidence and pride to the point that Frankenstein does not believe his actions will have detrimental consequences.

His downfall is clear in the novel, yet the audience retains their pity for this tragic hero. Definition of Tragic Hero Tragic hero is a literary device utilized to create a protagonist for a tragic work of literature.

His love is one great passion that leads to death. It is the most tragic end possible for any character. Tragedy is the main feature that defines this type of character. A simple research can be done here.

But as any other genre and type tragic hero got through some evolutionary changes over time. So, as we mentioned before, the philosopher Aristotle was the first who defined the term of a tragic hero.

There were few main types of feelings he believed a good tragedy should evoke from the audience:. Aristotle believed that these exact feelings are the fundamental ones for a proper catharsis experience. Here is another tragic list from Aristotle:. At the same time, few of those key features defined by Aristotle are still important in modern art.

Your tragic hero should always have sympathy of the audience. Also, tragic events, mistakes, and luck of fortune are very important to build the character and name it tragic.