In King Lear Hamlet Oedipus Rex Essay

In King Lear, Hamlet, Oedipus Rex Essay, Research Paper

Tragic Heroes

In King Lear, Hamlet, Oedipus Rex

Since the beginning of civilization there always been tragedies. Man has always had to come to a tragic faith throughout the years. Men, women, and children have had to deal with pre-determined faith of each and everyone down throughout the centuries. Tragedy is a conflict between a force on one side, to a protagonist of the other. What usually makes a tragic hero is lack of self-knowledge that he or she has. The tragic hero in a tragedy suffers on the bases of his choices. As Cleanth Brooks put it, Tragic heroes suffering is never merely imposed, he incurs it by his own decision, or, at the least he finally wills to accept it as properly pertaining to the nature of things, including his own deepest nature. 1 page 123 Meaning that the tragic hero puts a tragic faith on him by himself with the choices that he makes. Tragedy is a thing that most always leads to a downfall of a single person or people. Most tragedies end up on a bad path, because the truth comes out in all directions upon the tragic hero. When, the truth all comes out on the tragic hero he can t control it and it puts him in a jam. In tragedy, usually the truth is what will cause the downfall of the tragic hero. In every tragedy, there is always more and more complication that adds on to the problem for the tragic hero. All these problems keep adding on until the end when the tragic hero has to accept them all and deal with them. As George Lukas said, Tragedy can extend only in one direction: upward, it begins at the moment when enigmatic forces have distilled the essence from a man have forced him to become essential: and the progress of tragedy consists in his essential, true nature becoming more and more manifest. 2 page 213 Meaning that in the beginning everything is simple, and through his or her journey more and more complications get in the way, more lies and uncertainties, finally at the end it all comes down on the tragic hero which breaks him or kills him. Hubris is a word that is used to describe tragedy, it means that a tragic hero who has overwhelming pride. The word Hubris also goes along with George Lukas saying It is that power in human nature which arises a man to upset the metaphysical balance of the universe and in doing so triggers a chain of consequences that inexorably precipitous his own doom. 2 Page 224 A tragic hero is seen as a link of chain, one link adding to another until the end, for the tragic hero it s the end of his life, when to the chain it s the ending of the link and nothing else. The tragic hero Oedipus and King Lear fall into this tragic faith, because they don t see the truth, only what they want to see and believe. Hamlet on the other side is tragic, because he was blinded by the consequence of his actions.

King Lear is a tragedy, because right from the beginning we see that the King forces out love from his daughter s, instead of it been given freely, that love is not asked for, but is given 3 Page 63 . Love is something that a person cannot ask for, but is given to a person. King Lear raised as a king doesn t know what love is, and this makes him tragic. Right in the beginning of the play, we see that King Lear is asking his three daughters to tell him how much they love him. Goneril and Regan use flattery to gain land for them selves from the king, both of these daughters tell Lear that they love him a lot, and that he is the best father they can have. Cordelia on the other side tells Lear that she loves him, but that when she gets married half of her love will be given to him. I shall give you half my love, and my husband the other half. 4 Page 180 After, hearing this King Lear banishes her youngest daughter Cordelia from the kingdom. We see this play is tragic, because King Lear banishes the daughter that actually really loves him, and cares for him. Cordelia out of the three daughters was the one that truly loved the King for what he was and not for his money or kingdom. King Lear not knowing what true love really was banishes her daughter from the kingdom. We also see that Lear gives away his land too the two daughters that didn t love him, but loved him for his money. This is tragic, because Cordelia the good daughter, is banished from her kingdom, and it is because of the tragic King Lear, not knowing what love truly was. King Lear was brought up in a environment that was all flattery, people in the kingdom always used flattery on him to gets what they wanted, Lear never was able to learn what love really was. King Lear being a tragic hero thought love was something taken not given. King Lear little by little saw Goneril and Regan taking over his kingdom. Goneril showed no respect for Lear either as a father or a King. One day, Lear and Goneral got in a fight and Lear went to Regan for advice. Regan also having no respect for Lear told him that she would not give him hospitality until he apologizes to Goneral. King Lear is offended by how his two daughters who he thought loved him, would do such a thing to him, by stripping all of his belongings, and authority. We see the tragic hero now falling and not knowing what to do; he is all emotional and tragically broken up. King Lear confused and upset runs into a storm, where he realizes what he has done. This is a baptismal scene, in where the king realizes that the two daughters of his Goneral