Review of Shakespearean Tragic Hero
 tragic hero experiences a downfall/misfortune that changes
his/her status, but he is worthy of our compassion
 initially has high social position as well as high moral worth;
making his/her fall all the greater; suffers a change in fortune
from happiness to misery; often ending in death
 downfall is due to the tragic flaw or hamartia (error in judgement)
which leads to a mistaken act
 one common form of hamartia is hubris which is pride or
overweening self-confidence which leads humans to disregard
divine warnings or violate moral law
ie. blind to truth and led by ambition

tragic flaw - part of the tragic hero’s own inner character, yet
not most important: might be
frailty, not always pride
 The tragedy can also issue from conflict, either of persons and
groups without or of forces within the hero’s soul. The tragedy is
a result of actions of men and is caused by a series of deeds
leading to catastrophe.
 errors are of cosmic proportions: actions affect more than just
one character – usually the welfare of an entire nation
 a reversal in fortune occurs – fall from grace - often arouses
feelings of pity and fear in the reader
 pity and fear are aroused by the terrible things that happen to the
character or by something terrible he/she does
 we feel pity for the tragic hero because the misfortune is greater
than he/she deserves
 also feel fear because we recognize human fallibility ie. we are all
capable of errors in judgement
 tragedy supports law and order: civilization, order and harmony
is restored to society though death of character
 restoration of society can only occur through death of character