AC Bradley’s tragic hero | 1) Is of high degree2) Suffers a catastrophe; that is, his downfall and ultimately death3) The catastrophe must be determined, at least in part, by his own fatal flaw4) Must be good or admirable |
Aristotle’s tragic hero | A literary character who makes a judgement error that inevitably leads to his or her own destruction |
Oedipus’ tragic hero | A great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy who is destined for downfall, suffering, or defeat” |
Lear asks his daughters to proclaim their love | “Which of you shall say doth lovers most?” |
Lear banishes Cordelia | “Here I disclaim all my paternal care” |
Kent is loyal, Lear must once have been good | “My life I never held but as a pawn to wage against thy enemies” |
Lear is not good | 1) “Better thou hadst not been born than not to have pleased me better”2) “From her derogate body never spring a babe to honour her! If she must teem, create her child of spleen” |
He suffers at the hands of Goneril | “Old fools are babes again; and must be used with chequers as flatteries,- when they are seen abused” |
He is locked out during a storm | “Shut up your doors” |
Lear begins to recognise his mistake | “I did her wrong” |
Lear is the suffering victim | “A poor old man, as full of grief as age” |
Hamartia | a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine |
Peripeteia | A reversal of circumstances, or turning point |
King Lear as a tragic hero
July 28, 2019