Tragic Hero Characterization I

Part I of Essay
"Pity and Awe, reconciliation, exaltation and a sense of emotion purged and purified thereby"1. As this quote from Aristotle's Poetics states, a tragedy must arouse feelings of pity and fear, thus producing a catharsis of these emotions in the audience. In order to arouse t ....

Part II of Essay
.... in the play. Their high rank in society and influence on the less noble or peasant class often lead to their excessive pride or hubris. In the play Antigone, Creon exhibits his hubris by refusing to listen to others. After being confronted by both Tieresias the prophet, the Sentry, and his own son Haimon, Creon refuses to submit to god's law due to his hubris. God's law declares that all men deserve a proper burial and Creon passes a law stating it a crime to bury Antigone's brother, Polyneices, because he considers him a traitor. Creon's oppo ....