Anger Can Be Consuming: An Archetypal Analysis of Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats”
(Introduction) (Thesis statement)
Background with glass shattered, flames in the air, walls collapsing, carved her name in his leather seats, Louisville slugger to both headlights and slashed a hole in all four tires . She thinks that going thru with her actions will help the next girl so he knows. We can imagine going thru with certain actions but we can’t in reality vandalize someone’s property we would get in trouble. Might a saved a little trouble for the next girl. Her way of coping through expressing her emotions and anger towards him cheating, Explain betrayal and how it connects with Underwoods lyrics.
(REDO)
Every narrative has a protagonist that has a positive realization in certain circumstances; for example, the boyfriend/husband that has constituted a tragic flaw by destroying his relationship
…show more content…
with a significant other by pursuing other options in women. “Before He Cheats” illustrates how she coped during a personal moment in her life, when being put in this situation in her own life. However, Underwood eventually comes to a realization that her partner is having an affair, she connects with this through her actions while dealing with that realization. “Before He Cheats” is one of many of Underwood’s contributions to narrative expression, and illustrates the different archetypes in Northrop Frye’s 1951 article. “The Archetypes of Literature” in The Kenyon Review, “In the tragic vision of the human world is a despotism, or anarchy… [and] the deserted or betrayed hero (105).” The emotions in the lyrics throughout the song are static as she is singing with anger and never reaches forgiveness. In addition, this song is realistic and relateable because, it skillfully naviagates the emotionally aspect of unnfaithful relationships as well as one who shows resillance through personal experiences, overcoming adversity and acting out through emotions. Many individuals fixate on how they utilize their emotions rather than engaging in a progressive healing process. The archetype of this song is that of betrayal, chaos and coping methods throughout one’s emotions. In retrospect the lyrics are composed through anger and resentment towards one’s ex-boyfriend and feelings of dishonesty and comunication issues as well. That I dug my keys into the side Of his pretty little souped up four wheel drive Carved my name into his leather seats I took a Louisville slugger to both headlights Slashed a hole in all four tires Maybe next time he’ll think before he cheats. Underwood’s lyrics explain her feeling betrayed and expressing her emotions through actions and destroying her boyfriend’s truck.
She realizes early on that her boyfriend could potentially be cheating on her with another female that he met at the bar. She illustrates how the woman looks in her mind that her romantic partner is having an affair with. By going through with her actions and carving her name into his leather seats she is making a statement by saying that hopefully he’ll think about how he acted and having experience this altercation will make him realize how he affected her life. She is hoping to help the next girl that her ex may get in a relationship with and to possibly warn future girls that he isn’t loyal and to be careful when getting involved with him. In reality she is the only one that is being saved all the trouble is herself because, she isn’t involved in a relationship anymore and she now knows that the next girl he’ll cheat on it won’t be her. According to Northrop Frye’s article on the Archetypes ( betrayal) (repeative)
(emphasis) (Expain what I think about the Northtrop Frye’s ) Works Cited Frye, Northrop. “The Archetypes of Literature.” The Kenyon Review, vol. 13, no. 1, 1951, pp. 92–110. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4333216. Howard, Nancy. “The Quest Motif in Literature. Carrie Underwood. “Before He Cheats” Some Hearts
Literature is very interesting when there is a change in the protagonist. They can start out bad but turn out good in the end. Being the protagonist of a novel and changing your ways can affect the story and give it a great plot twist. There is a story in literature that contains a person that made a bad decision. A victim of sin, Hester Prynne, emerges as a determined, loving, and strong heroine, living her own life in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
In many works of Literature, a character comes forth as a hero, only to die because of a character trait known as a tragic flaw; Hamlet from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Okonkwo from Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, and Winston Smith from Orwell’s 1984 all exhibit that single trait, which leads, in one way or another, to their deaths. These three tragic heroes are both similar and different in many ways: the way they die, their tragic flaws, and what they learn. All three characters strongly exhibit the traits needed to be classified as a tragic hero.
In the play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell; the character Mrs. Wright can be described as a “tragic hero”. A tragic hero, according to Dictionary.com is “a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy that is destined for downfall, suffering, or defeat”. I agree with this because the character went far as killing her own husband to save herself from an ongoing depression and abusive relationship. The main character is a tragic hero because Mrs. Wright herself had a tragic flaw in character, her depression. There was also a tragic flaw due to fate because of the characters' isolation by the harsh winter. There was finally another tragic flaw due to fate because of Mrs. Write’s abusive husband.
In addition, the final aspect of a tragic hero is a sudden change in course of action, caused by their major flaw, which brings about their p...
And though he experiences both sides of the paradox, it is ultimately the uplifting and inspiring effect of hope that pushes him to fight back against his oppression rather than continue to accept his enslavement. Grappling with hope and using it to move himself forward against overwhelming odds shows that even though it can be used to pacify people and keep them in their place, wishing for a rosy future that can never exist, it can also be the fire that motivates them to finally change their
A tragic hero is a protagonist with a fatal flaw which eventually leads to a character's downfall. The tragic hero is often introduced as happy, powerful and privileged, and ends up dying or suffering immensely due to their own faulty action. John Proctor’s, the protagonist in the play, flaw that lead to his “downfall” was his inability to accept his fate and his pride in which he holds in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. John Proctor had displayed the four characteristics of a tragic hero goodness, superiority, a tragic flaw, and has an eventual realization
A tragic hero is an individual who possesses a fatal flaw in their character that will bring about their own destruction or suffering. Aristotle believed that “A man doesn't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall. (Aristotle #1)” This Ancient Greek philosopher also believed that each tragic hero has four characteristics. The first of these characteristics is that a tragic hero is born with either wisdom or high integrity, and in some cases both. Aristotle’s second characteristic is that they contain a fatal flaw in their character that may cause them to behave irrationally. The penultimate characteristic is that each hero will suffer a turnabout of fortune brought about by their own flaw in character. Finally, the last characteristic is that the tragic hero will find out that their own turnabout of fortune was brought about by their own actions. McCandless in into the wild is the ideal tragic hero mentioned by Aristotle. McCandless had everything in the world but he gave it up to live in the wilderness and through his own actions he paid the ultimate price. McCandless is seen by the world as a young man who left the corrupted society to embrace a journey only a few would dare. “That's what was great about him. He tried. Not many do. (Krakauer 96)” This journey ended up being the best time of his life and the fact that he attempted this wildlife adventure makes him look more like a daring hero than an idiotic teen.
The definition of the tragic hero is a protagonist who is otherwise perfect except for a tragic flaw, also known as a fatal flaw, which eventually leads to his demise. One may ask, why have a tragic hero? The reason to have a tragic hero is to give a story purpose. A tragedy by nature isn't an uplifting story, but the introduction of a tragic hero presents an opportunity to learn from the tragedy. In other words, tragic heroes make tragedies worth reading. Let's first define the characteristics that are common to most tragic heroes and focus on those that are demonstrated by Gawain. Tragic heroes are born into nobility, responsible for their own fate, endowed with a tragic flaw, and are doomed to make a serious error in judgment. Eventually, the tragic hero will fall fr...
In conclusion , I believe that as strong as the protagonist’s self image of herself was, one girl is no match for all of society, which has efficiently put her “in her place”. This manipulation of the girl’s self image is not only the end of her unique identity, but it is also a blow against freedom and individualism. Unfortunately for this horse, she could not roam free forever, and she has finally been caught.
A tragic hero can be defined as literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction. A well known novel in American Literature is The Great Gatsby which displays an example of a tragic hero. The author of the book, F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrayed an example of a tragic hero through the main character of the novel named Jay Gatsby. In the book Gatsby tries to accomplish the American Dream by gaining wealth and doing everything in his power to be with the love his life Daisy Buchanan. His whimsical ways granted him wealth and allowed him to be in the arms of his lover Daisy but, it also leads him to death. Jay Gatsby can be considered a tragic hero because he has a tragic flaw and because his misfortune was not wholly deserved.
In his classic work "Poetics" Aristotle provided a model of the tragic hero. According to Aristotle, the tragic hero is more admirable than the average person. This results in the tragic hero being admired by the audience. For the audience to accept a tragic ending as just, it is crucial that the tragic hero be responsible for their undoing. At the same time though, they must remain admired and respected. This is achieved by the tragic hero having a fatal flaw that leads to their undoing. One of literature's examples of the tragic hero is Achilles from Homer's The Iliad. However, Achilles is different from the classic tragic hero in one major way - his story does not end tragically. Unlike the usual tragic hero, Achilles is able to change, reverse his downfall, and actually prove himself as a true hero.
On the other hand, another type of tragic hero exists, the modern tragic hero. This type of hero is a product of a clash between the individual and the social environment. Arthur Miller, the famous playwright, said, “each person has a chosen image of self and position, tragedy results when the character’s environment denies the fulfillment of this self concept.” (LATWP, 640). This is a contrast from Aristotle’s classic tragic hero because the hero is no longer born into nobility but gains stature in the action of pitting self against the cosmos, and the tragedy becomes, “the disaster inherent in being torn away from our chosen image of what and who we are in this world.”
own destructive downfall. A tragic hero can be described as a great or virtuous character in a
To begin, betrayal is the result of women’s importance in the postmodern era. Women have extreme faith in their lover which ultimately causes their love
For a time, the main characters in a story, poem, or narrative were easily classified as either being a hero or a villain. A hero would be easy to identify by the traits he'd possess, such as bravery, honesty, selflessness, trustworthiness, courage, leadership, and more. The villain would be easy to identify as well, possessing traits such as maliciousness, deceitfulness, immorality, dark, wishing harm upon others, and more. But what if the character lacked the natural heroic qualities but wasn't a villain either? What if the person displayed personality flaws that would traditionally be associated with a villain, but has heroic intentions? These questions were finally answered with the emergence of the anti-hero in literature.