Match Point Heroism

Match Point, A Modernized Shakespearean Movie

Individuals who desire money, status, power, and lust eventually harm innocent people as a result of their irrational and immoral ways. In the movie Match Point, the main character, Chris Wilton, murdered innocent people and committed adultery in a crime of passion to satisfy his lust for wealth and social status. Match Point embraces elements of Shakespearean tragedy where the hero’s tragic choice of free will leads to his downfall, internal struggles and death. The main character’s actions are based on greed and lust, which are extremely flawed and lack good judgement forcing painful internal conflict and ultimately causing the suffering of others. Chris Wilton, the tragic hero in Match Point,

Generally, the tragic hero will face his demise but in Match Point, it is the tragic hero’s morals and ethics that die and not his physical being. During the movie, Chris transitions from a noble person and ethical person to a sociopath whose morals and ethics degrade when he begins plotting to murder two people to cover his affair. Chris decides to kill Nola to prevent her from revealing the affair to Chloe and her family. After the murders, Chris feels no guilt regarding his decision and tries to justify the action “you can learn to push the guilt under the rug… you have to. Otherwise it overwhelms you!”. Although Nola was the main target, the neighbor’s death was collateral damage in Chris’ scheme. “The innocent is sometimes slain to make way for a grandeur scheme! You are collateral damage”. Chris believed that killing the innocent neighbor was necessary in order to mislead the police in the misdirection of Nola’s murder. This illustrates the demise of Chris’ morals and ethics and is highlighted in the symbolism of the ring that Chris attempts to throw in the lake. In the beginning of the movie, Chris explains the idea of the ball when it hits the net. “It could either go forward or fall back… it goes forward, and you win. Or maybe it doesn’t, and you lose”. When Chris throws the ring towards the water, the ring hits the railing and falls back. By having the ring fall back, this symbolizes that Chris has lost the game of life and as a result his morals and ethics are gone. It is the death of Chris’ emotional state and morals which greatly resembles the Shakespearean tragedy of the death of the tragic