William Shakespeare said to be one of the best playwrights known to man. As a good writer he wrote miraculous plays, some of his very best being tragedies. What made the tragedies so iconic was the fact that it was usually the protagonist own personality traits that lead to their own downfall. In the literary world this is called a tragic flaw. Some examples of tragic flaws include indecisiveness, pride, and arrogance. In Much Ado About Nothing, a play written by William Shakespeare, various different types of tragic flaws are well presented to the audience. The most substantial tragic flaw presented to the audience is through Don Pedro as he is too merciful and forgiving to his illegitimate brother which allows Dohn John to create mischief around Messina. …show more content…
Near the Beginning of the play the audience can already conclude that all of the main characters see Don John as a “Bastard” and a plain-dealing villain.
Even in the stage directions it announces, “Enter Don John The Bastard.” Don Jon's only true escape from the torment is his brother Don Pedro whom he had just battled. Because of Don Pedro’s royal status most of the characters tend listen to whatever he says. On page 6 Act 1 Scene 1 Leonato says,“Let me bid you welcome, my lord. Being reconciled to the prince your brother, I owe you all duty.” Because of Don Pedro’s forgiveness to his brother it seems as if the rest of Messina has forgiven Don John as well. With Don Pedro showing his tragic flaw it only made Don John stronger as he now believes that he could do anything and be forgiven for it. Don Pedro’s tragic flaw will ultimately lead to Don John’s master
plan. Towards the beginning of act 1 scene 3, all hell breaks loose as Don John and his companions do the inevitable and create a malicious plan. In the plan they try to abstract claudio from his and Hero’s relationship. Luckily the first attempt was a complete and utter failure. After an unsuccessful first try Don john decides to go larger and convince Claudio and Don Pedro that hero has been cheating on Claudio. In act 3 Scene 2 Dohn John says, “For she has been too long a-talking of-the lady is disloyal.” Insanely, Don Pedro and Claudio fall for the scheme! If Don Pedro would have learned from his previous mistakes then he would put an immediate stop to this outrageous scheme. However, it seems as if Don Pedro doesn't want to. It seems as if Don Pedro wants to believe Don John because he wants to rebuild a broken relationship that was lost in the past. This is where Don John completely takes control of Don Pedro's tragic flaw. Don John uses phrases such as, pg.49 “You may think I love you not” to get Don Pedro’s full merciful attention. Don Jon talks to Don Pedro like a kid trying to convince his parents to get him what he wants. Surprisingly, these few remarks turn out to be the little details that convince Don Pedro and Claudio. Don Pedro’s tragic flaw lead to the manipulation of himself and Claudio. In conclusion, Don Pedro’s crucial tragic flaw lead to mischief that could have been avoided so easily. If Don Pedro had not forgiven his brother, an innocent women would have never been accused for something so irrational. Don Pedro is very lucky that his mistake didn’t cause more damage then it did. All in all, Shakespeare's use of a tragic flaw in Much Ado About Nothing is not only a learning moment for the people in Messina but for everyone around the world.
Don John dislikes Don Pedro because Don John is the illegitimate brother, a bastard child. This means that he isn’t recognised by the court of Messina or by anyone. Although Don John is of royal blood, his royal blood would’ve been respected but not him. In those times, Don John would have had the social status of a prostitute. This is no fault of Don John, but only because his parents weren’t married when he was conceived. Don John is always so gloomy because he isn’t respected, he says to Conrade “There is no measure in the occasion that breeds, therefore the sadness is without limit”. Don Pedro the legitimate brother is highly respected by everyone and is probably very wealthy, Don John would have had nothing. Don is jealous of his brother because of all the admiration he gets from others. In Shakespearean times, everyone would have expected Don John to be evil because he was a bastard. No one would been surprised when Don John tried to ruin Claudio’s hopes of mar...
Don John’s follower Borachio reports to Don John, leading to a first attempt of deception to be set up by Don John. The news goes to Don John who says “ Come, come, let us thither. This is food to my displeasure. That young start-up hath all the glory of my overthrow. If I can cross him any way, I bless myself every way…” (Shakespeare 15). Don John immediately sees this plan as an opportunity to do harm both to Claudio- honored for his actions against Don John- and to Don Pedro. Don John is setting the tone of his character as a villain while his brother Don Pedro, is the prince and is very active in the other character’s
As mentioned, the act of Claudio forfeiting Hero’s hand in marriage and denouncing her at their wedding ceremony due to her unloyalty, not only proves that a woman’s virtue is critical to his “love” for her but also reveals a deeper meaning to the play as a whole at various degrees. Men are only satisfied when they completely dominate a woman. This means not only obtaining her heart, but her virginity and virtue as well. In this time period, their wives were seen as their property and a man would rather throw his whole fiance away than tread on previously marked territory. If Claudio genuinely loved Hero in the first place, he would have confronted her about the situation in private before he unjustly demolished her publicly based on a loose
"Oedipus Rex" and "Death of a Salesman" are two examples of tragedies. In these two plays the characters are good, but not perfect, and their misfortunes are the result of their tragic flaws.
Through the flaws in the characterization of his characters, Shakespeare allows their weakness to manipulate and cloud their judgment. This fundamentally leads to the outcome of Romeo and Juliet, with each weakness presenting a conflict that alters the characters fate. Being especially true with the star-crossed lovers, William Shakespeare leads their perfect love into tragedy with these conflicts. In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet, Friar Lawrence, and Tybalt all contribute to conflicts that enhance the plot. From destructive flaws in their characterizations, Juliet, Friar Lawrence, and Tybalt are all consequently controlled by their weakness, therefore affecting the outcome of the play.
His fatal flaw is his jealousy, which is set off by Iago, the villain of the play. This noble man meets with tragedy by falling to Iago's temptations and. believing that his wife is unfaithful to him. This is because Iago is the antagonist in the story, also a vital part of a tragedy.... ... middle of paper ...
"To be, or not to be: that is the question" (Shakespeare 1750). "Human beings have no part in the craft of prophecy" (Sophocles 1582). Both quotes are part of famous plays. Although the plays appear to be completely different they do have some similarities such as containing a tragic hero. A tragic hero is a character that makes a mistake and eventually leads to their defeat. A tragic hero usually contains at least 5 characteristics such as a flaw (hamartia), reversal of fortune (peripetia), character 's actions leads to a reversal, excessive pride, and the character 's fate is greater than what they truly deserved. Hamlet and Oedipus are both great examples of what a tragic hero is because they both contain flaws, reversal of fortune, and
Hamlet. Romeo. Othello. These men not only star in some of Shakespeare’s finest plays, but they are all classic examples of tragic heroes. A tragic hero is one who is courageous and admired but who has a tragic flaw that leads to his downfall. Othello was one of the greatest military men of the time. He was highly respected among his superiors for both his military prowess and level headed nature. This was a man who could be in the heat of a battle and would remain collected. Though this great hero also had great shortcomings. Othello was naive, jealous, and concerned with public appearance. Othello is truly a dynamic character. As the play continues and his jealous increases, Othello gradually changes from a flawless military general into
With this ending and the treatment of Don John throughout the play, it is clear that he will never be able to mingle positively without suspicion, and with other characters. His harsh sentencing for deceit is hypocritical as almost every character in the play, from Don Pedro to Leonato himself have deceived people, albeit not with bad intentions like Don John. His reputation ever since he was born has dictated his life and his only alternative to being called an untrustworthy bastard is to become a “plain-dealing” villain, to forge himself his own identity. Although everyone believes he is a conniving villain, Don John’s just forcing himself to be one; to prove he has his own identity among the “posh” people of Messina even if it is antagonistic.
The first rule that is met in Shakespeare’s play is that Othello is considered tragic hero, which every tragedy must contain. According to Aristotle, the tragic hero must be a man in a position of power who is a good person and makes a mistake during the timeline of the play due to a tragic flaw. Othello’s major flaw can be seen as jealousy: “Othello has often been described as a tragedy of character, as the play’s protagonist swiftly descends into a rage of jealousy
One of Aristotle’s Five Rules for Tragedy state that the main character should possess a tragic flaw, something in his character which causes his downfall. In William Shakespeare’s tragic play, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, the main character’s tragic flaw is procrastination. There are four major quotes in the play that supports the argument that Hamlet’s tragic flaw is procrastination.
In every Shakespearean tragedy there is always something called the “fatal flaw”. This flaw is seen in the main character or hero of the play. The hero always has the ability to overcome or control this flaw, however, if he can not control this flaw he reaches a point of doom. A point in the story where he has no choice but to continue downward through the spire of entropy. This leads to the tragedy. His or her end. The flaw is usually a master passion. This passion controls the hero’s thoughts and actions, and, if unable to control this passion it will lead to his doom.
Each character makes their own decisions and has their own flaws, which is very humanistic. Shakespeare’s use of tragedy shows, “…in a universe in which order and disorder coexist, human choices play a vital and potentially destructive part. ”(3:100) Shakespeare develops the character Iago into an instigator and evil man. Iago attempts and succeeds to convince Othello that his wife has had an affair with his friend Cassio.
William Shakespeare masterfully crafted Othello, the Moor of Venice as an Aristotelian tragedy play. The main protagonist of the play, Othello, is the perfect example of a tragic hero. Shakespeare was influenced by Aristotle’s concept of a tragic hero and used Aristotle’s principles to create Othello. William Shakespeare attempted to create an Aristotelian tragedy play with a tragic hero and succeeded in Othello, the Moor of Venice by weaving in pity and fear into each line and action. The power of pity and fear creates the upmost tragic situation and follows in accordance of Aristotle’s definition of tragedy. Othello makes the ultimate act as a tragic hero by killing himself at the end of the play. “Othello, more than any play in the canon, has a fascinating and contentious performance and reception history,”
It was my observation after reading Hamlet, that the play and its main character are not typical examples of tragedy and contain a questionable "tragic flaw" in the tragic hero. I chose this topic because Hamlet is a tragedy, but one that is very different from classical tragedies such as Medea. I also found quite a lot of controversial debate over the play and its leading character. While reading through my notes, I found that, according to Aristotle, "the tragic hero will most effectively evoke both our pity and terror if he is neither thoroughly good nor evil but a mixture of both; and also that the tragic effect will be stronger if the hero is better than we are in the sense that he is of higher than ordinary moral worth. Such a man is exhibited as suffering a change in fortune from happiness to misery because of a mistaken act, to which he is led by his hamartia ("error of judgment") or his tragic flaw." It is important that this be clear, because I plan to demonstrate how Shakespeare makes Hamlet an atypical tragedy to begin with, and how controversial an issue Hamlet's tragic flaw is.