Rose Maxson As A Tragic Hero In Fences, By August Wilson

Ancient Greece tragedy has been evolved from festivals that has been honored for Zeus. It was derived from wine and fertility that evolved into tragedy. A tragic hero is somebody that has catharsis, suffering, and nobility. A character that has catharsis is somebody that feels sympathy for another character or for themselves. When somebody is suffering they are going through rough times and blame people for the mental and physical feeling they have. When somebody is noble they play an important role and has a special talent. In fences, the time period is the late 1950s which could give the illusion that certain things are still happening. August Wilson portrays the main character Rose Maxson to be a tragic hero. Rose Maxson is a woman who

suffers from the indenial acts of her husband and the pain that he put her through as she stays strong. Rose Maxson is seen to suffer, has nobility, and have catharsis for other characters including herself.
Catharsis is the process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions and Rose shows acts of this as the movie continues.

Creon felt sympathy when he realizes that his wife killed himself following the death of his own child, and Rose feel sympathy for the baby that Troy has from another women. Rose says, “ Okay, Troy...you’re right. I’ll take care of your baby for you...cause...like you say...she’s innocent...and you can’t visit the sins of the father upon the child. A motherless child has got a hard time. (She takes the baby from him.) From right now...this child has a mother,” (Wilson, 38). Rose feels bad that the baby will have to grow up without having a mother figure, so she steps up in return. I feel like Rose became the bigger person just like Antigone became the bigger person when she didn’t let the king just disrespect her brother so she stepped up and let her dead brother soul be in peace. They are both strong

people.
When somebody suffers they go through rough times the most throughout all the characters. Rose suffers because she has to deal with a husband who disrespect her by cheating on her after they have been together for 18 years, as Antigone suffered when she was forced to be in a chamber because she felt that she was being strong for her brother which resulted in devastation. “I been standing with you! I been right here with you, Troy. I got a life too. I gave eighteen years of my life to stand in the same spot with you. Don’t you think I ever wanted other things? Don’t you think I had dreams and hopes? What about my life? What about me? Don’t you think it ever crossed my mind to want to know other men? That I wanted to lay up somewhere and forget about my responsibilities? That I wanted someone to make me laugh so I could feel good? You not the only one who’s got wants and needs. But I held on to you, Troy. I took all my feelings, my wants and needs, my dreams...and I buried them inside you. I planted a seed and watched and prayed over it. I planted myself inside you and waited to bloom. And it didn’t take me no eighteen years to find out the soil was hard and rocky and it wasn’t never gonna bloom. But I held on to you, Troy. I held you tighter,” (Wilson, 34). Throughout the entire play Rose knows that she loves Troy and she stays with him just for him to cheat. Rose finally let out her feelings and let Troy know how she feel when she find out he cheated. This relates to how strong Antigone was when she tried to bury her brother.
Just like King Creon who was noble as a king, Rose is just like him as she has a special talent as a house wife and is the mother of a household.

“: You hungry, Gabe? I was just fixing to cook Troy his breakfast,” (Wilson, 14). Rose understands her role in society as a woman. Rose also have another special talent as a woman, that many don’t have which is being powerful. Rose understands that some things she can’t change so she just maneuver herself to where she is comfortable so she won’t have to change her lifestyle. Many women today do not know how to be strong sp they just move on or stay in a place where they are stuck and unable to live their own life. “: I done tried to be everything a wife should be. Everything a wife could be. Been married eighteen years and I got to live to see the day you tell me you been seeing another woman and done fathered a child by her,”(Wilson, 33). The author wants us to understand the many things women at the time had to deal with whether it was racial or it was personal issues. Rose portrays the powerful women who won’t just stand for the

stress.
Tragic heroes are very important and can teach a life lesson for everybody whether your Troy Maxson or even Mrs. Matthes. Everybody needs to learn what a person with nobility, that suffers, has reversal of fortune, catharsis, tragic flaw, and nemesis. Everybody in my eyes is a tragic hero because nobody has a perfect life and can resemble one of the traits of a tragic hero. Aristotle makes us understand that a tragic hero is a person who evokes a sense of pity and fear in the audience. He makes us understand that the tragic hero is a person who has misfortune through their error of judgment. August Wilson portrays the character Rose Maxson to be a tragic hero from the definition that Aristotle gives us. Rose was a main character in the movie who had many errors and many accolades that was from her misfortunes. To conclude, Rose is the replica of a tragic hero.