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What is the definition of a hero of a romantic tragedy by Shakespeare?
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
The answer that is to be given to this question depends a lot on what you mean by "romantic tragedy". I am guessing that we are talking about plays in which there is a couple who are romantically involved with each other but for whom the romance ends unhappily. This definition would certainly include the plays which end in the lovers' suicides, the two plays usually counted among the tragedies, Romeo and Juliet and Antony and Cleopatra. It should also include Troilus and Cressida who are permanently separated at the end of the play, although not dead.
In what sense is there a "hero" in these plays? In the case of Troilus, there is a real hero in the person of Hector, who is tragically ambushed and killed and his body desecrated. Hector, however, is to the side of the tragic couple and the main action of the play. Antony, who is certainly a main character in Antony and Cleopatra, is a great soldier and has the makings of a hero, but he fritters away his Roman macho persona in the luxury of Egypt. And it would be hard to identify anyone in Romeo and Juliet who would fit our usual model of a hero.
Perhaps the question we should be asking ourselves is, "Does a tragedy need a hero to be a tragedy?" I would venture to suggest that the answer is "No" It is just so much easier to talk about what is going on in these plays if we don't have to worry about who the hero is. Assume that there is no hero, and understanding the play becomes much easier.
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
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How does the crucible fit the definition of a classic tragedy?
The Crucible' fits the definition of a classic tragedy because it stars a tragic hero. That hero is John Proctor, who appears as an upright fellow but lusts for another man's wife.
How could Brutus be the tragic hero of Julius Caesar?
If the definition of a tragic hero is a character with a lot of lines who ends up dead at the end of the play, Brutus fits the bill. So for that matter does Cassius. It was not important for Shakespeare to have a tragic hero in every tragedy--that concept arose long after he stopped writing.
Romeo and Juliet as a romantic tragedy?
Romeo and Juliet is classified as a romantic tragedy because two families feud led two star-crossed lovers to commit suicide over each others deaths. [Look up: Tragic Hero]
Who is the tragic hero in Macbeth?
In the beginning of the play Macbeth, Macbeth could be considered the hero. However, by the end, he has become the villain and Macduff has become the hero.
Tragic hero is the term that identifies the of a tragedy?
"Tragic hero" is a term which identifies the hero of a tragedy, which tells you absolutely nothing. The concept became really popular in the nineteenth century when Shakespeare's plays were all about the actor-manager, whether Kean, Booth, Irving or whoever. The idea was that the play Hamlet, for example, is about the character Hamlet (played by Kean, Booth or Irving) and the other people in the play don't matter. The person thus singled out to be the "hero" was the one played by the actor-manager. This suited the economics of the time but not really the text of the play. This idea got a boost from the poetics of Aristotle, who in describing the Greek plays written 1900 years before Shakespeare used the concept of a tragic hero. Shakespeare, on the other hand, did not. Such critics end up selecting such unlikely characters as Romeo as tragic heroes just to fit their definition.
What is the best definition of tragic hero?
the main character in a tragedy
What is an example for a tragic hero?
Macbeth in Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Macbeth Lear in Shakespeare's King Lear Hamlet in Shakespeare's Hamlet Brutus in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
How does the crucible fit the definition of a classic tragedy?
The Crucible' fits the definition of a classic tragedy because it stars a tragic hero. That hero is John Proctor, who appears as an upright fellow but lusts for another man's wife.
How could Brutus be the tragic hero of Julius Caesar?
If the definition of a tragic hero is a character with a lot of lines who ends up dead at the end of the play, Brutus fits the bill. So for that matter does Cassius. It was not important for Shakespeare to have a tragic hero in every tragedy--that concept arose long after he stopped writing.
Romeo and Juliet as a romantic tragedy?
Romeo and Juliet is classified as a romantic tragedy because two families feud led two star-crossed lovers to commit suicide over each others deaths. [Look up: Tragic Hero]
What is the difference between an epic hero and a romantic hero?
The Romantic hero has a larger pudda
Who is the tragic hero in Macbeth?
In the beginning of the play Macbeth, Macbeth could be considered the hero. However, by the end, he has become the villain and Macduff has become the hero.
What books are examples of a tragedy?
I believe that anything to do with the Holocaust could be called a tragedy, for instance The Diary of Laura's Twin, in this book Laura and her sister escape, but mum grandmother and father don't is this the sort of tragedy you were looking for? Tragedy that over I don't know how many Jews lost their lives because they were different?
Which literary work in which the hero is destroyed flaw?
Tragedy
Tragic hero is the term that identifies the of a tragedy?
"Tragic hero" is a term which identifies the hero of a tragedy, which tells you absolutely nothing. The concept became really popular in the nineteenth century when Shakespeare's plays were all about the actor-manager, whether Kean, Booth, Irving or whoever. The idea was that the play Hamlet, for example, is about the character Hamlet (played by Kean, Booth or Irving) and the other people in the play don't matter. The person thus singled out to be the "hero" was the one played by the actor-manager. This suited the economics of the time but not really the text of the play. This idea got a boost from the poetics of Aristotle, who in describing the Greek plays written 1900 years before Shakespeare used the concept of a tragic hero. Shakespeare, on the other hand, did not. Such critics end up selecting such unlikely characters as Romeo as tragic heroes just to fit their definition.
Which is true of a hero in a Greek tragedy?
The hero makes a mistake in judgment.
What makes 'As You Like It' a romantic pastoral comedy?
It is romantic because it is about the triumph of love over adversity. It is pastoral because it is set in the countryside. It is a comedy because it is funny and because it all comes out right in the end (unlike tragedy, where it always ends in disaster for the hero).
