Essays on Tragedy

Joachim Ogundipe English Comp 2 Tragic Hero: Antigone or Creon? In Antigone, a play written by Sophocles, the characters Creon and Antigone both fit into a few of Aristotle’s criteria. They are both choices of tragic heroes. They both are neither good nor evil in …

Revenge always leads an individual down a path of destruction. It is a horrible trait for one to posses; it triggers many different emotions, which causes one to act blindly. Revenge can reflect on the principle an eye for an eye. In Shakespeare’s playwright Hamlet, …

The Tragic Hero of Antigone In Sophocles’ play Antigone, both Creon, and Antigone display some characteristics of a tragic hero. Creon is the king of Thebes following the late Oedipus and his sons. He decrees that no one should ever bury Polyneices because he was …

From insane mothers to self—destruction Sophocles’s Oedipus the King and Shakespeare’s Hamlet define how your own noble actions can be your downfall. With similar themes, the plays epitomize what a true tragic hero can be by highlighting each flaw and exemplifying it with each character. …

Epic heroes like Achilles, Odysseus, and Aenas were warrior-type males who fought enemies and wars with great strength and exceptional courage.  Most of the time they had little regard for their own personal safety.  That, particularly characterized Achilles.  Odysseus on the other hand was cautious …

The Foolishness of Achilles’ Anger What causes a great leader to fall? Why do people who have such large potential fail? Could it be pressure? Expectations? Circumstances? All these things may contribute but the final blows are made by a serious character flaw or a …

In the play Julius Ceasar by William Shakespeare, Marcus Brutus is the tragic hero. Brutus is a tragic hero because he has Tragic Flaws. Brutus’s first tragic flaw is that he is naive; he is not a shrewd judge of people. As Caius Cassius states, …

Written by Sophocles, Antigone is an ancient Greek tragedy that discusses two girls’ decision to bury their dead brother despite the fact that the king will execute anyone who tries to do so. Should they honor the god’s laws, but risk their own lives in …

Journeys have a powerful impact on the traveler. Journeys may offer life-changing experiences, which leave a powerful impact on the traveler. Whether the impact may be positive or negative, those who embark on the journey are motivated by the goals they seek. This allows the …

What Does it Mean to be a Man or a Woman? A theme the tragedy of Macbeth routinely reveals is one of gender roles. Throughout the play, many characters struggle with conflict within themselves; not unlike conflicts that we face inside ourselves today. Various major …

William Shakespeare’s classic, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, is about two lovers that are forbidden to be together and their solution. The writing style of this Shakespearean play reveals the era of the play by highlighting the social classes. Skillfully using his writing, Shakespeare …

Running ahead: Is reality television negative Reality television has gone negative in the most apart. Take shows like “Jersey Shore”. This show by its self shows how to be ignorat, loud, don’t care about anything but partying. Do we really want our children to act …

Shakespeare’s Macbeth has been considered by many experts a successful tragic play over all other Shakespeare tragedies. The play reveals the concept that ambition could lead a hero astray In Macbeth we see the gradual change of Macbeth‘s and Lady Macbeth’s characters that ultimately led …

Antigone, the main character in Sophocles‘ renowned tragedy of the same name, is often praised as a figure of integrity and heroism. However, Sophocles’ intentions may not have been so simple. By taking a deeper look into Antigone‘s words and deeds, one realizes that she …

In the story “Contents of a Dead Man’s Pocket” written by Jack Finney, the main character named Tom goes through a near death experience causing him to realize that ambitions are not all that life is about, that his job is not more important than …

It is quite clear that Columbus is a controversial figure in American history; many different views of the “Admiral of the Ocean” are presented to the American public. For starters Columbus Day is still viewed as a national holiday; on the other side many people …

The seemingly loving and honest sisters, Generic and Reagan, and Starr son, Edmund, are In reality; evil, uncaring, deceitful beings, and clothing that symbolizes who a person Is, Is simply only an Illusion. Early on in the play, Learns two daughters, Generic and Reagan, appear …

Allen Yun Ms. Chen English 1 Honors 16 April 2013 Oedipus Rex and Antigone Essay Prompt What would happen if one were to witness a wealthy, powerful leader who could wish for nothing more in his life? Sounds like everything a man could dream of, …

I was given the brief that, if I was a director how would I compose work on Macbeth on Act One, Scene Three of the play? I would begin by thinking on how I will present the following to the audience: the setting, the atmosphere, …

The play entitled “Arsenic and Old Lace” is about the story of comedy towards tragedy and dilemma. It emphasized the main product of the play, which is the elderberry wine that the main characters used to kill and bury people who had no family. Despite …

History of Theatre Early in the 1700’s British people that were involved with theatre were mostly middle class. There were 2 kinds of new dramatic theatre: sentimental comedy and domestic tragedy. The fist playhouse was in the American colonies was built in Williamsburg, Virginia. In …

Oedipus the Decent King Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex is a classic Greek tragedy that tells the story of a king with an unavoidable fate. Oedipus, the king of Thebes, unknowingly marries his mother and kills his father, thus cursing his kingdom with a terrible famine. The …

John Proctor, a clear cut tragic hero. Tragic heroes are broadly portrayed as literary characters who make an error of judgment or have a fatal flaw that, combined with fate and external forces, brings on a tragedy. Making the tragic hero suffer an experience of …

Gender Overplay The representation and relationships of women in Venetian society in terms of ender relations and equality are explored throughout the play. The character of Ago, adopts the sexist and discriminatory attitudes towards women that was common In the patriarchal society of Venice. Ago …

William Shakespeare’s play Othello, written in 1603, is set in Venice and follows the ‘valiant’ general Othello who is manipulated by Iago into his own downfall; being the murder of his wife then suicide. The play explores some of the deepest characteristics of human experience, …

On July 21, I went to a family barbeque in Rochester, NY. After leaving the barbeque, I was on my way to meet my brothers John and Nick at the local bar to talk and have fun. After we saw our oldest brother John off, …

The tragedy ‘King Lear’ by William Shakespeare, although written about quite remote epoch and unusual (in terms of our contemporary world) settings, raises vital philosophical, social and psychological themes, which are unlikely to become outdated. The most abstractive philosophical issue, described in ‘King Lear’ is …

How far do you agree that “The play of King Lear presents us with a bleak and cruel world and offers us no comfort at the end Much of Shakespeare’s King Lear follows themes such as betrayal on the part of the antagonists and the …

Tragedy is defined in Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary as 1) a medieval narrative poem or tale typically describing the downfall of a great man or 2) a serious drama typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force, such as destiny, and having …

Comparison/Contrast Essay Although both Clarice Lispector’s “The Smallest Woman in the World” and Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” are magic realist stories showing the extreme sizes of two people, the stories depict differently how a society can react to a …