The concept of a tragic flaw dates back to Aristotle's Poetics. In Poetics, Aristotle used the term hamartia to refer to the innate quality that leads a protagonist towards his or her own downfall. The term fatal flaw is sometimes used in place of tragic flaw. Aristotle discusses all this in Part 14 of his book entitled Poetics.
To have Hamartia you have to have a Tragic Hero who experiences having a Tragic Flaw. This hero is usually the principal protagonist or character acting in the Tragedy, a type of drama characterised by high-stakes conflict and a fatal outcome for that protagonist. Such protagonists are Oedipus, Antigone, Ajax and Medea who all figure in plays with their own names in the title.
Aristotle identifies three key qualities that a tragic hero must possess:
Excellence: The tragic hero must be a person of high status and reputation. They must be someone who is admired and respected by others.
Flaw: The tragic hero must also have a flaw or hamartia. This flaw is often a character flaw, such as pride, ambition, or hubris.
Tragic error: The tragic hero must make a tragic error or peripeteia. This error is often a mistake of judgment that leads to the hero's downfall.
Aristotle believed that the tragic hero must possess these three qualities in order to evoke pity and fear in the audience. Pity is the feeling of sympathy that we feel for someone who is suffering, and fear is the feeling of apprehension that we feel when we see someone who is in danger. Aristotle believed that these two emotions are essential to the experience of tragedy.
Hamartia is the tragic or fatal flaw which leads to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine. It is when the hero makes a mistake or an error of judgement. The origin of the word is Greek, meaning ‘fault, failure, guilt’; the term was used in Aristotle's Poetics with reference to ancient Greek tragedy. In Oedipus Rex Sophocles treats Hamartia rather like St. Augustine's concept of Original Sin, that is the state of sinfulness that all humans are born into as a result of the Fall of Adam and Eve, resulting in their banishment from the Garden of Eden. Adam fell because he ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, thereby disobeying God. This act of disobedience corrupted their nature and led to the state of sinfulness that all humans have subsequently inherited.
To have Hamartia you have to have a Tragic Hero who experiences having a Tragic Flaw. This hero is usually the principal protagonist or character acting in the Tragedy, a type of drama characterised by high-stakes conflict and a fatal outcome for that protagonist. Such protagonists are Oedipus, Antigone, Ajax and Medea who all figure in plays with their own names in the title.
Aristotle identifies three key qualities that a tragic hero must possess:
Excellence: The tragic hero must be a person of high status and reputation. They must be someone who is admired and respected by others.
Flaw: The tragic hero must also have a flaw or hamartia. This flaw is often a character flaw, such as pride, ambition, or hubris.
Tragic error: The tragic hero must make a tragic error or peripeteia. This error is often a mistake of judgment that leads to the hero's downfall.
Aristotle believed that the tragic hero must possess these three qualities in order to evoke pity and fear in the audience. Pity is the feeling of sympathy that we feel for someone who is suffering, and fear is the feeling of apprehension that we feel when we see someone who is in danger. Aristotle believed that these two emotions are essential to the experience of tragedy.
Hamartia is the tragic or fatal flaw which leads to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine. It is when the hero makes a mistake or an error of judgement. The origin of the word is Greek, meaning ‘fault, failure, guilt’; the term was used in Aristotle's Poetics with reference to ancient Greek tragedy. In Oedipus Rex Sophocles treats Hamartia rather like St. Augustine's concept of Original Sin, that is the state of sinfulness that all humans are born into as a result of the Fall of Adam and Eve, resulting in their banishment from the Garden of Eden. Adam fell because he ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, thereby disobeying God. This act of disobedience corrupted their nature and led to the state of sinfulness that all humans have subsequently inherited.
References
Whether Aristotle regards the “flaw” as intellectual or moral has been hotly discussed. It may cover both senses. The hero must not deserve his misfortune, but he must cause it by making a fatal mistake, an error of judgement, which may well involve some imperfection of character but not such as to make us regard him as “morally responsible” for the disasters that follow although they are nevertheless the consequences of the flaw that he has within him, and his wrongdoing and wrong decision at a crisis is the inevitable outcome of his character.
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Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press on behalf of the Classical Association of the Atlantic States
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Stable URL: http://www.jstor.com/stable/41429141
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Published by: Department of the Classics, Harvard University
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.com/stable/41429141
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