View of tragic hero

                   Aristotle's Conception of an Ideal Tragic Hero 

Aristotle`s Poetics’ is the critical masterpieces, possibly the first work in the history of literature. In ‘Poetics’Aristotle has given his critical assessment of contemporary works especially tragedies. Here he talks about the definition of tragedy, the function of tragedy and the constituent elements of tragedy. He also talks about the ideal structure of a tragedy and the qualities of an ideal tragic hero.

According to Aristotle, an ideal tragic hero is a man neither too good nor too bad, but an intermediate sort of person. His misfortune or tragedy arises not from any vice of depravity but from hamartia or an error of judgment. The tragic hero must fall because of his tragic flaw from the height of prosperity and glory. The ideal tragic hero must be good though not perfect. The sufferings of such a man can arouse in the audience catharsis or the feelings of pity, fear and similar other emotions.  

In chapter 15 of ‘ Poetics,’ Aristotle has given his elaborate discussion on the essential qualities of a tragic hero. And in characterization three are four things to be aimed at. As we have already pointed out the first and foremost quality in a tragic character is that the character should be good. Aristotle, however, clarifies his meaning in the last lines of the chapter. There he says that the tragic poet should respect men as being better than in real life while at the same time the human weakness should not be ignored. That is, Aristotle wants the tragic hero yo be s hoof man, not a perfect man. Macbeth, for example, can be explained in the light of Aristotle’s statement. Macbeth is courageous, steadfast beside being a villain. He is not completely deprived. He had high ambition, high imagination, and poetic grandeur. So, people feel the admiration and pity for him. The goodness of an Aristotelian tragic hero should not be interpreted in the Christian sense.

In the second place, the portrayal of the tragic hero should be appropriate. The tragic hero should possess manly qualities. He must be true to the status he belongs to, for in Greek society social and legal status was strictly given a great importance. So, manliness, dignity, and cleverness would be appropriate in a man especially in the tragic hero and inappropriate in a woman or any female character.

The next essential requisite/quality for successful characterization is that the tragic character should be true to life. Actually, we can identify ourselves only with those characters who show correspondence to actual life. We feel pity and fear, the special tragic emotions only for the characters with whom we can identify ourselves. Tragic poetry imitates life through actions of men. So, the tragic hero should act and speak in a way which is true to life or reality.

The fourth essential requisite of a tragic hero is consistency. Even if the person represented is inconstant and if this inconsistency is the basis of his character, he must still be shown as consistency inconsistent. Actually, Aristotle enumerates four essential qualities of an ideal tragic hero:

(a)             The character should be good.

(b)            He should be appropriate.

(c)             He should be lifelike.

(d)            He should be consistent.

From the above discussion, we see that the essential qualities of a tragic character, according to Aristotle, are goodness, appropriateness, likeness to reality and consistency. Aristotle stresses that if the suffering of a tragic character has to arouse catharsis or the purgation of the feelings of pity, fear and similar other emotions then the character must have these qualities.