The concept of the tragic hero is a cornerstone of literary analysis, originating from ancient Greek drama and persisting through to contemporary literature. This archetype reflects a character who possesses inherent flaws or makes critical errors in judgment, leading to their inevitable downfall. Tragic heroes are typically individuals of high ...Read More
The concept of the tragic hero is a cornerstone of literary analysis, originating from ancient Greek drama and persisting through to contemporary literature. This archetype reflects a character who possesses inherent flaws or makes critical errors in judgment, leading to their inevitable downfall. Tragic heroes are typically individuals of high status or noble birth who are pitted against an insurmountable fate or a critical moral decision, which ultimately leads to a tragic end. This essay topic invites an exploration of how the tragic hero has evolved over centuries, from the strictures of Aristotle’s definitions in ancient Greek tragedies, through the complexities of Shakespeare’s protagonists, to the nuanced figures in modern literature.
Writing an essay on the evolution of the tragic hero is significant for several reasons:
It offers insights into how societal values and philosophical perceptions of heroism, morality, and fate have shifted over time.
This theme provides a rich field for literary analysis, allowing for a deep dive into various literary devices, character development, and narrative techniques used by authors to depict tragic heroes.
It encourages a nuanced understanding of human strengths and weaknesses and the consequences of our choices, underscoring the timeless relevance of classical themes in the modern context.
The evolution of the tragic hero offers a lens through which to examine different cultural attitudes towards fate, free will, and the divine.
By exploring the tragedies of these heroes, readers and writers alike are prompted to reflect on their own lives and the human condition, fostering empathy for others.
Literature Review Essay Topics
The Evolution of the Tragic Hero in Literature: From Ancient Greece to Modern Times
Feminism in Literature: The Waves from the 19th Century to the Present
The Portrayal of Family Dynamics in 20th-Century American Literature
Post-Colonial Narratives and Identity: A Literature Review
There has been a big growth in the importance and the presence of entertainment in our daily life and of course with such large demand there has also been a large supply of content ranging from books, to movies, comic books and a plethora of...
Tuesdays With Morrie is a novel based on a true story about a professor named Morrie Shwartz and the memorable lessons he taught to the people around him, specifically his student, Mitch Albom. Morrie taught Sociology at Brandeis University. His earnestness towards teaching and the...
The “Tell Tale Heart” is a well-known short story that was written by Edgar Allan Poe. This story is one of the many examples that display his writings of death and misery as most of his stories are about. The main characters of the story...
Poetry, a language used in various creative elements and forms by distinct poets carries significance in terms of the poet’s ambition, decisions and ambience. The primary objective of poetry is to essentially endow pleasure on an audience or reader. Robert Gray, a contemporary Australian poet...
Introduction In Sherman Alexie’s novel “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” we delve into the life of Arnold Spirit, a young Native American residing on the WellPoint Reservation in Spokane, Washington. Raised alongside his parents, sister Mary, and frequently conversing with his grandmother,...
Although she only lived to forty-one years of age and published a mere six works, Jane Austen was one of the most profound authors of the nineteenth century. Her first published work, penned when she was but nineteen years old, was Sense and Sensibility: a...
Depictions of Asian Americans in mainstream culture tend to reinforce a stereotype of the silent, model minority. Said silence typically results from either a language barrier or the perception that silence equates to respectfulness and abhorrence of conflict. Media representations often give audiences an outside...
Ariel Dorfman’s play “Death and the Maiden” revolves around a husband and wife, Gerardo and Paulina, living under an unstable democracy after a long chapter of oppressive dictatorship. In this moral thriller, Paulina accuses a man named Roberto of being the physician who tortured and...
Whether it be a businessman or a chef, writer or teacher, one’s profession often reveals insight into a person and immediately creates a stereotype for an individual. While some jobs hold prestigious standing in societal stereotypes, others may wrongly detract from someone’s image on a...
War has always been one of the most shocking and destructive staples of human history. In his novel The Cellist of Sarajevo, Canadian author Steven Galloway seeks to encapsulate the effects that war has on individuals. Galloway emphasizes that although war has a significant impact...
In England, the Baroque was a partly useful concept when discussing about the Restoration Comedy. The English theatres were closed for 18 years, during the English Civil War and English Commonwealth. They were reopened in the Restoration of Charles II (1660). During this period, the...
Introduction The fight for freedom and equality during the era of apartheid in South Africa was a complex and multifaceted endeavor, marked by competing ideologies and strategies within the black community. Athol Fugard’s play, “My Children! My Africa!”, explores the dichotomy between two prominent characters,...
In the grace period of Australia’s colonial development, many cultural assumptions and ideas were created in response to the increase of British immigration. Australia was a home away from home, a land of opportunity and adventure that allowed the English populace ‘freedom’ from the almost...
A Chorus of Women’s Issues in “Top Girls” Although the characters’ distinctive individual stories are told in Act I of Caryl Churchill’s play Top Girls, the overall effect is a cumulative chorus of women’s issues. The dinner scene in Act I establishes thematic foundations upon...
Poor Gimpel; everyday life is not easy for the everyday bread maker. Every day he is the target of jokes and pranks from the townspeople, some of which are really cruel. I sympathize with poor Gimpel; I remember how it felt getting bullied and mistreated...
The plays The Rez Sisters and Les Belles Soeurs both deal with groups of women, united in sisterhood, who experience social challenges within the story. Through a comedic lens, we accompany the characters in both stories as we are given insight into their social dynamic...
Conrad’s first two works were based on his experiences of Malaya, Almayer’s Folly and An Outcast of the Islands (1896). His best work came in 1897, The Nigger of the “Narcissus”, a moving story of life on board ship. He followed it with his many...
In today’s era, healthy food can be difficult to find. What foods are good for us? Is Organic Food really worth buying? In his essay ‘’Escape from the western diet’’ Pollan argues about the nutrition of the western diet, that it is not healthy and...
Anne Frank wrote her first diary entry, addressed to an imaginary friend named kitty “I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of...
Intellectual capital was measured by many, coined by some, agreed by few and valued formally and practically by no one. Intellect management is sought to depend on value creation in the contemporary era of business knowledge. Intellectual capital as it is coined as intangible assets...
Do most Americans have a healthy meal? Well an average American spends more than 1,000 dollars only on junk food or fast food. Today’s history there is so much obesity just because of junk food or fast food, thanks to the founders of the fast...
Genre Analysis: One Day (2011) On July 15, 1988 – the day of their college graduation – two people from opposite sides of the tracks begin a lifelong friendship. Emma, an idealist from a working-class family, wants to make the world a better place. Dexter,...
As every ambitious nation, one of their main goals to achieve is to expand their territories in foreign countries, specially countries with resources to contribute with and innocent people that could be dominated easily. The act of imperialism refers to take control over other´s government,...
In the introduction of the book The Location of Culture, Bhabha suggests that we, as members of the society, should attempt to understand cultural differences based on hybridity not based on “organic” group classifications. Nowadays, with the constant increase in immigration, one’s characteristics is not...
In something not to be touched (done, talked of), she studies the lives of the people of the Shahi Mohalla in Lahore. Shahi Mohalla is a place was living in by a town of persons offering entertainment, dancers and players and writers of music. This...
Timothy Brook falls upon Johannes Vermeer’s grave under the Church in the city of Delft, Netherlands, which inspired him to write about global capitalism during the 17th century in Vermeer’s Hat. He compared eight different pieces of art, six of which are paintings by Vermeer...
When I began to read the essay Shooting An Elephant by George Orwell, I did not like the Narrator. The Narrator is working as policeman working for the British in the country of Burma, a colony of Great Britain. The Narrator begins the story stating...
One’s attempt secure the satisfaction of self-fulfillment does not always end up with the result they want, it could also end up with regret. When it comes to making decisions we tend to be in the opinion of what we think in that moment is...
Ishiguro’s novel, Never Let Me Go addresses questions about past, present, and future ethics and morals surrounding technological advancements and specifically, cloning humans. Using a thirty-one year old named Kathy’s recollection, narration is used to display the inevitability of loss in a preparatory school for...
Kate Chopin’s The Awakening was a novella set during 1899, in New Orleans, and the main character Edna Pontellier was a controversial character. Edna was searching for her purpose and searches for an “awakening”. She is not able to fulfill her job as the ‘mother-woman’...
