This blog is part of an assignment for the paper 101 - Literature of the Elizabethan and Restoration Periods, Sem - 1, 2022.
PERSONAL INFORMATION:-
Name:- Bhavyata Dhirajbhai Kukadiya
Batch:- M.A. Sem 1 (2022-2024)
Enrollment Number:- 4069206420220018
E-mail Address:- bhavyatakukadiya@gmail.com
Roll Number:- 5
ASSIGNMENT DETAILS:-
Topic:- Hamartia: Study of Aristotle And Shakespeare Tragic Hero
Paper & subject code:- 101 - Literature of the Elizabethan and Restoration Periods & 22392
Submitted to:- Smt. Sujata Binoy Gardi, Department of English, MKBU, Bhavnagar
Date of Submission:- 7th November, 2022
Hamartia: Study of Aristotle And Shakespeare Tragic Hero
What is Hamartia?
Definitions :-
This word was first used by Aristotle in his work "Poetics". Aristotle describes a commercial as an error of judgement or a mistake that was made by a character in a theatrical tragedy.
In easy language we can say that, Hamartia is a literary term that refers to a tragic flaw or error that leads to a character's downfall.
By Aristotle's definition, the Hamartia aur mistake, could have been the result by any character. Often the character was ignorant of the eventual outcome of the decision.
He also defines tragedy as an imitation of a human action, which is serious and not comic in nature.The serious action concentrates on the sufferings, pains and pangs of the tragic hero who is generally speaking a good person but possesses a minor tragic flaw. The word which Aristotle used in poetics for the tragic flaw in Hamartia.
Hamartia Definition Greek
hamartia, also called tragic flaw, (hamartia from Greek hamartanein, “to err”), inherent defect or shortcoming in the hero of a tragedy, who is in other respects a superior being favoured by fortune.
Some details about Hamartia:-
The word Hamartia is borrowed from the art of archery. It is used for a miss short. Aristotle takes its metaphorical sense and applies it for the hero's error of judgement. Tragic Hero according to Aristotle is necessarily a man of noble birth, towering personality and extraordinary qualities but possessing one minor move causes his fall. The hero, when passing through an extremely critical phase of his life, is caught up in such an irritating situation that he has to take an important decision in his mind, collecting all the good things that would happen, but what happens in the letter in prose is quite opposite to his expectations. Owing to his error of judgement, the traffic hero faces reversal of fortune.
A character's tragic flaw isn't necessarily a morally reprehensible one. On the contrary, the flaw is sometimes an apparently positive quality, such as trusting others. This is part of what makes hamartia a complex concept, since it links both good and bad qualities to tragic outcomes.
In the case of a tragic error, repercussions are typically disproportionately larger than the error itself. Because of this, some scholars argue that misfortune, or fate, is an important aspect of how hamartia plays a role in the unraveling of events.
Hamartia is an important part of tragedy, but it isn’t confined only to tragedies. It’s possible for it to show up within any type of story: comedy, romance, drama and so on.
Hamartia doesn’t even have to be something terrible like murder or theft. A simple error in judgment can suffice as long as it sends the protagonist down an unfortunate path.
Of course, you might say that everybody has flaws, so how does hamartia differ from human nature? The key difference is that human nature doesn’t necessarily drive us toward a specific action.
When it comes to literature, we often assume that the protagonist is supposed to be the good guy — somebody who does the right thing and struggles through adversity to defeat the evil villain. But there are plenty of examples where this isn’t the case.
In fact, some of the most interesting stories around have protagonists who are deeply flawed and yet still somehow manage to win in the end.
Hamartia is a term used to describe this major flaw that drives a character’s actions throughout a narrative.
The importance of Using Hamartia:-
Hamartia shapes the tragic plot. Without a fatal flaw, the protagonist would continue to live a flourishing life with little to no difficulty. It is the flaw that causes his or her good fortune to shift to bad fortune, usually at the most climactic point in the plot. Furthermore, hamartia emotionally-charges the tragic narrative, instilling pity and awe in the audience. The tragic hero is imperfect and therefore relatable to the audience, as we all have flaws. The dramatic and tragic effects of the flaw may serve as a moral lesson, showing the negative effects of hamartia that are unharnessed and yield terrible results.
Aristotle claimed that the hamartia must bring about the reversal of fortune for the tragic hero, and that this hero must be neither completely good nor completely bad so that the audience can identify with the character’s plight. Therefore, the audience members experience a feeling of pity for the character, as well as a sense of fear that the same downfall might afflict them someday.
In most ancient tragedies, this error causes the protagonist or main character to break a divine or moral law, which leads to disastrous consequences. Despite the horrible events befalling the tragic hero, tragedies celebrate the human spirit, in the confrontation of difficult situations and the accountability of a character for his or her own actions.
Reasons of Hamartia
Example of Hamartia in Literature
Hamartia is a concept that comes from classical drama, particularly Greek tragedies. The term refers to an inherent flaw or error in human nature that leads to a downfall of a protagonist in the story. There are many events throughout each narrative that occur through hamartia, even though the author may not directly state it.
Hamartia is a main element of the classic tragic play. Usually, this tragic flaw causes a complicated story to arise and develop. For a basic understanding of hamartia, though, consider these short story examples:
In the novel Frankenstein Victor Frankenstein's arrogant conviction that he can usurp the roles of God and nature in creating life directly leads to ruinous consequences for him, making it an example of hamartia.
Examples Of Hamartia In Shakespearean Tragic Heroes
Hamartia in Shakespearean tragedies, however, is not a single action or event but rather a series of actions or events.
The corrective process and its consequences are formed by textual elements that represent the characters’ choices and actions.
Shakespeare’s Plays are full of tragic heroes. Hamartia is a term for moral fallibility in his characters. It is their fatal flaw or error in judgment that leads to their undoing. These character flaws are internal, not situational, and it is the characters’ inner thoughts that drive the plot.
Some examples of Hamartia in Shakespearean tragedies are in Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth
🔹A classic example is from William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice.
Othello’s fatal flaw is his jealousy. Fueled by Iago’s lies, Othello flies into a jealous rage and murders his wife. Having discovered that she is in truth innocent, he kills himself as well.
Othello claims that he has not meant to cause so much pain, but that he has loved too much, meaning his love has caused his jealousy which has in turn driven him to extremes.
🔹Shakespeare’s Macbeth:
Macbeth’s fatal flaw is his unchecked ambition. In his drive for power, he murders, saying:
I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself
And falls on the’ other.
The only thing that leads Macbeth to action is overwhelming ambition which pushes him forward faster and faster, ultimately leading to his tragic end.
🔹King Lear is destroyed by his excessive pride
🔹Hamlet by his desire to revenge
"To be or not to be"
Procrastination
🔹Richard by his ambition, desire to prove a villain
Example of Hamartia in Literature
Hamartia is a concept that comes from classical drama, particularly Greek tragedies. The term refers to an inherent flaw or error in human nature that leads to a downfall of a protagonist in the story. There are many events throughout each narrative that occur through hamartia, even though the author may not directly state it.
Hamartia is a main element of the classic tragic play. Usually, this tragic flaw causes a complicated story to arise and develop. For a basic understanding of hamartia, though, consider these short story examples:
In the novel Frankenstein Victor
Frankenstein's arrogant conviction that he can usurp the roles of God and nature in creating life directly leads to ruinous consequences for him, making it an example of hamartia.
Hamartia in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein the protagonist Dr. Victor Frankenstein succeeds in engineering a new form of intelligent life, usurping the role of God and nature. Dr. Frankenstein's own creation rebels against him, however, after Frankenstein fails in his role as creator by rejecting and abandoning the monster. Hamartia in Frankenstein can be interpreted in a few related ways:
Victor's Overwhelming ambition and urge to make revolutionary contributions to science, which can be considered positive qualities, but ultimately doom him to be a victim of that same ambition.
Victor's failure to take responsibility for the monster he created—in other words, his rejection of his own "child."
Even though each of the heroes represents a specific character, we can see that they are all victims of their own mistakes and faults, so they all share the same tragic fate. However, their downfall makes them realize their wrongdoings, where the element of anagnorisis is present, but it is too late for them, they have destroyed their own life, and also affected the lives of people around them, people they love and care about, bringing many deaths, a lot of violence and pain.
What's the Function of Hamartia in Literature?
In literature, drama, and film, hamartia is what creates tragic heroes. Further, it can lead to a critical discovery on the hero's part, and works to create complicated and relatable characters.
Hamartia Puts the "Tragic" in Tragic Hero
Hamartia is the ingredient that makes tragic heroes tragic. When defining tragedy in Poetics, Aristotle claimed that tragedy involves a reversal of fortune—specifically, misfortune brought about not by external causes, but by the protagonist's own flaw or error. The protagonists in such texts are tragic heroes and hamartia is the flaw or error that sets into motion the actions or plot developments that ultimately lead to the hero's demise. Without hamartia, Oedipus might not have rashly murdered his father or unknowingly married his mother.
Hamartia Can Lead to a Major Discovery by the Hero
Hamartia can bring about an important discovery for the story's hero. In tragedies, the term for this type of discovery is anagnorisis, or the shift from ignorance to knowledge. Typically, the revelation is about the hero's true nature or identity, the identity of other characters, or the unsavory reality of the hero's situation. A famous example of anagnorisis in Oedipus' discovery, via a messenger, of the truth about his father and mother, which compels Oedipus to blind himself.
Hamartia Works to Develop Complex and Sympathetic Characters
As Aristotle argued, people who are either too good or too wicked seldom make compelling or relatable characters. Not only does hamartia help complicate characters and make them more sympathetic, it also discourages easy judgement of characters, since it's difficult for a reader to condemn someone to whom they relate. This is especially true of cases where hamartia has some positive aspects, such as Victor Frankenstein's hunger for knowledge and scientific achievement.
Hamartia Can Take the Form of a Positive Quality
It's worth noting that the flaw or error that causes a character's downfall is typically not a morally condemnable one. Rather, it might be a fateful mistake as simple as leaving the window open, or even an apparently positive quality, such as loving too intensely. For instance, in the film Moulin Rouge!, the heroine Satine commits so fully to her dream of acting that this passion keeps her quiet about her tuberculosis, the disease which kills her. Artistic passion is usually a quality to admire, but here it steered her fate in a tragic direction.
Conclusion
Hamartia is the shortcoming in the hero that causes his downfall or tragedy. In a play this comes into effect when a tragic Hero tries to accomplish something but ends up doing exactly the opposite thing because of the error of judgement.
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