Page 21 - DENG403_BRITISH_DRAMA

Unit 1: Literary Terms: Classical and Aristotle’s Concept of Tragedy and Tragic Hero

18. Which of the following statements about hamartia is not correct? Notes
(a) It is translated as miscalculation
(b) Literally, it means missing the mark
(c) Aristotle uses this term in his poetics translated as success
(d) Aristotle translated it as flaw or as error.
19. The great tragedians, such as Sophocles, identify the tragic hero as one
(a) who is destined to rise
(b) who carries the evil seed of fatal flaw
(c) who destined to commit a reversible mistake
(d) who destined to commit a fatal and irreversible mistake.
20. A good man falling from happiness to misfortune may not be tragic hero because
(a) it will only inspir revulsion, not pity or fear
(b) it will inspire sympathy, so can’t arouse pity or fear
(c) it will inspire sympathy, but not pity or fear
(d) it will inspire revulsion and also pity or fear.

Fill in the blanks:
21. The tragic hero is a great man who is not a paragon of virtue and ..........
22. The fall from fortune to disaster of a completely virtuous person would provoke
moral .......... at such an injustice.
23. The tragic hero is in effect compelled to sin because of his ..........; he cannot escape
it.
24. Tragic hero is a great man, usually of noble birth who stand in .......... and prosperity.
25. Aristotle thought of hamarti primarily as a failure to recognize someone, often a
..........
State whether the following statements are true or false:
26. A wicked man falling from prosperity to misfortune may not a tragic hero as it may
not inspire pity or fear.
27. The downfall of a villainous person is considered as an appropriate tragedy.
28. The fatal flaw is an essential element in the tragic hero, being the pivotal condition
that causes his downfall.
29. The concept of hamartia as tragic flaw may not apply to all tragic figures.
30. Most critics understood hamartia to mean that the hero must have a tragic flaw.

1.3 Summary

• Tragedy is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude.
• Every tragedy must have six elements which determine its quality, namely, plot, characters,
diction, thought, spectacle, and melody.
• The end of the tragedy is catharsis (purgation, cleansing) of the tragic emotions of pity and
fear.
• In catharsis, tragedy first raises (it does not create) the emotions of pity and fear, then purifies
or purges them. Whether the purification takes place only within the action of the play, or the

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