What is a tragic hero?

A tragic hero is a character in a dramatic tragedy

who has virtuous and sympathetic traits but
ultimately meets with suffering or defeat.

Something tragic is sadly disastrous, such as

the untimely death of a loved one. A hero is
someone who has accomplished special
achievements and is viewed as a role model for
others. In literature, tragic specifically refers to a
play that is a tragedy (as opposed to a comedy),
and a hero is the protagonist.

You'll see a tragic hero in many dramas, such as

Oedipus in Sophocles's Oedipus Rex or Romeo in
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Outside of
classic literature, however, tragic hero is used
more generally for characters who have a dark
past or experience a downfall, such as Batman
in DC Comics or Severus Snape in Harry Potter.
 What are characteristics of a tragic
X
hero?

What do Star Wars' Anakin Skywalker and The

Great Gatsby's Jay Gatsby have in common?
They both can be considered tragic heroes.

The concept of the tragic hero was described in

one of the earliest surviving works of dramatic
theory, Aristotle's Poetics (c. 335 b.c.) . In Greek
tragedy, the tragic hero:

• Is a male character, usually a noble, who suffers

a reversal of fortune
• Makes a consequential mistake
• Experiences a downfall as a result of his hubris
(excessive pride)
• Typically dies in the end
• Sparks sympathy and fear in the audience

The nature of the tragic hero has evolved as it

spread from ancient Greece in Western
literature: the hero doesn't necessarily have to
be male or noble, but still faces misfortune as a
result of some personal flaw.

Nevertheless, you'll often encounter the term

tragic hero when discussing Greek plays, as
we've seen, as well as Elizabethan dramas.
Shakespeare created many notable tragic
heroes: Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, and Othello,
to name a few.
 Let's analyze a modern and a classic tragic hero
as examples:

• In Star Wars, Anakin Skywalker's fear of losing

his loved ones drives him to join the Dark Side,
embracing evil powers in a twisted attempt to
save them.
• In Hamlet, Prince Hamlet is unable to cope with
his father's murder, resulting in extreme
paranoia and an irrational thirst for revenge,
leading to his loved ones' deaths-and his own.

While you might initially come across tragic hero

in literature class, it's a useful way of thinking
about complex, multidimensional characters in
contemporary media, such as Walter White from
Breaking Bad-and tragic figures in real life, such
as the actor James Dean.