Arthur Miller was certainly aware of the nature of Greek tragedy and made a deliberate decision to use the structure of Greek drama as a basis for his play A View from the Bridge, as he had previously done for All My Sons. The central character, Eddie Carbone, fits well with the central figure in All My Sons and Death of a Salesman, being a family patriarch who has also been a complete failure as a father. He has no children of his own, so he looks after his wife's young niece. Over time, he has developed unconscious sexual feelings toward her, affecting everyone around him. Eddie is an ordinary man living among other ordinary men. The high-born nature of the traditional tragic hero is gone now, though Carbone can be seen as a middle-class version of a high-born hero because he is respected in his community and the head of his household. He is no closer to the gods than anyone else, however, though members of the Italian community have a religious background that colors much of their thinking about life.
Catherine is the niece who has lived with Eddie and his wife for some time, and Eddie worries that she is becoming too attractive, meaning that she might attract other men. She is unhappy about his disapproval of her and does not see that he has an unhealthy interest in her, something that he himself does not really understand, either. Catherine has a job offer, and Eddie resists because he believes she will meet more men at work and be out of his control. His wife, Beatrice, ahs started noticing that Eddie is too interested in Catherine, so she wants Catherine to take the job. Complicating matters is the arrival of two cousins from the old country, illegal immigrants whose real situation has to be kept secret within the family. The male cousins clash with Eddie as...
Aristotle studied literary theory in his book, Poetics, and in this study he defined and provided ideas about the concept of tragedy. Tragedy for Aristotle is defined as, "an imitation of life in the form of a serious story that is complete in itself; in other words, the story must be realistic and narrow in focus." He characterized a "good tragedy" if it brings about a feeling of "fear and/or
As Northrop Frye states, tragic heroes are “the inevitable conductors of the power about them...instruments as well as victims.” Tragic heroes experience great pain and suffering themselves, through which the audience members can contemplate their own faults. More than that, tragic heroes can bring about the destruction of others including those they love. Examples from classical literature like Oedipus and Hamlet provide obvious examples of how tragic heroes cause the
Shakespeare delays the entry of his tragic hero until the second scene of Othello, creating dramatic irony and suspense. He also allows the audience to first perceive Othello from the eyes of Iago and Roderigo, thus emphasizing their roles in the coming course of action. Although it is unclear whether Iago and Roderigo are honest men this early in the play, the fact that they fail to name the title
Crazy Horse and the Western Hero Crazy Horse, believed born sometime in 1838, was a respected member of the Oglala Sioux Native American tribe and is noted for his courage in battle. He was recognized among his own people as a visionary leader committed to preserving the traditions and values of the Lakota way of life and leading his people into a war against the take-over of their lands by the
heroes of Homer's great work, The Illiad, is Achilles. Achilles, known for his handsome appearance and physical invulnerability, is driven by his compelling need and desire to have his memory preserved in history. Although such need and desire is expressed as Achilles' personal compulsion, the author Homer certainly intended that it was reflective of human kind in general. This desire and need for everlasting immortality remains an important part
Those with issues to overcome are always more heroic. Hector also becomes a hero when, after at first running from Achilles, he eventually stands up to him and dies a heroic death. The Iliad is primarily a war epic. In your opinion, is the Iliad condemnation of the it could easily be argued that the Illiad glorifies war, as much of the poem is spent portraying the warriors as brave
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now