King Lear: A Tragic Hero Bibliography with 2 sources Tragedy is defined in the Websters New Collegiate Dictionary as 1) a medieval narrative poem or tale generally describing the downfall of a great man or 2) a serious drama usually depicting a conflict between the protagonist and a higher force, such as fate, and having a painful or disastrous conclusion that arouses pity or terror. The play King Lear is one of William Shakespeare's great tragic plays. It is not only considered a tragedy in itself, but also a play that includes two tragic heroes and four villains. In the tragedy of King Lear the tragic hero must not be all good or all bad, the error of judgment deprives the hero, the use of two tragic characters intensifies the tragedy, the tragedy begins not with character but with action and through their tragic suffering the heroes acquire knowledge. We must be able to identify with the tragic hero for him to inspire fear, because we must feel that what happens to him could happen to us. If Lear were completely evil, we wouldn't be afraid of what happened to him: he would simply be loathsome. But Lear inspires fear because, like us, he is not completely honest, nor completely evil. He's foolish and arrogant, yes, but later he's also humble and compassionate. He is angry, but sometimes patient. Because of his qualities, we feel pity for him and believe that he does not deserve the severity of his punishment. His actions are not caused by any corruption or depravity on his part, but by an error of judgment, which however arises from a flaw of character. Lear has a tragic flaw, which is selfishness. It is his selfishness in the first scene that causes him to make his error of judgment by dividing his kingdom and losing Cordelia. Throughout the remainder of the play, the consequences of this error slowly and steadily increase until Lear is destroyed. There must be a change in the life of the tragic hero; he must go from happiness to unhappiness. Lear, as we see in Act I, has everything a man should want: wealth, power, peace, and a state of well-being. Because a tragic character must move from happiness to unhappiness, he must be seen at the beginning of the play as a happy man, surrounded by good fortune. Then, the disasters that happen to him will be unexpected and will contrast directly with his previous state. In King Lear, the two tragic characters, a king and an earl, are not ordinary men. It is striking to see a remarkable man endure suffering caused by his own error. The fear aroused in this man is of great importance because of his exalted position. His fall is impressive and overwhelming. When a tragedy, as in Lear, befalls two of these men, the effect is even greater. To heighten the tragedy of King Lear, Shakespeare has not one but two tragic characters and four villains. As we have seen, the subplot, concerning Gloucester, Edmund and Edgar, augments the main plot. Gloucester suffers physical and mental torment because he makes the same mistake as Lear. Like Lear, Gloucester is neither completely good nor completely evil. There is, for example, rudeness in the count, who likes to talk about his adultery. But he also has good qualities. He shows, for example, his concern for Kent in actions, and he risks his life to help Lear. Gloucester's punishment, his blindness, parallels Lear's madness. These two tragic stories happening at the same time give the play great eminence. The important element of tragedy is action, not character. These are the.. 4.