King Lear: Lear The Tragic Hero
The definition of tragedy in the Oxford dictionary is, "drama of
elevated theme and diction and with unhappy ending; sad event, serious accident,
calamity." However, the application of this terminology in Shakespearean
Tragedy is more expressive. Tragedy does not only mean death or calamity, but
in fact, it refers to a series of steps which leads to the downfall of the
tragic hero and eventually to his tragic death. Lear, the main character in
King Lear was affirmed as the tragic hero because the play meets all the
requirements of a tragedy. In order for a character to be qualified as a tragic
hero, he must be in a high status on the social chain and the hero also
possesses a tragic flaw which initiates the tragedy. The fall of the hero is
not felt by him alone but creates a chain reaction which affects everyone
around him. Besides, the hero must experience suffering and calamity slowly
which would contrast his happier times.
