Comparing Oedipus and Hamlet :: comparison compare contrast essays

Free Essays - Oedipus vs. Hamlet as Tragic Protagonists Oedipus fits Aristotles definition of the tragic flaw and booster almost flawlessly. Aristotle described the protagonist as someone regarded as extraordinary rather than typical...(1117). Oedipus freed Thebes from the Sphinx by solving her riddle-- something nobody else had been able to do. The priest in the prototypic scene of Act I calls Oedipus ...our greatest power (1121) and describes him as rated first among men. Hamlet is of noble birth but there is nothing else extraordinary approximately him. Unlike Oedipus, he had not saved a kingdom he just happened to be born a prince. In tragedies the protagonists are usually of the grandeur to make their falls seem greater. However, Aristotle said What is finally important is not so much the protagonists social stature as a greatness of character... (1117). Protagonists, as described in our book, must also have a determination to meet some goal or task to make them admirable( 1118). Oedipus rope about to find the killer of King Laius to free Thebes from plagues. Hamlets goal was to avenge the murder of his father. Oedipus immediately began to look for the killer, even when the evidence pointed to himself and ruined his life. Hamlet seems to govern off killing Claudius. He chose not to murder him as he prays is Act III scene iii. In Act III scene i Hamlet says Ill observe his looks Ill tent him to the quick if a do blench, I know my course. The spirit I have seen may be a devil(1315) in time after the ghost tells Hamlet how he was murdered, Hamlet has the players act it out just to be sure. Obviously, there is no hard resolution for him to finish his task. Arthur milling machine has said tragic feeling is evoked in us when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life.