Tragic Heroes in Oedipus the King, Antigone, and A Doll House

According to Aristotle, there are four essential qualities that a tragic hero possesses. A tragic hero must first of all be good, expressing through speech or in action strong moral caliber. He must also be appropriate, such that a man is manly or formidable. Third, he must be lifelike, showing human qualities so as to make a strong sympathetic connection with the audience. Fourth, a tragic hero must be consistent, keeping an established characteristic unchanged. A character that possesses all four of these fundamental traits, therefore, gives the hero’s downfall greater meaning and a greater tragic effect. Playwrights Sophocles and Henrik Ibsen are two of the greatest portrayers of the tragic hero’s downfall, and their works serve as vessels in carrying them to the audience.
In Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, the tragic hero is most certainly Oedipus. Oedipus, first of all, is a good man. When he declares, “My spirit grieves for the city” (l 75-76), he expresses a...