Notesale: Turn your study into money

Document Preview

Extracts from the notes are below, to see the PDF you'll receive please use the links above

---

Aristotle says, ''Our pity is excited by misfortunes undeservedly suffered, and our terror by some
resemblance between the sufferer and ourselves
...
Shakespeare used to convey the catharsis of two tragic heroes, Antony
and Othello, in his plays, Antony and Cleopatra and Othello
...
Shakespeare's plays
and whether there is an integration with a core meaning of the Greek tragedy and how it is
portrayed through the methods that are utilised by the playwright
...
Catharsis (from the Greek κάθαρσις katharsis meaning "purification" or "cleansing") is the
purification and purgation of emotions—especially pity and fear—through art or any extreme
change in emotion that results in renewal and restoration
...
In Greek, it means that the process of purification emits all the worst parts through 'catharsis'
...
This feeling is sensed at the end of the tragedy
...
Aristotle's use of the word catharsis is not a technical reference to purgation
or purification but a beautiful metaphor for the peculiar tragic pleasure, the feeling of being washed
or cleansed
...
As Aristotle says, in a tragedy, a happy ending does not
make us happy
...
There is no feeling of contempt, it is a feeling of purity, the feeling of redemption
...
Shakespeare's plays and how the playwright utilises the methods
to make the readers feel the catharsis of two tragic heroes
...
He is a
heroic commander of Roman Empire
...
He is a hero in the military sense; he was victorious and
honourable in battle
...
When
Antony falls in love with Cleopatra, however, all his 'tragic hero' qualities are slipping away
...
Honour is essential to Antony's sense of
self and to his identity as a hero:
If I lose my honour

I lose myself
...
iv
...
However, while
Pompey turns out to follow a moral code similar to Antony's, and refuses to poison his enemies
when he has the chance, Antony's ally Octavius Caesar reneges on the peace accord between
Antony, Octavius, and Pompey, and attacks Pompey
...
Another several methods which W
...
First, there are characters
that have high rank because they are outstanding figures; it is also seen a tragic situation since from
the beginning of the play there is no hope of a happy ending
...
Antony has a high rank and ability
since he is above the level of common people
...
Tragic
heroes are extraordinary specimens of mankind
...
Very often the tragic hero is from royal blood
...
Even
Caesar himself demonstrates his good attitude and his faith in Antony upon their meeting:
When thou once
Was beaten from Modena, where thou slew'st
Hirtius and Pansa, consuls, at thy heel
Did famine follow, whom thou fought'st against
(Though daintily brought up) with patience more
Than savages could suffer
...
)

...
(Act I, scene IV)

Another method, which the playwright utilises is the orientalism, which comes into play most
prominently in the language used to describe Cleopatra herself, as a sort of a goddess of her
country, and the way of life
...
In a sense, the readers are experiencing a pity for Antony since they are
suffering from his moral decay, however they tend to perceive his greatness even after he abandons
his wife, for the love between the great warrior and the magnificent Queen of Egypt, surrounded by
mysteries evokes most tearful feelings as they are doomed from the beginning and the audience
sympathise with Antony as they still perceive him as a noble man as he has proved himself
...
Aristotle says that a tragic hero is usually outstanding, but
not perfect
...
He cannot that his love for Cleopatra is a
weakness and even a fault
...
He leaves
the battle against Caesar because of Cleopatra, and he is an unfaithful husband to Fulvia and

Octavia
...
On the other hand, his passion is not voluntary
...
As a result, the spectator - or reader cannot but feel compassion for him, even if he more or less 'deserved' his terrible end
...
Shakespeare creates in her a character that is much more likely to awaken pity than
the Cleopatra described in Plutarch, the main source of the play
...
Plutarch describes her as a woman without
scruples, manipulative, ready to do anything to keep her throne
...
She did not care about his person but only
about his power
...
When he is away, she asks
for mandragora, 'That (she) might sleep out this great gap of time', while 'My Antony is away' (Act I,
scene V)
...
This true
passion makes us sympathise with her
...
Firstly, Shakespeare's tragic heroes are often portrayed as the victims of their own
excesses of self-deception
...
Othello wins Desdemona's affections with charm and the use of storytelling, yet is unable to
discern Iago’s similar techniques, so that he listens to Iago all the same as Desdemona to him
...

To some extent, the heroes all display the flaw of hubris, or overweening pride
...
In a sense that she is his wife, he feels responsible for her
'sins' and Shakespeare here demonstrates also the morals of the society at this time
...
They were supposed to keep
their husband's name clear and demonstrates an outmost respect for the family's honour
...
Othello is seen as the tragic hero - as he was a noble, military
captain, a brave warrior with a company of noblemen who respected him and called him 'My lord',
however his pride was hurt and it turned him into a villain in a sense that he is unable to overcome
his jealousy and desire to murder his wife
...
Othello loses the reader's respect and
perhaps, gains it again after committing suicide, however it does give audience the feeling of
catharsis as it is still seen as if Othello asks for forgiveness whereby taking his own life and brings the
ultimate redemption upon his soul
...
In both plays, W
...


Bibliography

1
...
45-7
...
Aristotle: Poetics| Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy



---