The concept of Hamartia and an Ideal hero explained by Aristotle. Poetics - Criticism.

1. The Concept Of Ideal Hero:
The ideal tragic hero, according to Aristotle, should be, in the first place, a man of eminence. The actions of an
eminent man would be ‘serious, complete and of a certain magnitude.’ Further, the hero should not only be
eminent but also basically a good man, though not absolutely virtuous. The suffering, fall and death of an
absolutely virtuous man would generate feelings of disgust rather than those of ‘terror and compassion’ which a
tragic play must produce. The hero should neither be a villain nor a wicked person, otherwise his fall would
please and satisfy our moral sense without generation the feelings of pity, compassion and fear.
Therefore, the ideal tragic hero should be basically a good man with a minor flaw or tragic trait in his
character. The entire tragedy should issue from this minor flaw or error of judgment. The fall and
sufferings and death of such a hero would certainly generate feelings of pity and fear.
So, Aristotle says: “For our pity is excited by misfortunes undeservedly suffered, and our terror by some
resemblance between the sufferer and ourselves.” Finally, Aristotle says: “There remains for our choice a
person neither eminently virtuous nor just, nor yet involved in misfortune by deliberate vice or villainy, but by
some error or human frailty; and this person should also be someone of high-fame and flourishing prosperity.”
Such a man would make an ideal tragic hero. Aristotle disqualifies two types of characters – purely virtuous and
thoroughly bad. Thus the ideal Tragic Hero must be an intermediate kind of a person- neither too virtuous nor
too wicked. His misfortune excites pity because it is out of all proportion to his error of judgment, and his
overall goodness excites fear for his doom.
According to Aristotle, in a good tragedy, character supports plot. The personal motivation/actions of the
characters are intricately involved with the action to such an extent that it leads to arouse pity and fear in the
audience. The tragic hero of the play should have all the characteristics of a good character.
The characteristics of an Ideal Tragic Hero according to Aristotle are :
 He must be an eminent man.
 He must be a good man.
 His character must be appropriate to his station in his life.
 He must possess a likeness to human nature.
 He must be consistent even in his inconsistency.
In this context, Aristotle mentioned to avoid the following three situations:
 A good man – coming to bad end. (It’s shocking and disturbs faith.)
 A bad man – coming to good end. (neither moving, nor moral.)
 A bad man – coming to bad end. (moral, but not moving.)
 Ideal Situation: A rather good man – coming to bad end.
Thus, the tragic hero is a man with the following attributes:
i. He should be a man of mixed character, neither virtuous nor absolutely immoral.
ii. His misfortune should follow from some error or flaw of character; short of moral defect.
iii. He must fall from height of prosperity and glory.
iv. The protagonist should be renowned and prosperous, so that his change of fortune can be from good to
bad.

2. v. The fall of such a man of eminence affects entire state/nation. This change occurs not as the result of
vice, but of some great error or frailty in a character. Such a plot is most likely to generate pity and fear
in the audience.
The Concept Of Hamartia:
Hamartia (‘fatal flaw’ or ‘tragic flaw’) may consist of a moral flaw, or it may simply be an error of judgment,
or, ignorance, or even, at times, arrogance. It is owing to this flaw that the tragic hero comes into conflict with
Fate and ultimately meets his doom through the workings of Fate.
Hamartia Can Arise In Three Ways:
 Firstly, it may be derived from an ignorance of some material fact or circumstance.
 Secondly, the error of judgment may arise from a hasty or careless view of a given situation. In this case
the error was avoidable but the hero does not avoid it. The case is illustrated by Othello.
 Thirdly, the error may be voluntary, though not deliberate. This happens in an act of anger or passion.
Lear commits such an error when he banishes Cordelia.
Example Of Hamartia:
In the case of Oedipus all three errors are included. The defect of Oedipus lies in his proud self-assertion.
But the ruin brought upon him is through the force of circumstance. The Hamartia in his case includes a
defect of character, a passionate act, and ignorance. The tragic irony lies in the fact that the hero commits
this error in blindness and in innocence, without any evil intention. But the result is disastrous. This is
closely connected with Peripitea, or the production of a result opposed to the one intended. Then comes the
discovery of truth. “Othello in the modern drama, Oedipus in the ancient, are the two most noticeable
examples of ruin produced by characters, noble indeed, but not without defects, acting in the dark and, as it
seemed, for the best.”
Conclusion
• On the whole, we see that Aristotle’s concept of the tragic hero, which in some ways has a limited
vision. Tragedy is possible with saints, as Shaw and Eliot have shown. Tragedy is also much possible
with a villainous hero, has been remarkably shown by the Renaissance dramatists, especially
Shakespeare. Further, the tragedy arises from Hamartia. This, too, is proved by many of our best
tragedies, for these indeed are what Lucas calls tragedies of error. It is the most effective of tragedies.