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LITR 4370
TRAGEDY
Final Exam Samples 2017 (final exam assignment)
Model Answers to Part 3. |
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Part 3. Complete Research Report
Faron Samford
Teaching the Tragic Flaw
I initially approached this essay with the intention of criticizing the
practice of being overly reliant on the use of the tragic flaw when teaching
tragedy. One of the great difficulties students and teachers often have with
tragedy is the tendency to concentrate and focus on the tragic flaw, while
leaving much of the other conventions of the genre mostly unexplained. As I was
organizing my thoughts on this, I began to see it from another perspective. The
concept of the tragic flaw, “whose misfortune is brought about not by vice or
depravity, but by some error or frailty,” is first explained thusly in
Aristotle’s Poetics (13b). The
complexity of the tragic flaw is that the hero’s flaw isn’t based on them being
an evil person, but a flaw that causes them to commit a mistake while often
trying to do what they think is right. While focusing on the tragic flaw doesn’t
encompass the full range of the genre, it nevertheless serves as an
important tool for introducing readers to the genre. Studying the tragic flaw
encompasses covering these two most important aspects of tragedy, but fails to
really address the comments and questions the authors are making about society
and morality.
Having experienced tragedies
taught through various high school and university courses, Dr. White’s Tragedy
class is one of the few that actually explores more of the characteristics of the
genre. Before entering the class, I would’ve summed up tragedy as a genre by
saying that a great hero or nobleman is brought down by his tragic flaw, or
weakness, leading to his death, ruin, or the ruin of his family.
By all other descriptions, Hamlet is a well-respected character and
considered a good man. His indecisiveness, leading to the death of everyone in
the royal family of Denmark, is his tragic flaw, but it stems from his desire to
be sure that what he is doing is right (Shakespeare, Hamlet). Similarly,
the downfall of the family of Oedipus is caused by his determination to find out
the killer of his father was and lift the curse on Thebes, despite warnings from
Tiresias the soothsayer (Sophocles, Oedipus Rex).
Oedipus is not driven to find the killer to enhance the greatness of his
name, he is pursuing it so vigorously in order to relieve the curse on Thebes,
so that his people can thrive. Defining these characters by their easily
recognizable tragic flaws “satisfies a common human impulse to isolate or
localize blame to the faults of individuals instead of larger social systems or
institutions” (Tragic Flaw course site page).
The character arc of the tragic hero is usually very important to the
plot, and according to Aristotle’s
Poetics, “character is the second most important element of tragedy after
the plot” (Tragic Flaw course site).
With the tragic flaw being bound so tightly to what Aristotle calls the
two most important elements of tragedy, the need to explain it well is clear, as
long as the other elements are not abandoned for its sake.
The teaching of the tragic flaw is often done as almost a key to the
texts that unlocks the text. In the depth that it is explored in high schools
and lower level university classes, this enables the instructor to pass along
one of the main ideas of these texts in a way that can be understood by students
in a short amount of time. Part of this is due to the fast-paced nature of high
school lesson schedules and, as Michael McDonald states “at the high school
level, most students don’t have the knowledge to reach into history or various
other literatures to understand what tragedy is attempting to present to its
audience” (Model Answers 2015). I feel this is a key motivation for the teaching
of the nature of tragedy in high school classes because understanding
Nietzsche’s Birth of Tragedy, as explained by Michaela Fox, “require(s) a
level of thought way outside of traditional thinking processes” (Model Answers
2015). Most high school students are not ready to delve into the duality of
Apolline/Dionysiac interplay that invests tragedy with a deeper meaning. Very
few teenagers have the life experience, or exposure to other works of tragedy
to draw parallels and really understand concepts addressed by the genre.
Focusing on the tragic flaw allows teachers to expose the students to tragedies
and helps them to have some small understanding of them, which can help them in
the future when they begin to encounter them at higher levels.
Another reason why the tragic flaw is leaned so heavily upon in lower
level education is because it can be used to take very complex ideas about the
nature of humans and allow them to be put in more easily understood terms. It is
also an easy way for a teacher to receive feedback to the level of understanding
that individual students are reaching with the work. While a student may be able
to understand the complexities of Oedipus being punished for his actions,
despite committing them unknowingly, they may not have refined the ability to
explain this in an essay. In an environment like the modern school system, where
teachers are evaluated based on how their students do on tests, the tragic flaw
in a work is something that can easily be determined if the student is
understanding or not. What this amounts to is that the tragic flaw is easily
testable. It’s usually, but not always, very clear and can be answered on a test
with an objective answer.
The tragic flaw is an integral part of works from the tragedy genre. Its
ties to the character, and often importance to the plot, help students make
early inroads into learning about tragedy. It can be an extremely valuable way
for instructors to introduce students to the genre, but should also be expanded
upon by delving into how it relates to the grander themes and societal/human
nature commentary incorporated by the author.
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