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Replies | Post Reply | Shakespeare Queries From Genuinely Interested Students 4.2.97: Top | Help


"tragic flaw" is vague

The Aristotelian idea of a tragic flaw is pretty vague in
practice. Can Oedipus be blamed for not knowing the parents
that ditched him?

The idea can be / has been extended to cover, in addition to
moral failure, certain kinds of ignorance and/or a failure
to see the truth.

Richard and Caesar are both kings who are deposed and killed.
In both cases, there is a lot of emphasis on the discrepancy
between their regal identities and their mortal, flesh-and-blood
identites. It might even be said that over-emphasizing the
former in both cases makes the latter vulnerable. If so, can
that be a kind of blindness like Oedipus's?

Posted by Cloten on April 27, 1997 at 13:42:18
In Reply to "Need help comparing tragic flaws of Caesar to Richard II" posted by Joseph on April 27, 1997 at 01:03:58


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Replies | Post Reply | Shakespeare Queries From Genuinely Interested Students 4.2.97: Top | Help