Paragraph 1

One of the main elements that causes a storyline to be so tragic is the excessive pride and disrespect for the natural order of things that the protagonist holds. This is an Aristotelian tragic hero element called ‘hubris’ which is an element usually present within most traditional tragic heros by the main protagonist. Aristotle defined hubris as “… consists in doing and saying things that cause the victim… simply for the pleasure of it. Retaliation is not hubris but revenge… Young men are rich and hubristic because they think they are better than other people. This convention can be displayed in many different ways over different storylines like the ones I with compare and contrast, King Lear, The Gladiator, Citizen Kane and The Great Gatsby. 

King Lear is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based around the main protagonist, King Lear and his gradual descent towards madness. Following his judgement error where he divides his kingdom up to his three daughters based on how much love and flattery they express towards him, leads to tragic consequences for all. In this case, King Lear is the main protagonist who has excessive pride through being the king and a disrespect to the natural order of things. King Lear shows his disrespect to the natural order of things when he tells his daughters that they must tell him how much they love him in order to gain their third of the kingdom. This goes against the natural order and way of things, as within society parents shouldn’t ask their kids to express their love for them in order to get things. We can see Lear’s excessive pride that he holds for himself through the quote “come not between the dragon and his wrath”. The use of wording that Lear uses here draws a clear links to his excessive pride that he holds. Lear uses the word dragon to describe himself here as a dragon is seen to be a very powerful creature that has great authority and power over all else. He also uses the word wrath to enhance this which also gives us the feeling of Lear’s excessive pride. To come between something and their wrath is to come against forceful and often vindictive anger, in this case the great anger that Lear describes will be shown if to come between him and his authority. Lear describes himself as the dragon which is a mythical creature that doesn’t exist in real life. This could be linked to the fact that King Lear has this excessive pride and to be compared to something the same as a dragon could relate to the fact that a dragon is a mythical creature whose great power is not real and only mythical.  Lear believes that he has great power being the king, however this is a power that only Lear believes he has as when he advocates the throne to his daughters he loses this power. This is similar to the dragon as in the end Lear ends up with not authority or power, being referenced to the dragon highlights the fact that Lear never really had an true power and was mythical like the dragon. I believe the author employed the convention in this way in order for the audience to be able to clearly see how Lear’s hubris is ultimately the aspect that brings about his tragic downfall. The directors purpose with this particular convention is to make the reader see how because Lear thinks of himself so highly that he begins to lose contact with reality.

The Gladiator is also a Tragedy directed by Ridley Scott. It is set in the Roman times where slaves were made to fight in arenas for large crowds. Maximus who was a powerful roman general who led Rome to victory against the Germanic tribe is the main protagonist within this storyline. He experiences a fall from fortune that leaves him as something less than an animal, a slave. As a slave this is where we see Maximus’s hubis, the excessive pride and disrespect for the natural order of things. As a Roman general Maximus well liked by the emperor of Rome and thought to be the person he would want to take over role of emperor in his passing. This in some way gives Maximus a feeling of power form the late emperor, when he experiences his fall from fortune, becoming a slave. The death of the late emperor gave Maximus a power he believed would be able to defy the new emperor in order to uphold the outcome the late emperor had imagined. This gives Maximus a great sense of pride and confidence as he believes that he is capable to fight the emperor and win, defying the natural order and way of life in order for him to become the emperor himself. Before Maximus fights he is confronted by the emperor where he is forced to reveal his true identity and Maximus says, “My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions and loyal servant to the TRUE emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.” These words outline the drive that Maximus has in order to avenge his dead family and also the late emperor who is the “TRUE” emperor. He gains this ‘power’ and pride from these events, especially from the late emperor as he believed Maximus should be the rightful person to the emperor role. This gives Maximus the excessive pride that he holds that this therefore indicated to Maximus that he was greater than Commodus, the emperors son who should have been next in line. The director employed this convention in this way in order to show what the key aspect was that lead to his ultimate downfall through the influence of the late emperor. It shows how the late emperor with all his power lay his faith and confidence in Maximus which led to his excessive pride and the feeling that he is possible and capable of anything. When looking at the differences and similarities to King Lear and the Gladiator there are many links that can be formed in the way that this element ‘hubris’ is used throughout both texts. The way that Lear and Maximus’s hubris is presented within each storyline is different in the way that they a

In the film Citizen Kane directed by Orson Welles