Free Essay About Tragic Hero

The definition of a tragic hero has become an issue of contention as many scholar come up with their definitions. Tragic heroes are characters who make decisions that destroy them in the end of the story; however the decisions are always good for them or for the society. In Oedipus Rex, the protagonist Oedipus is depicted as a tragic hero because of his strength, nobility, and his determination to find the murderer. In most tragic hero stories and plays, the tragic hero does something good for the people, which eventually destroy him or her. In addition, Jocasta cannot be considered as a tragic hero in the story because she had tragic flaws, which later led to her downfall.
Jocasta is a character in the story Oedipus the King. Other than being a mother and a wife to Oedipus, Jocasta played important roles in the Play Oedipus Rex. First, she was depicted as a peacemaker when she interceded between Creon and Oedipus making peace between them. She played a mother figure role in their lives in the story. However, she cannot be viewed as a tragic hero, because, Jocasta was married to a previous kin, and now to the current, Oedipus who turns out to be her son. During her time, a prophesy was passed that, her son would kill his father and sleep with his mother, therefore, Jocasta had to give up her baby to die in order to prevent the misfortune. She was ready to give up her child to die just to save the coming generation, but her son was not killed, she ended up marrying him. Jocasta’s tragic flaws and the fear for the future led to her downfall, and that is why she cannot be considered as a tragic hero. Jocasta at one point knew that Oedipus was her son, and had killed her husband, but she did nothing about it. Instead, she did everything to protect Oedipus from discovering the prophesy, and this is not something we expect from a tragic hero.
Jocasta knew that the prophesy would come to pass one day, whether she gives up her son or not, but she did it anyway. When her husband was killed, she could have sensed that, the prophesy was coming true and this could have prevented her from marrying Oedipus, but she did it anyway, therefore, she cannot be depicted as a tragic hero because, she had the power to stop the prophesy, but she did nothing about it, she ended up fulfilling it by marring her son.
Therefore, Jocasta is not an example of a tragic hero because; she ultimately kills herself after realizing her mistakes, which she could have avoided. At the end of the story, Jocasta committed suicide because, she realized that, the prophesy was true and she was truly married to her son, who had earlier on killed his father. Tragic heroes never make such mistakes; instead, they save the situation even if it means giving up their lives. Even though Jocasta tried to give up her son to die, she never made sure that h died. Moreover, even after her husband was killed, she could have investigated what really happened, instead, she went ahead to marry the king, who was her son. For this reason, Jocasta cannot be considered as a tragic hero in the story second to Oedipus because, she commits an action that ultimately destroys her, yet she could have saved her life and become a tragic hero. Therefore, Jocasta cannot be considered as a tragic hero because, a tragic hero is the main character in the story, who holds great powers and does good deeds, yet for her, she was second to Oedipus because she was not the main character, and her bad deeds outshines her good deeds. Jocasta was disloyal to her husband, which led to his killing, and she did nothing to find out about his death. Even though her life ended up miserably by committing suicide, Oedipus is the tragic character in the story.