Archetypal tragedy is a genre that revolves around a tragic hero and his/her downfall. Archetypes are significant because they give the “universal truth” and convey messages to wide audiences. Archetypal tragedies can be present in different stories such as: Things Fall Apart and Oedipus. These stories all have tragic heroes that start their journey as loved and glorified leaders whose mistakes and actions then lead them to be outcasts of society and victims of fate. When authors write an archetypal tragedy, they incorporate things like irony and foreshadowing into the story to evoke sadness and sympathy in the audience.
The significant archetypal elements that make up the exciting plot that is Oedipus are the tragic hero, anagnorisis, and hubris. Oedipus is a tragic hero because he starts off as a loved and admired king who later finds that he has killed his father and is married to his mother! Oedipus is blinded by his pride, or hubris, when he doesn’t accept the truth that he has committed a sin and accuses his close friends and family of it. Anagnorisis is when the character realizes that he has made a mistake and that is too late to fix things. Anagnorisis is present in the story when he realizes
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Like Oedipus, Okonkwo is a tragic hero because his story starts with him being strong, feared, and a lady-killer. Unfortunately, he then kills his son and a court leader which leads to his downfall and ban from his home. Hamartia is the characteristic of a tragic hero that leads to his downfall. Okonkwo’s hamartia was the fact that he does not express his emotions. His lack of expressions and emotions led him to kill his son and “mistakingly,” a court leader. Catharsis is the emotional cleansing part of the story. Catharsis is present in Things Fall Apart when Okonkwo commits suicide and goes against all of his “rules” like no becoming like his