Tragedy and Tragic Flaw…is There a Difference?

   In literature, a terrible occurrence is often what creates the plot or sub-plots. This is nowhere more accurate than in the ancient texts that most writings of today can trace their roots to. Disastrous literary events can either be labeled as a tragedy or the result of a tragic flaw. A tragedy is a negative situation that occurs at no fault of the person or people involved. It is often unavoidable, undefeatable and controlled by the wild whims of fate. A tragic flaw, on the other hand, is a character’s mistake that enables bad things to happen. It could be engendered by pride, lustfulness, anger, jealousy, an action done without thinking, etc. A tragedy can take place without a tragic flaw, but a tragic flaw can not occur without tragedy. Instances of tragedy are found within the book of Job, Virgil’s Aeneid, and Homer’s Iliad. To find examples of tragic flaws, it is most prudent to investigate Genesis chapters 1-3, Sophocle’s Oedipus the King and Antigone. Tragedy will be discussed first.

            It is safe to say that almost the entire book of Job is a tragedy. The eponymous main character loses everything he has, from his possessions to his children, and yet he has done absolutely nothing to merit such repercussions. No, his troubles are a result of the Accuser (in this case the devil) testing him and trying to make him forsake Yahweh. “…reach out with Your hand and strike his property,” says the Accuser to Yahweh, “and watch him curse You to Your face!” (Lawall et al., 67). However, Job remains faithful, and overcomes the calamity placed upon him by this powerful being. The Aeneid, documents the fall of Troy (in Book II) told as a story by Aeneas himself. His testimony is clearly a tragedy, especially when we take into account the reason for Troy’s eradication. The entire populace died or suffered because the Trojan prince Paris stole Helen from the Greeks (101), thus giving them cause to attack. Aeneas’s homeland was innocent, but, as a result of its prince’s folly, tragedy was unleashed upon it. Tragedy is also illustrated with Homer’s character, the strong and courageous Hector, who fought to protect everything dear to him. Not even a brilliant warrior like himself was immune to the devastation wrought by his younger brother Paris.  If there was a man who deserved to live, it was Hector; yet in book XXII of the Iliad we see him vanquished by Achilles’ spear. Not only did he die, but his body was also mistreated long after his soul had departed. His parents and wife were forced to watch as he was drug by chariot around the city walls (183:440, 184, 185). When noble men die heedlessly, that is a tragedy, as all these examples have been. Now the term “tragic flaw” will be examined in the next paragraph.

            Genesis 1-3 documents two very controversial stories. The first is God’s creation of the world and the second—which is very appropriate to the subject of tragic flaw—is the fall of man. God gave Adam and Eve a home in the beautiful Garden of Eden where they could live forever in peace and happiness. All they had to do was not eat from the tree of knowledge. Sadly, they could not maintain their side of the bargain and a tragic flaw followed. The serpent beguiled Eve into eating the forbidden fruit by appealing to her pride, as evidenced by the next passage. “…On the day you eat of it (the fruit) your eyes will be opened and you will become as gods…” (41). The last straw though was when Eve looked upon the forbidden fruit herself. “And the woman saw that the tree was lovely to look at” (41). She then partook and ate, and eventually gave some to Adam who also ate the fruit, no doubt finding it just as pleasing as Eve did. The story ends in tragedy as Adam and Eve are cursed by God and evicted from the garden. They had only themselves to blame though, for they gave into pride and lust and committed a tragic flaw. At first glance, Sophocle’s Oedipus the King is much like the book of Job. Both are living the good life until tragic events throw their life into chaos. The difference is that Oedipus’s troubles are the result of a tragic flaw. He could not control his anger. A convoy tried to force him off the road one day and instead of yielding he started a fight (633:885). In the pursuing scuffle great depravity occurs, “…I killed them all—every mother’s son!” (633:895) Oedipus admits. Unbeknownst to him, a man in the convoy had been King Laius of Thebes, his father. Oedipus had saved Thebes from the Sphinx therefore as thanks he was allowed to replace Laius as king and marry the prior queen who, also unbeknownst to Oedipus, was his mother. Like the prophecy had foretold: Oedipus killed his father and married his mother. If he had only controlled his rage he never would have done such horrible things. Because of his tragic flaw, Oedipus was tormented until death by the consequences of his actions. Apparently Oedipus’s catastrophic influence rubbed off on those around him, as evidenced by Sophocles’s other work Antigone. The cursed king’s successor and brother-in-law, Creon, ends up suffering a fate just as unenviable.  Unlike Oedipus, his tragic flaw is not caused by anger but rather pride. By denying Polynices–his traitorous nephew–burial, he attempts to soothe his wounded ego. This inadvertently breaks the funeral laws laid down by the gods. Antigone defies his proclamation for that reason, and immediately gets edge-wise with him. “…an outrage sacred to the gods!” she declares, “I have longer to please the dead than please the living here: in the kingdom down below I’ll lie forever” (655:85). At first Creon refuses to see her point, so when she does bury Polynices, he condemns her to death. By the time Creon sees the folly of his ways it is too late, Antigone is dead. Then Haemon, her lover and Creon’s son, commits suicide in his agony, followed quickly by Creon’s wife. Because of Creon’s tragic flaw, three of his loved ones died in one day. “And the guilt is all mine…I killed you, I, god help me, I admit it all!”(687:1440). Because of one mistake, all of the preceding examples ended terribly.

            Tragedy and tragic flaws are highly correlated. What makes them different though is that tragedy is an effect and a tragic flaw is cause of that effect. Tragedy can be produced by non-human means, but when a human is to blame a tragic flaw has been committed. Sometimes that flaw is just an honest mistake, but most of the time, as we have seen; it is facilitated by a faulty disposition. Job, the Aeneid, and the Iliad show tragedy at its most heart-breaking. Genesis 1-3, Oedipus the King, and Antigone depict tragic flaws that totally crush their perpetrators. When things go horribly wrong, people die, love is lost, homes are forsaken, and strangely enough, epic stories are born.

Works Cited:

Lawall, Sarah, ed. The Norton Anthology of Western Literature: Volume 1 8th Edition.

            New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2006.