The Definition Of a Tragic Hero

“A villain can be stylish, and his actions don't have to be explained. Heroes are boring in comparison, even anti-heroes, as there's always a justification for their bad actions.” -Dhanush

In a world filled with heroes and villains, especially in literature, it seems rather complex to define a hero and villain as just black and white, or as good and evil. Due to the character's complexities, sometimes the hero does not always win. As most humans do, these characters are often flawed in some way, shape, or form.

There are heroes that have a tragic flaw or multitude thereof, leading to their ultimate downfall. Different villains can have the same conceptual motivations of being villains. Likewise, tragic heroes from different stories can have the same defining flaw that spells out their tragic fates.

A tragic hero typically has a fall from grace story, going from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. The hero confronts their downfall whether due to fate, their own mistakes, or having some sort of critical flaw in their character.

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As tragic heroes can be found in many differing stories, Torvald Helmer and Othello could be considered the tragic heroes of the two respective plays; A Doll’s House and Othello. Othello was an honorable war hero and was kind hearted. He was the general for the Venitian army and was newly married to his wife Desdemona. He was happily married to a beautiful woman and was of higher rank socially due to his position in the military.

Othello eventually was vacated of his duties in Cyprus to Michael Cassio, his lieutenant. Up to this point, Othello becomes more convinced of his wife’s “unfaithfulness” to him. This in part is due to Iago’s diligence in manipulating Othello to think Desdemona had an affair with Cassio. By the end of the play, Othello would rather be remembered with honor; therefore, he kills himself, instead of facing a trial back in Venice for Desdemona’s death. Othello is considered the tragic hero because of his fatal flaws of jealousy over his wife, and gullibility to believe Iago’s falsehoods. Ultimately the tragic flaws caused Othello to kill Desdemona, as he became infuriated in a jealous rage buying into Iago’s lies of Cassio and Desdemona having an affair. After finding out the truth, Othello felt such grief over his mistake, he took his own life as well, because he felt that was the retribution he deserved. Othello’s flaws were ultimately his downfall from beloved husband and soldier, to his untimely demise making him the definition of a tragic hero.

In comparison, Torvald Helmer could be considered the tragic hero of A Doll’s House. Like Othello, Torvald was highly regarded socially due to his position as the new bank manager. With this social rank, they both could be considered as men of power and influence. Torvald while very affectionate towards his wife Nora, he is one of the main reasons she leaves him. After Torvald finds out about Nora’s secret of committing a forgery, he goes a tangent telling her she has ruined his life, calling her names and only public appearances will be due. Instead of defending Nora and sacrificing his reputation as she had hoped, Torvald had done the exact opposite. It was at this point Nora realizes that she does not love Torvald, and leaves him and their kids to find her individuality. Torvald not only has lost his wife, but before the incident of Torvald reading about the forgery, he had found out his best friend Dr. Rank was dying. Losing one’s wife and best friend in quick succession is quite the tragedy. Torvald was on top of the world, as he was happily married, with a big promotion, and was gonna make more money. It all came crumbling down though leaving Torvald alone in the last scene.