Some aspects of the tragic hero's relationship to world order in Sophoclean and Shakespearean tragedy

This thesis considered seven aspects of the relationship of the tragic hero with his world in the four major tragedies of Shakespear—Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, and King Lear—and in four tragedies of Sophocles—Oedipus, Antigone, Ajax and Women of Trachis. All the plays with the exception of Women of Trachis, were found depicting a hero who represented his society and had freedom of choice and action, but whose mistaken view of himself and his role in life led to conflict with the cosmos, to rebellion and a trial by suffering which resulted in a kind of insanity, and finally to self-recognition through submission and purgation.The thesis also discussed Sophocles’ and Shakespeare’s concern with justice as reflected in their use of trial imagery, and Shakespear’s indebtedness to the classic chain of being concept and to the Platonic emphasis on reason and courage in a hero, or leader.Thesis (M.A.