Posted: March 15th, 2022

How to Write a Tragic Character? 10 Example

Are you interested in learning about how to write a tragic character?

Have you ever witnessed something terrible happen right in front of you? There are times when it’s hard to stay away even if you try.

Among stories, the tragic hero, or as called “the literary car crash,” is the best example of that irresistible dread. There is a hero in every story, and that hero is likely to face trouble. They often learn hard lessons, but they come out on top in the end. The hero is happy, and the story ends on a good note.

It doesn’t bother me that a happy ending makes work less important. Suppose you expect your readers to feel a different way about the final moment of your story. In this case, what if you want them to feel sympathy or fear for your protagonist, but you don’t want them to feel that way?

If that’s what you want to do, you might want to write about a tragic hero. Learn what makes a tragic hero, how those traits show up in a few famous examples, and how you can make your own tragic figure with those examples in mind. All these elements will help you learn how to write a tragic character.

What is a tragedy?

Tragedy is a type of story in which the main character is brought down by their own flaws. These flaws can be anything from greed to over-ambition.

In any tragedy, we usually begin with the flawed hero, who is generally at his peak at the story’s start. The hero is a success, is well-liked, and is happy. But he has a flaw that will eventually bring him down. 

Usually, the storyline moves from excellence to loss over time. The hero needs to be alone with all his pals and companions at the end. In the climax, we feel tremendous sadness and pity for the hero. This is called pathos. That’s why we also have a sense of understanding. The story often tells us to be careful about the same weaknesses that devastated the hero.

What is the definition of the tragic hero?

Tragic hero’s have heroic or noble traits, but they also have a fatal flaw that leads to their downfall in literature. As you can see, the character will always die because of this flaw, whether it’s literal (i.e., death) or metaphorical (i.e., being killed) (losing their position or reputation, for example).

The tragic hero is a well-known literary figure that adds drama, conflict, and sadness to stories. What makes this character (usually the protagonist) so interesting is that, even though they have good traits, one or more of them in the extreme ends up causing them to fail. There is a moral lesson from this sad irony, making the reader feel bad.

What are the characteristics of a tragic hero?

Before dwelling more on how to write a tragic character? Here are the significant traits of a tragic hero which are based on Greek plays.

1. Hubris: a lot of pride.

Having a lot of pride is a standard quality that tragic heroes have before they die. An old proverb says, “Pride comes before a fall, and haughtiness comes before a snub.”

For example, in the book The Wind in the Willows, Mr. Toad thinks he’s so great, and he thinks he’s invincible when he wants to have even more fun with cars. Then he gets in trouble with the law for taking a car.

2. Hamartia: a tragic mistake of judgment that leads to the hero’s downfall.

Sometimes, the tragedies in the story happen because of natural things. Other times, they happen because of what the main character does.

When Daniel Defoe wrote the story of Robinson Crusoe, he decided to go to sea against his father’s advice. That led to the storm that caused him to be stranded.

3. Peripeteia: the hero’s experience of a change in fate because he made a mistake in judgment.

The story becomes more interesting when the protagonist makes a wrong decision.

Scarlett O’Hara, for example, flirts with all the boys at a barbecue party in Gone with the Wind to get Ashley’s attention at the beginning. Ashley doesn’t want to break off his engagement with Melanie, so Scarlett wants to get back at him by marrying Melanie’s brother, Charlie, who Scarlett doesn’t even like very much.

When Charlie dies in a few weeks, she becomes a widow and must raise a baby boy independently. This decision has long-term effects on her life. Having been a widow means that she can’t go out with friends or go dancing, but it also gives her a connection to Ashley’s wife, Melanie.

4. Anagnorisis: Time when the hero realizes that the reason for his downfall was because of what he did.

Good stories need to get us inside the heart of the main character: his motivations, struggles, and the journey of change they go through.

In John D. Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Brain, Tom always makes sure that people get something better in return for what he gives them. In the end, he helps Andy get over his peg leg in exchange for a pricey erector set.

But when he gets Andy accepted by their friends, he decides not to take the toy. He also ends up giving back things he stole from his younger brother, JD.

5. Nemesis: The unavoidable 

Sometimes the hero makes terrible decisions, and sometimes his pride is to blame. There are two ways to use the word “nemesis.” One talks about an enemy, and the other is about the tragic hero’s battle with his “hubris,” or excessive pride.

Young Dorian Gray is obsessed with his vanity and good looks in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. He ends up selling his soul to the devil to keep his youthful appearance. Instead, he starts getting old and ugly, which is a picture of what is going on inside his heart.

6. “Catharsis,” which is how the audience feels when they see someone fall.

They can usually make us like the tragic hero because they are just like us at first. We can identify with them, which leads to us becoming emotionally invested in the character, which is an integral part of a compelling tragedy.

The way Anna dies at the train station in the book Anna Karenina makes us feel bad that her life had to end that way.

Tips on how to write a tragic character 

Start with a hero or action 

The hero is the heart of any tragedy. The hero should be well-liked, skilled, and usually moral at the story’s start. This isn’t the only thing that’s wrong with the hero, though. It’s essential to pick a flaw that your readers can relate to. It could be something that they find in themselves from time to time, too. People should still be rooting for the hero even though he has a flaw. Otherwise, the ending won’t be sad for them.

Because the plot is essential, show, not tell. Show your hero and how they do things that make a complicated knot that comes apart at the end of the story. Because of this, you can’t throw in many things that happen by accident or chance. You need to show why you did what you did and what happened that was logical.

You should look at your storyline. Is there anything you could do that wouldn’t change the tragic ending? Aristotle would tell you to get rid of it if it isn’t essential to the conclusion.

Include intense suffering 

Aristotle thought that all great tragedies had at least one scene of significant pain. Whether or not this is the climax of your story, it should be important to the plot no matter where it is in the story.

The hero of your story must be devastated. Hazel believes she is like a grenade in The Fault in Our Stars. She fears that her death will break up her loved ones.  She doesn’t want to cause them a lot of pain, and she worries all the time about negatively impacting them by dying.

When Augustus informs her about the comeback of his cancer and how quickly it spreads, she knows that he is the real grenade. So many people will be sad when he dies, but especially her.

Include moments of reversal and change

When you write a story, a reversal is when things get to the bad or the other way around. When your protagonist learns anything critical, the heroic figure changes how they think about the hero. It’s an excellent example of this to look at the Harry Potter books and Severus Snape, 

All the things that happen must surprise you. They can work together in the same scene, or the turnaround can result in the acknowledgment that leads to the climax, which might be your last major scene of pain. They can also work independently. This gives rise to another point.

You don’t have to stick to the formula exactly

When you write, it’s not all about following the rules. For example, if you just want to give your tragic hero another turn of events that goes from bad to good or make them realize that they aren’t the only one to blame, go for it! Breaking the rules and giving entirely unexpected to your audience might be a great plot twist!

Show the tragic flow, don’t tell it 

This is a good tip for writing anything. Rather than telling your audiences that your hero is headstrong, show them how they act in the same way. You can make your text more enjoyable and help your readers figure out who the character is by following the “show, don’t tell” rule.

Align your hero’s arc with your story structure

If you want to use the typical tragic story beats, make sure you think hard about using them. If you don’t, you might find that the climactic moment of your story comes too soon after the opening scene or doesn’t work at all. Then, it can be a good idea to figure out the structure of your story before you start writing it.

Carefully construct your hero’s backstory

It’s good to start by offering your hero a flaw. This will help you make them more interesting. This is but not the end. Keep on going! Make sure your character has a story in the backdrop that explains their weakness and thinks about their other traits. A protagonist profile or questionnaire can help with this.

Plan out a series of snowballing events

If you want to know how to write a tragic character, make sure to start out small. The hero could perhaps overreach his executive power at work because he is overconfident, or she might get another binge. A series of happenings follow the first happening in the tragic character. This continues till the end.

Begin with the end in mind

If you think about a tragedy’s form, the most important thing is how it ends. The climax shows the hero’s final demise, which is generally (but not always) death. You should think about the end when you start writing so that you know what you’re building toward. How might your hero be killed? The catastrophe will be caused by what is the fatal flaw. Describe the end to make people feel sad and sorry, which is pathos.

The evolution of the tragic hero

 

When a tragedy has a tragic hero, it is even more miserable. It has also changed over time, but the idea of what makes a tragic hero has stayed the same. To make sure that you know everything about writing a sad character, it is essential to trace the evolution of the tragedy and tragic character.

Aristotle and the tragic hero

The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle came up with a “tragic hero.” He thought that a good tragedy should make the audience feel afraid and pity, which he thought were essential parts of the experience of catharsis (the process of releasing solid or pent-up emotions through art). It is when the tragic hero dies that “pity is aroused by misfortune, and fear by the misfortune of a man just like us.”

Aristotle was particular about what a tragic hero must have to make people feel this way. Aristotle says that a tragic hero must:

Be a good person: During Aristotle’s time, this meant that the character should have been a good person. In addition, it meant that the character had to be both strong and capable (heroic) and feel like they had to follow the rules of honor and morality that were important to the people of Greece. Because of these traits, the hero is attractive and compelling, and the audience feels sorry for him.

A hero must also have a tragic flaw called hamartia: This flaw must lead to the hero’s downfall and make them less of a hero. There are both good and bad things about the character’s flaws. The flaws make the character related to their lives; someone the audience can connect with. The tragic flaw shapes the tragedy even more impressively because it shows that the reason for the disaster is inside the character, not an outside force.

It isn’t just a flaw they have in addition to their heroic qualities, but one that comes from their heroic qualities. This could be a righteous quest for justice or truth that leads to terrible consequences or a sense of self-importance. In these cases, it looks like the character is doomed to die because of their own traits.

Reversal from good to bad: Such a turnaround doesn’t just mean that you lose money or status. It means that the character should die or be in a lot of pain at the end of the work. This is more than what the character should have gotten.

As per Aristotle, a tragic hero is a man of noble birth who has heroic qualities but whose fortunes change because of a tragic flaw or mistake (often caused by the hero’s own heroic qualities) that leads to the tragic hero’s terrible, over-the-top fall.

The modern tragic hero 

The Modern Tragic Hero is a person who is very brave but also very sad

For those who want to know how to write a tragic character, the meaning of a tragic hero has changed a lot. It can now have protagonists of all sexes and class backgrounds in it. There are no longer any rules for tragic heroes. They don’t have to be nobles or men.

These are people who don’t fit the standard qualities of a hero. These words might mean that a tragic hero could be an ordinary, unheroic person, or even someone who is evil or at least partly evil.

However, the principle of a tragic hero hasn’t changed much since Aristotle’s time. Two important things haven’t changed:

The tragic hero must make the audience feel bad for him.

No matter how hard they try, the tragic hero must end up in trouble because of a shortcoming in their very own character.

How do a tragic hero and an anti-hero differ?

There is a lot of confusion about the two terms being tragic heroes and anti-heroes. Both are interesting and engaging character archetypes, but these two terms aren’t the same and don’t mean the same thing. They refer to very different types of people.

In simple terms, an anti-hero doesn’t have any heroic qualities even though they are the protagonist of a story. It’s possible that they’d do excellent deeds, but not always for good reasons. Because of this, the tragic hero is morally right and heroic, except for their fatal flaw. They usually have good intentions, but the anti-hero usually doesn’t.

When to use tragedy?

How to write a tragic character? To find the answer to the scenario needed for writing a tragedy is also essential. The tragedy is a story structure, so it’s necessary for people who write stories. However, tragedies also need time to grow. You can’t write one in a few pages or in a few hours.

People who write tragedies for creative writing classes should start early and be ready to write a long piece with an ongoing storyline from beginning to end. To write your tragedy outside of class, there are no deadlines. You can spend the time and attention it needs to become a great tragedy.

It isn’t just used in literature that tragedies are used in. Tragedy can also be a good idea for essays, primarily biographical essays. For a good biography to be good, it needs to have a specific point of view on the person in question, and it also helps if there is a general narrative structure.

There are two things you need to write about a tragedy. First, you need a structure for the piece, and second, you need to know how to show the subject. You could say, for example, that Napoleon was a tragic figure who was killed by his own hubris.

What is the function of a tragic hero in literature?

Tragic heroes are what make a tragedy tragic. The tragic hero’s downfall makes the audience or reader feel pity and fear for those who want to write a tragic character. People write tragedies for the same reasons: to show a moral dilemma with depth, emotion, and complexity.

The tragic heroes in the stories appear to do a lot more than just show up. Because of their tragic flaws, they are more relatable to an audience than, say, a more conventional hero, who might not be real enough to make the audience feel anything.

Aristotle thought that when people saw a tragic hero fall, they would be more careful when making decisions in their own lives. In addition, tragic heroes can show moral ambiguity because a seemingly good trait (like being innocent or ambitious) can turn out to be a character’s biggest flaw, causing a lot of bad things to happen or even death.

The importance of tragedy

It would be hard for people to fully understand the meaning of life and what it means to “be alive” in and fully “experience” this world if there were no examples of life at its lowest points. According to the Bible, it is essential to be aware of the opposites.

This helps in fully appreciating the potential of opposing factors and understanding. The same can further achieve the balance from knowing both ends of the scale: It says, “Where there is hatred, let me spread the love.” “Where there is injury, let me forgive; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; and where there is darkness, light.

” People are only as good as the sum of their parts, so if we want to reach our full potential as human beings, we need to be aware of the good and bad things that happen in our lives and our lives. This way, we can better understand, grow, and achieve a more balanced understanding of what is or happens in a “life/lifetime.”

There are essential parts of our lives and literature that deal with tragedy. All these help the tragedy writers explore how to write a tragic character? Tragedy lets you think about life in a new way; it allows you to “test” yourself to see how much you can accomplish or how far you can go. People learn more about the “opposites” as they learn more about what tragedies can do and how important they can be in their lives.

This allows them to better understand and appreciate what each opposing factor means and does in their lives. It is important to remember that even the consequences of tragedy aren’t always pleasant.

They also serve as a reminder to us that we must always keep our eyes on the prize and that no matter what obstacles life throws at us in our path, we must learn to withstand, if not then at least know how to deal with, the consequences so that the experience will help us grow.

Examples of tragedy

Here are a few examples for beginners who want to excel in tragedy writing and want to learn how to write a tragic character.

• The Hunchback of Notre Dame
• Romeo and Juliet
• Titanic
• Hamlet
• A Series of Unfortunate Events
• Frankenstein
• The Hunger Games
• The Great Gatsby
• The Lovely Bones
• The Time Traveler’s Wife
• -Braveheart

Examples of tragedy in literature

Macbeth: During Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Macbeth kills his king to fulfill a prophecy and become king himself. Macbeth lets his (and his wife’s) desire push him to do this. Early in the play, Macbeth kills his brother. After that, his actions become more and more bloody, and he turns into a villain rather than a hero.

However, he dies, with his wife also dead, and realizes how empty his life was. Macbeth is a tragic hero, but the play is interesting because his fatal flaw or mistake happens early. The rest of the space shows how he becomes a tragic hero even though he gets what he wants first (the throne).

Michael Corleone: A tragic arc can be said to happen to Michael Corleone over the three Godfather movies. He is the main character in all three films. People in the mafia family love him and want him to run the family business, even though his father had told him that he should instead “go clean.”

Michael’s love for his family then leads him to kill his enemies, kill his brother who betrayed him, and inadvertently kill almost all his friends and family, too. He dies alone, thinking about the people he used to love. This makes him an antihero.

Okonkwo: In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is a man who has a lot of strength and will. These qualities make him powerful and rich in his tribe.

But his desire to always look strong and powerful also led him to break tribal tradition in a way that led to him being exiled from the tribe, alienating his son, and confronting white missionaries in a way that led him to kill himself. Okonkwo’s love of strength and power leads to his own death.

Anakin Skywalker: Star Wars Episodes I, II, and III can be seen to make Anakin Skywalker into a tragic hero by making him look like a bad guy. Like a Jedi and a “chosen one,” Anakin is both powerful and chosen. Still, his desire for order and controlled him to leave and kill another Jedi, inadvertently kill his own wife, and become an enforcer for the emperor.

A lot of shame and self-hatred have made Anakin feel like he has no choice but to keep going down the path of evil. In this way, he is a sad hero. Some say that the first three Star Wars movies aren’t well written or acted enough to truly make Anakin a tragic hero because of his whiny, brash behavior. He was meant to be a tragic hero.

Examples of tragedy in popular culture

The tragedy is becoming more and more popular in recent times, especially on TV. Yet, we don’t know for sure what makes something unfortunate. Indeed, the style of a tragedy has changed over time. This happened in ancient Greece: Even though everyone was to blame, a tremendous unknown force caused them to fight and end in tragedy. I don’t think it’s a bad idea for Oedipus to kill the man who tried to stop him or marry the queen of Thebes.

It is only because fate made these two people his parents that the tragic consequences happen, not because of them. It’s a good idea for shows like “The Wire” and “Game of Thrones” to follow this model. The former show has a vast “system” that shapes the identities and fates of almost all its characters. Schopenhauer’s and Nietzsche’s will to power both come to mind, which pushes characters into battle. This is because the world is chaotic and violent.

Final thoughts

Tragic heroes, apart from superheroes, are imperfect by nature, making them more accessible to connect with because we can see ourselves in them. We see ourselves in their flaws. 

In their stories, we can see that there are good conflicts. As we put our emotions into these characters, we see bad things for them, but we don’t have to go through that in real life. This is the catharsis Aristotle talked about, and this is what you want your reader to feel.

During this process, think of some good traits or that you see in others that could be a flaw for your own tragic hero. Have you ever had or heard of a situation where good intentions turned out to be very bad? Have you ever been betrayed or snuck up on? What are the moral dilemmas you want to investigate, and why?

The best writing comes from a place of deep connection to the author. Find your own “hot spot,” think about what could happen in a drama, and then give your hero all the incredible, complicated tragedy they can or can’t handle. This will let you find the answer to writing a tragic character. The character they’ve come to love is going to die. Make your readers enjoy their sweet pain as they watch. Don’t forget that not all great endings are happy ones as you read this. Most shine with a bit of hope and a good lesson.

Frequently asked questions

What makes a character tragic?

Many people who talk about tragedy often talk about the hero’s ‘fatal flaw’ or ‘tragic flaw.’ However, Aristotle would never say that a hero had this kind of flaw. As an alternative, he said that they did not hit the mark. They made a wrong decision or miscalculation (usually with good intentions) because they didn’t think very well or because of something else (i.e., divine madness).

How to write a character’s tragic backstory

Examine why you gave your character a tragic or traumatic backstory. No, trauma is not a good thing. Ask yourself how much tragedy and trauma your character needs for your story to work. When you write a story, you need to focus on the character’s tragedy/trauma in balance with the rest of what is going on.

Why do I like tragic characters?

Numerous studies have shown that we like sad endings. It might be unusual, but this is what we want. Our brains like to offer sympathy and despair to other people. In a way, we like it when tragic characters don’t get their happy endings and must deal with tragedy as their last chapter comes to an end.

Is Joker a tragic hero?

The Joker is, without a doubt, Batman’s most famous enemy. He has been in many movies, TV shows, comics, and video games. Because the Joker is sadistic and willing to kill anyone to get to Batman, fans love to hate him. Joker is a sadistic maniac, but the motivation for his look came from Victor Hugo’s novel, “The Man Who Laughs,” which was about someone who was abused. 

How is Peter Pan a tragic hero?

J.M. Barrie wrote Peter Pan, another classic tragic hero who isn’t like the rest. Peter’s mistake is that he doesn’t want to get old and grow up. This leads him down a path of trouble. Peter is charismatic and likable to the audience, but his forgetfulness and cruelty can be seen in the movie. Among other things, he mocks Wendy at the Mermaid Lagoon. In Barrie’s story, he makes it clear that “All children, except one, grow up.” This means that Peter is always left alone.

What is a tragic hero, according to Aristotle?

The Aristotelian definition of a tragic hero is a person who has a lot of money and is well-known. Still, he also has a lot of flaws in his character or makes a big mistake in his judgment, action, or conduct.