Alright, I recently read up Doctor Faustus (really cool, go ahead read it !) and Aristotle's 'Poetics". Also, Shakespeare's Macbeth (really good !) . All this reading was basically to complete an assignment ( delayed from the deadline by just a couple of weeks ;) ) but I think anybody can read it.Such a post is maybe a bit out of place in here, but "Such Is Life !" :)

Doctor Faustus is one of those dark stories, including supernatural elements.
Macbeth is about a noble warrior whose ambitions to become King lead to his downfall. (It includes a package of three witches too, i didn' like them much :))
In literature we call these both characters as 'tragic heroes'
Basically, this post is for those who are into Literature or who just like collecting some information from here and there and for those who are curious enough to check new things out :) So, read about the tragic hero !!!!

Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote on many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology and zoology.

About the tragic hero he says :

The tragic hero is a character of noble stature, elevated above the common man because of innate virtues like wisdom and bravery which are evident and appreciated by the audience. The tragic hero essentially commits a wrong act in ignorance or because of lack of proper judgement (hamartia) causing him to undergo a period of degradation till he comes to the realisation of his misdeeds (anagnorisis) which led to his downfall. That is, the character recognizes his flaw and accepts responsibility in bringing himself to his own fall. Thus, a tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to hisr own destruction

The tragic hero has been defined by Aristotle to have certain specific characteristics. For instance, the hero should essentially be of noble birth and he should commit a hamartia. This act of mis-judging and error should lead to the reversal of his fortune in the course of the play (Peripeteia) . Also the tragic hero always recognises that this peripeteia has been brought about by his own error (anagnorisis) but this realisation comes too late for him to avoid the consequences of his mis-deed.
In short, the tragic hero discovers his fate by his own actions(hamartia) and sees and understands(anagnorisis) his doom.

Infact, Hamartia and Anagnorisis are so important that in Aristotle's words, "A man doesn't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall."
And the hero's downfall should arouse pity and terror in the audience eventually resulting to the catharsis of such emotions.
So that the emotions aroused are strong, the hero is often a king or leader of men, so that his people experience his fall with him. The hero is physically or spiritually wounded by his experiences, often resulting in his death. Also, importantly, the suffering of the hero is always meaningful.

The tragic hero is neither thoroughly good nor thoroughly evil. Instead, the development of the plot which includes the hero's error, rather than his innate goodness or evil, lead to his tragic downfall.

The audience must feel dramatic irony for the character. The Aristotelian tragic hero dies a tragic death having fallen from great heights and having made an irreversible mistake. The hero must courageously accept their death with honour.

Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus is a famous tragic hero.
A man endowed with intelligence and ambition above the common ground, Doctor Faustus leads himself to his own damnation due to extreme pride and arrogance.

[CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE]

The prologue introduces Dr. Faustus as a man not belonging to noble blood but nevertheless, as a renowed scholar of Theology. He's described as being 'swollen with cunning' pointing to his intellectual capacity and his desires for honour, authority and power which would feed such an intellect. However the prologue also hints at his eventual downfall by comparing his story with Icarus' myth mentioning that one who'll “mount above his reach” will suffer the fate of Icarus, the ambitious son of Daedalus who, using wax wings flew too far, went near the Sun causing his wings to melt and sending him to his own death, as depicted in the followin lines :

‘In heavenly matters of theology;

Till swoln with cunning, of self-conceit,

His waxen wings did mount above his reach,

And, melting, heavens conspir’d his overthrow

For, falling to a devilish exercise’

Faustus' character is established with his first soliloquy in the very first scene. Faustus rejects all subjects he's studied yet such as logic, medicine, law and importantly theology, claiming that he "hast attained [the] end" and mastered these areas. He derives that, because everybody sins, there's “no truth in us” and further, he concludes that there is no reason to believe in a faith where without any option, one faces death. It is evident that Doctor Faustus desires knowledge for the sake of attaining super-human power. He wants to acquire power to make men live eternally and the power to bring the dead back to life. Doctor Faustus rejects the religious teachings as they are based on the recognition of man’s morality and fallibility. He therfore very boldly breaks his bond with religion with the words” Divinity, adieu!”.

[DOCTOR FAUSTUS]
(in the magician's circle with a magic book in his hand and the devil at his command)

Faustus readily sells his soul to to the devil Lucifer and takes up black magic as these are the means which, according to him, will make him a super human. He starts feeding himself with black magic and starts calling spirits of the dead. With the devil Mephistophils as his servant for 24 years, Faustus leads a life full of pleasure and fame. Whatever he could wish for, gets fulfilled through the devil, except for answers to some questions like “who made the world ?“. Such questions are not answered by Mephistophilis ( pointing to the fact that the answer would be “God”). Mephistophilis' reluctance to answer such queries makes Faustus think if he's on the wrong path, but such thinking is strongly discouraged by the devils. Infact, he's even threatened by the chief devil Lucifer that he will have to suffer very heavily if he tries to repent or take the name of God as he sorrowfully says towards th end of the play“[the] Devil threatened to tear me in pieces if I named God “

Anagnorisis is clearly seen as the play approaches it's end with Faustus seen screaming and crying for salvation and repentance, clearly aware that he himself brought this fate on him. For example, he says that the sickness is not due to overeating or over-drinking but to an excess of the heinous sin which will now bring about the damnation of both his “soul and body.”
He shows the recognition of his sin and guilt saying that God can never forgive him for the sins he has commited. He mentions that ” the serpent that tempted Eve may be saved” “but Faustus' offences can never be pardoned.” He can clearly see his folly in seeking fame and power in the world when he could have gained “Heaven, the seat of God, the throne of the blessed, the kingdom of joy” and is now overwhelmed with fear and sorrow thinking of “what shall become of Faustus, being in hell for ever?”

At this moment the audience are led to hugely sympathise with Doctor Faustus as he realises the happiness and joy which could have been achieved if he had followed the path of righteousness. The character of Faustus portrays a vast amount of sinful desires and feelings embodied in the form of devils that will not allow him to repent. Towards the end, Doctor Faustus strongly believes that his soul must live for ever and that he endures the tortures of hell due to his deliberate transgression and abuse of his capacities. Hence, the tragedy of Doctor Faustus in a way can be seen as a book advising people to uphold righteousness in action and thought.

The character of Macbeth by Shakespeare is a classic example of a tragic hero.

[ SHAKESPEARE]

The play negins with Macbeth and Banquo returning toScotland, victorious
from a fierce battle between the Norwegians and the Scottish.
They have won the war for Duncan, the king of Scotland, an able ruler and a good friend to Macbeth..This shows a noble virtue of Macbeth, that he is loyal to the King and that\ is a great warrior.

However, the tragedy moves on to show the degeneration of all positive qualities of Macbeth as various factors contribute to this peripeteia.
The first main reason is undenialbly the prophecies by the three witches, who hail him as the thane of Glamis and Cawdor and as the future King of Scotland ! When immediately after these prophecies, Macbeth receives the news that he'd indeed been made the thane of Cawdor, he becomes curious about his future, and the possibility of becoming the King. However, his virtues are not lost since it's more of a curiosit than an ambition and his respect for King Duncan is undisputed.

As this prophecy reaches Lady Macbeth, who is clearly interested in becoming the Scottish Queen, Macbeth is manipulated by her into murdering Duncan to attain the throne. This susceptibility to the wrong ideas of somebody coms up s a major flaw in Macbeth's character, another major flaw being his fierce ambition, a trait which becomes more and more prominent as the play progresses.

After commiting the murder, Macbeth's repentance is great. He is “afraid to think what I [he] have [has] done “ and is in deep depression when again manipulated by Lady Macbeth's words he gets back to his normal self.

However, from this point it can be noted how Macbeth's character degenerates from a noble man to violent individual since after the first murder, and his repentance over it, Macbeth is seen as much more harsh than before as he goes on to murder even Banquo besides attempting murder on all possible successors to the throne. This new

character of Macbeth contained greed, violence, and hunger for power.

Importantly it should be noted that Macbeth as a tragic hero has deep awareness of the wrong he is doing. He is caught in a paradox of knowing that to murder someone, and that too a good King is a huge sin but he also realises his apparent helplessness in teh matter as his compels him to secure the throne for himself. He compares the extreme mental sufferings he faces due to his errors as ‘scorpions in my [his] mind’

[MACBETH AT WAR]

Macbeth's tragedy involves free will, the exercise of which only leads him to his doom and that too knowingly ! Macbeth thus seems a victim of circumstances. Just as the third prophecy comes true Macbeth becomes obsessed with his throne. He does not care if he loses his life, friends or family because the throne remains the centre of all his concern. Macbeth constantly sees that he's on the wrong path but doesn't do anything to avoid his awaiting doom, which is clear even to him.

He loses his peace of mind, murders his own friends and redces from a noble, brave man to one forever disturbed,

Macbeth knows of his ultimate failure but he takes the challenge to fight till end and this declares him as a a hero. A revival of his bravery is seen as he accepts to fight with Macduff and Fleance despite clearly knowing that he would die in the end, as was indicated by the witches, It is evident that he will fight to his death. Thus through his error in judging the right, perepeteia and finally, the anagnorisis, Shakepeare's Macbeth stands out as a powerful tragic hero.

Hence we can see how, using tragic heroes like Doctor Faustus and Macbeth, and by arousing emotions like pity and fear through their stories, tragedy allows for the catharsis or purging of these very 'unhealthy' emotions to leave the audience with a cleansed mind and conscience.