Abstract:
English drama spearheaded by William Shakespeare,
is dominated by the Post-Classical Renaissance. Prerenaissance
drama in England was essentially allegorical
plays extolling Christian values. This paper therefore
critically looks at how Shakespearean tragic hero is
defined and portrayed. The paper, using textual analysis,
provides extracts from William Shakespeare’s King Lear
as the main text to present King Lear as tragic hero. The
study shows that the post-classical renaissance period
portrays the tragic hero on the basis of weakness of
character and is different from the Aristotelian concept of
tragedy as hamartia, a going wrong.