The Contemporary Tragic Hero

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to show that the tragic hero, often seen as a classical concept, can also be used in 20th and 21st-century drama and movies, as long as it is appropriated in such a way that it fits in the time when it is written. Aristotle’s theories on the tragic hero will first be covered, before focusing on the American playwright Arthur Miller and the tragic hero in Miller’s play A View from the Bridge. Finally, this paper contains an original piece of drama with a tragic hero as the main character. The analysis of this piece of drama shows how the main character is a tragic hero according to Aristotle’s and Miller’s theories.