3.2.3

Self-Realisation

Test yourself

Self-Realisation

The hero in tragic texts is usually self-deceiving before the text culminates in a moment of discovery and realisation.

Illustrative background for Tragic textsIllustrative background for Tragic texts ?? "content

Tragic texts

  • Throughout tragic texts, the tragic hero tends to be self-deceiving.
  • However, there comes the moment where these heroes undergo a moment of discovery, journeying from ignorance to knowledge.
  • It is in these moments that, for some critics, characters truly attain tragic status.
Illustrative background for WillyIllustrative background for Willy ?? "content

Willy

  • Willy has a moment of self-discovery near the end of Act Two during his final confrontation with Biff, finally seeing the love Biff still has for his father.
  • However, this moment is all too brief and Willy is almost immediately swept up by his old fantasies of Biff’s golden future:
    • “That boy – that boy is going to be magnificent!”
Illustrative background for BiffIllustrative background for Biff ?? "content

Biff

  • It is left to Biff to move from ignorance to self-knowledge.
  • By the end of the play, Biff has come to learn that his future lies outside the city, telling Happy, “I know who I am, kid”.
Illustrative background for _Richard II_Illustrative background for _Richard II_ ?? "content

Richard II

  • Shakespeare’s Richard eventually comes to recognise his mistakes, summed up in his last soliloquy before he is murdered:
    • “I wasted time, and now doth time waste me."
Illustrative background for _The Great Gatsby_Illustrative background for _The Great Gatsby_ ?? "content

The Great Gatsby

  • In The Great Gatsby it is left to the narrator, Nick Carraway, to provide this moment of self-discovery, imagining Gatsby before his death as finally realising the truth about himself.

Jump to other topics

1Introduction

2Act One

3Act Two

4Extended Passage Analysis

5Character Profiles

6Key Themes

7Writing Techniques

8Historical Context

9Literary Context

10Critical Debates

Go student ad image

Unlock your full potential with GoStudent tutoring

  • Affordable 1:1 tutoring from the comfort of your home

  • Tutors are matched to your specific learning needs

  • 30+ school subjects covered

Book a free trial lesson