Ami Trivedi's Assigment Blog 2016-18: 2016

Hence many of them do not believe it because it’s figurative nature. But it is the belief which is foreground in the tradition of the past and it is of real life presented in a fictitious manner. This has led human mind to accept the belief in a conscious manner. And it is not like a story told in history. It is a history told a story.

Karna was not allow to participate in Swayamvara. As he was considered to be “Sutaputra.” This means low caste person not equivalent to prince.

Under epic tradition Ramayana and Mahabharata are the epics. This epic gives the sources for the modern writers to present their ideas and thoughts in a new perspectives. These epics consists the theme which are common stories even of today as myth always shows the man in internal and external world, how he suffers and struggles in the world. They deal with abducting another’s wife for the sake of physical fulfillment, fighting among brothers for property committing of adultery and marriage issue.

Indian dramas are deeply rooted in mythical stories and Puranas. Indian English playwrights take the mythological elements in exhibition their thoughts on the present condition with inner or external struggle of a human being.

T. P. Kailasm’s play “The Purpose” is based on the Indian epic. Fulfillment the purpose is taken from Mahabharata. Kailasm justifies Karna, Eklavya, Bhishma roles in this play.

· The showcase of Princes Skills :

This is their first meeting and Karna’s first interaction once Drona refused to teach him based on his percentage. Karna does all that Arjuna did with a single targets, using multiple targets, and it makes Bhima think :

“My brother cannot battle him and live prodigy though he is.”

Even Yudhishthira thinks :

“There is the one warrior who will surpass Arjuna no archer alive can beat this one who claims to be Radhey.”

His challenge for the battle to decide best archer is rejected by Kripacharya though.

· The Gandharva Showdown :

A drunk Karna is unable to protect Duryodhana, beat by a Gandharva in hand-to-hand combat, and feels on seeing a legion of them. Arjuna comes, and requested Gandharva to leave Duryodhna and they obey him.

“Arjuna used Gandiv throughout his life. Once he earned it; while Karna used the strongest bow then the Vijay only on 17^th day of Mahabharata. All battles hereon had Arjuna armed with Gandiv.”

· Virta War – Arjuna as Brihannala :

Arjuna invokes use of Sammohan astra one time weapon. Make the user invincible till the last enemy feels or is killed. The enemies become dazed and cannot fight to their full potential. Drona, knowing what has happened; feels. So, do Bhishma and Karna.

Later before Mahabharata war, Bhishma insults Karna saying he was weak compared to any Pandava, not even worthy of title of rathi, and the Arjuna could kill countless Karna. He cites the Virta war as example.

Karna kills thousands of Pandava soldiers by night. For the Pandavas there was only one Kshatriya who was as glorious as Karna was that night, Satyaki. As if drawn together by fate, Karna and Satyaki face each other. They fight not with arrows but with astras. Karna hears the loud screaming of his legions and also the thunder of the Gandiv.

Karna aflame fighting as never before, he smashes Dhrishtadyumna is bow and chariot leaving the Panchala breathless. Arjuna says to Krishna that his brother was under danger and he must ride against the Sutaputra. Krishna says Arjuna:

“There are only two warriors on our side who can face Karna tonight. One is you Partha and the other one is Ghtotkacha. Night makes him strong and he can kill anyone by darkness. Look at Drona and how he stalks Yudhishthira. If the wily Brahman takes your brother all the heroism of your brother all your valor will all be lost.”

Krishna says another interesting line to Karna,

“Only you can stand before Karna. Arjuna must watch over Yudhishthira. Karna must be killed and now one can do this but take your astras and show the Sutaputra what hell looks like.”

Karna made three wishes, and Krishna granted all of them and more:

Ø “Madhusudan, cremate me in the most barren place on Earth, one with no sin; one where nay deeds, good & bad, will no

longer affect the world.”

Ø “Let those who seek knowledge be granted knowledge, with no barriers before knowledge seekers.”

Ø “Let me known as a Sutaputra and let the world know me as Radhey, not Kunteya.”

Now we can say that Karna’s death is not a victory of Arjuna. The Virta war is not one either Sammohan astra is an unfair advantage the makes opponents unable to concentrate, and Karna had to flee. Nor are Karna’s brief heroic on 14^th day or his feats in the princes.

So Karna is the best as he beat each Pandava at least once; and that too after knowing them to be his brothers. It is noteworthy that Arjuna fought him knowing him to be his worst wonder how it would have been if he had known it was his brother Bhagvat Gita did not prepare him for this.

Their Flaws

Karna led to his guru, and did not guide Duryodhna instead just aiding him. He could and should have revoked him, thought to no avail as it was a family matter and Karna parentage was not known.

Arjuna failed to correct Yudhishthira during dice game, did not even appropriate. Draupadi’s rights instead sharing her with brothers. He also watched during the dice game, not putting his foot down & trying to protect her

Ø In Context of T. P. Kailasm there is comparison between Arjuna & Eklavya

Many people regard Guru Bhakti of Eklavya as that of the ideal disciple. But one special consideration must be observed.

One day on the order of Dronacharya, the Kauravas & Pandavas ventured out from their capital to the forest to hunt. They soon came across a dog, directly on their path and were extremely astonished to find the seven arrows had been shoot into the dog’s mouth simultaneously when he had opened it to bark. They could see that the archer had let does those arrows was even more skilled than any of the Pandavas, and set out to find him. After searching for sometimes, they discovered that boy who had performed this feat was Eklavya, the son of Hiranyadhanura, and that he had developed his extraordinary skill by weaking and worshipping an idol of Dronacharya.

The Pandavas returned to their capital and informed Dronacharya of this amazing incident. In a humble mood, Arjuna informed Dronacharya of fact of that the Acharya had one disciple more skilled in the art of archery than him. The Acharya listened to these words in shock. At once he returned to the forest with Arjuna and come upon Eklavya, who was full absorbed in practicing as he let loose dense volleys of arrows, one after other.

When Dronacharya approached, Eklavya suddenly saw the Acharya standing directly before him. The young archers immediately worshipping his feet introduce himself as one of his disciples and stood submissive with folded hands.

Dronacharya addressed Eklavya,

“You must offer me guru Dakshina”

Eklavya replied,

“Whatever you order, I am prepared to give”

Dronacharya next told Eklavya to serve his right thumb and to give it as Dakshina and he followed the order of his gurudeva with a bright face, without any objection.

The common concept is that Arjuna was jealous that Eklavya had achieved greater expertise than he had, and that Arjuna was responsible for destroying Eklavya’s powers by including Acharya to keep his word. However this is not the concepting actually true, and it is not concepting of the devotes.

According to custom if the student does not accept a guru from an external perspective, he will not be accepted as a properly trained, nor will he ever be acclaimed as great. It was for this reason that Eklavya created an earthen statue of Dronacharya and imagined being in his presence. In this act, his sole purpose was to became great by expertly learning the science of archery.

Actually Eklavya did not make his offering with any real devotion, or Bhakti, Bhakils tendency is to be natural causeless Bhakti for Hari, guru and vaishnavas in his heart, then neither his guru Dronacharya; nor Bhagvan Shree Krishna himself would have been distributed by not accept Eklavya’s endeavor to attain expertise in the science of archery or to became great.

If Eklavya had sincere Bhakt for his guru, than Krishna would never have been able to destroy him. He always protects his Bhakti or the Bhakt of His Bhakt. However, Eklavya was killed by Shree Krishna’s own hands. This was the ultimate fate of Eklavya.

Hamartia in Shakespearen Tragedies

Ø To Evaluate my Assignment
Name : Ami Trivedi

Ø Class : M.A

Ø Sem : 1

Ø Topic : Hamartia in Shakespearean Tragedy

Ø Year : 2016-2018

Ø Email id : amitrivedi4288@gmail.com

Ø Submitted to : SMT. S. B. Gardi and M.K.Bhavnagar University

§ Definition of Hamartia :

“Hamartia is a personal error in a protagonist’s personality that brings about his tragic downfall in a tragedy. This defect in a hero’s personality is also known as a “tragic flaw.” Aristotle used the word in his “poetics” where it is taken as a mistake or error in judgment.”

According to Webster Dictionary,

“Tragedy is a serious play or drama typically dealing with the problems of a central character, leading to an unhappy or disastrous ending brought on, as in ancient drama, by fate and tragic flaw in this character, or, in modern drama usually by moral weakness, psychological maladjustment, or social pressure.”

According to Britannica Encyclopedia,

“Hamartia, also called tragic flaw, inherent defect or shortcoming in the hero of a tragedy, who is in other respects a superior being favored by fortune.”

§ Hamartia and Hubris :

A typical example of Hamartia in tragedies is “hubris” which is excessive pride and ego in a hero’s character which ultimately bring his tragic downfall in a tragedy. In Greek tragedies, the “hubristic” actions of a hero, in a powerful position, causes his shame and humiliation.

§ Function of Hamartia :

Hamartia imparts the sense of pity and fear in the audience or the readers identity with the tragic hero as, like them, his character is a mixture of good and bad qualities. They feel pity for the reversal of fortune that he undergoes. This arouses a feeling of pity in them. Similarly, by witnessing a tragic hero suffer due to his own flaw, the audience or the readers may fear the same fate may be fall them if they indulge in similar kinds of action.

Therefore, Hamartia may be employed for a moral purpose to encourage people to improve their characters by removing the flaws that can cause a tragedy in their lives.

§ Tragic Hero :

Tragic hero is another significant element of a Shakespearean tragedy. Shakespearean tragedy is considered as a one Man show who may be hero or heroine. It is a story of right one man or a woman, who suffers due to some flaw in their character or due to their inevitable fate. Whatever may be the case, the hero is the most tragic personality in his tragedies according to Bradley,

“It is essentially a tale of suffering and calamity conducting to death.”

Usually the hero has to face death in the end.

An important feature of tragic hero is that he is a towering personality in his state or locality. He hails from elite stratum of society and holds high position in his state. Tragic heroes are kings, prince or military generals who are very important for their states. Look at the personality to Hamlet, who is the prince of Denmark. He is intellectual, highly learned and sociable and holds a philosophic bent of mid. In “Hamlet”, when ‘Hamlet’ takes revenge upon the death of his father, he not only kills his uncle but invites his own death of Hamlet , the army of Fortinbras enters Denmark and gets control of the affairs of Denmark.

§ Examples of HAMARTIA in Literature :

Example : 1 Oedipus

“Oedipus” in a famous Greek Tragedy is a perfect example of Hamartia. His downfall is cause by unintentional wrongdoings. His “hubris” makes him try to defy the prophecy of gods by at the ends up doing what he feared the most.

Example : 2 Doctor Faustus :

The tragic flaw of Faustus was his ambitious nature. Despite being a respected scholar, he sold his soul to “Lucifer” by signing a contract with his blood for achieving ultimate power and limitless pleasure in the world. He learns the art of black magic and defies Christianity. We saw a tragic conflict where Faustus thinks about repenting but it is all too late. Finally, the devils takes his soul away to Hell and he is suffers eternal damnation because of his over ambition.

Example : 3 Romeo

Romeo and Juliet is easily Shakespeare’s most well known play, and Romeo is probably Shakespeare’s most famous protagonist. Romeo falls deeply and madly in love the first time he lays eyes on Juliet, the daughter of his father’s sworn enemy and Romeo is famous for his headstrong, love-at-first sight relationship with Juliet. Romeo’s fatal flaw is his impulsiveness. At the start of “Romeo and Juliet” Romeo is in love with another women; Rosaline. In his mind, he and Rosaline are destined for each other and in “true love.” But it takes only one night at the caplet’s ball for Romeo to forget all about Rosaline and fall in love with Juliet. After only one night together Romeo impulsively marries Juliet, thereby setting a dire chain of even in motion. Shortly later in the wedding, he impulsively slays Juliet brother Tybalt in a fit of anger, leading to his banishment from Verona.

Example : 4 Hamlet

While Romeo lives at one end of the Spectrum, rushing into decision too quickly. Hamlet lives at the other : his fatal flaw is his indecisiveness and inability to commit to a course of action. While Romeo never stops to thin k of the consequences of his actions; Hamlet broods over them too long. While it is certain without a doubt that his uncle Claudius murdered his father, it takes a starting visit from his father’s ghost to even being making Hamlet consider that his father was killed by fold play.

Even after his ghostly visit at the start of the play, Hamlet still isn’t convinced of Claudius guilt. He stages a false play at the castle, a play containing the very murderous actions he suspects his uncle to taking to try to discern further his uncle’s guilt. By the time he decides to act against Claudius, its already too late. Claudius has hatched his own scheme to poison Hamlet, and while Hamlet does ultimately get his procrastination leads to not only his own death but the death of his mother and Ophelia along the way as well.

Example : 5 Macbeth

Macbeth’s fatal flaw is a much baser human emotion: ambition, from the start of the play, we see that Macbeth desires more than his current station. While serving as the kings general, Macbeth encounters three witches who foretell of his destined greatness. So strong is his desire to be king that he takes the ambiguous prophecy of the witches to mean that he is destine to be king, not one day, but right now. All Macbeth’s actions as king driven by his ambition, and these decisions culminate in his death.

Each of Shakespearean’s tragic characters has their own “fatal flaw.” But like the examples above, each flaw is just a normal human trait taken to its extreme. Through his tragedies Shakespeare sought to shine a light on the human condition and show every day emotions and personality traits, could, when taken to extreme, leads to our own downfall.

§ Hamartia in Famous Character :

In the “Lord of the Rings” series of books, the ring is Frodo’s fatal flaw. Although the character himself is mostly a very good person, the ring threatens to undo him the same way it did Gollum by driving him mad with the power the ring’s possession affords him.

Achilles, the legendary hero of Greek mythology, was a nearly invulnerable warrior with one widely known fatal flaw; the heel that his mother held him by when she clipped him into the river Styx to make him strong. The heel ended up being his undoing. Today an “Achilles heels” refers to any ones fatal flaw or Hamartia.

The Bible character David’s Hamartia was his passion for a woman named Bathsheba when kind David decided to try and win her affections, his first moved her husband to the front lines in battle, ensuring that he would be killed. David’s mistake led to the loss of his son and many blessings from God.

Othello, another Shakespearean character also possesses a fatal flaw. When Iago tells him lies Othello goes into a jealous rage. It is his jealousy that drives him to murder Desdemona and once he realize her innocence to commit suicide.

In the “Back to the Future” film series, Marty Mac fly gets himself into trouble several times due to his fatal flaw the inability to walk away when someone suggests that he is too afraid to follow through.

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