“Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them...great trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass. Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divine lightning.” Tragic heroes are characters of notoriety; held in high regard but are struck with misfortune through their own error. The most noble of men can succumb to their own flaws until driven to the brink of insanity, as illustrated in Shakespeare’s play, King Lear. King Lear represents all qualities of a tragic hero and in the end is ruined by his own vice, by driving himself to the point of full-blown insanity as a result of his actions. As all tragic …show more content…

Lear is the perfect example of a tragic hero. He is powerful and well liked, but ends up ruining himself. He exhibits the traits as a tragic hero, coming from wealth and nobility. He is arrogant and makes rash judgments, direct causations to him banishing Cordelia, which is the biggest mistake he could have ever made. He recognized the error of his ways, and then drove himself into a state of madness as a direct result. In the end, his tragic flaw led to him losing his power, the one daughter that actually cared about him, and his own life. The tallest trees are the most vulnerable when lightening strikes; closest to the storm. They act as conductors of the electricity, but are likely to be burnt down themselves. Lear was the tallest tree; the wealthiest and most powerful. When his arrogance and rash judgment kick in, the lightening strikes and his tree catches fire. It is slowly burnt down as Lear ruins himself completely with insanity; until all that remains is the ashes of a once prosperous