Reconceptualisation of the Tragic Flaw: A Study of the Tragic Protagonists in William Shakespeare’s Othello and Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea

Tragedy is an eternally powerful dramatic representation in literature that, across generations, has stood the test of time and gripped audiences with its strong and realistic protagonists whose tragic flaw may be their downfall. However, the question must be asked: how realistic is this tragic flaw put forth? Does the male tragic protagonist's tragic flaw lie solely within him and not the circumstances around him? And what about the existence of female tragic protagonists? To answer these questions, this paper first undertakes a study of the concept of the tragic flaw that is not to be confused with the term ‘hamartia'. The study of the concept is then applied to two texts featuring a male and a female tragic protagonist respectively.