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In Aristotelian definition of tragedy it was the discovery of one's own identity or true character (Cordelia, Edgar, Edmund, etc.) or of someone elses identity or true nature (Lear's children, Gloucester's children) by the tragic hero. In his Poetics , Aristotle defined it as "a change from ignorance to knowledge, producing love or hate between the persons destined by the poet for good or bad fortune." It should be noted that Shakespeare did not base his works on Aristotelian theory of tragedy, including use of Hamartia , yet his tragic characters still commonly undergo anagnorisis as a result of their struggles. Aristotle considered it, with Peripeteia , the mark of a superior tragedy, as when Oepidus killed his father and married his mother in ignorance, and later learned the truth, or when Iphigenia in Tauris realizes that the strangers she is to sacrifice are her brother and his friend in time to refrain from it. These plots, he considered complex and superior to simple plots without anagnorisis or peripetia, such as when Medea resolves to kill her children, knowing they are her children, and does so. THE TRAGIC HERO OR THE COMIC CHARACTER Aristotle thought of Drama as being "an imitation of an action", that of Tragedy as of "falling from a higher to a lower estate", and so being removed to a less ideal situation in more ''tragic'' circumstances than before. He posited the Characters in tragedy as being better than the average human being, and those of Comedy as being worse. Stock characters in comedy in their ridiculousness may well be aware of their discomfort in certain circumstances, but they would not be able to envisage their real situation or recognise any sudden, often traumatic changes in their position vis-a-vis other characters in the dramatic action within a play. They cannot see themselves as people less good than others and so would continue being ridiculous or pompous whenever the situation arises. Comic plots reflect the shortcomings of their characters within their circumscribed existence. The tragic hero, however, whether humble or exalted, is capable of recognizing his true place in the world, and therefore is able to contemplate his relationships with others and any sudden changes within these relations, and so can recognize the consequences these changes wreak. The moment of recognition or anagnorisis becomes the moment of understanding when the hero becomes aware of his true situation. It is the tragic hero's initial flaw of mistaking or misinterpreting his real situation, his Hamartia , his 'missing the mark of identifying his situation' which leads to his reversal of fortune, his Peripeteia . It is at this stage that anagnorisis often occurs in tragedy, the often fatal recognition of the real state in which he finds himself with the world and which he cannot ignore. SEE ALSO Anagnorisis is a black metal band from Louisville, Kentucky |