AP Prompt: The Tragic Protagonist
The 2004 AP Literature question on a tragic hero's gain in self-knowledge.
2004 Advanced Placement Examination
ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION
Question 1 (Suggested Time ‑ 40 minutes.)
According to Aristotle, the fall of a tragic hero is not one of pure loss. Though it may result in the protagonist’s death, it involves, before his death, some increase in awareness, some gain in self-knowledge. On the level of character this “discovery” is accompanied or followed by a significant insight, a fuller self-knowledge, an increase not only in knowledge but in wisdom. Often this increase in wisdom involves some sort of reconciliation with the universe or with the protagonist’s situation. He exits not cursing his fate but accepting it and acknowledging that it is to some degree just.
In what sense may Oedipus be regarded as a better man, though a less fortunate one, at the end of the play than at the beginning? What has he gained from his experience?
Write an essay in which you thoroughly answer this question. Be sure to include plenty of details from the play. Avoid plot summary.