Key Macbeth Tragic Terms

Question 1

Hamartia

Answer 1

Fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a hero

Question 2

Supernatural

Answer 2

phenomena associated with a force beyond laws of nature

Question 3

Anagnorisis

Answer 3

Point at which a character realises another’s true identity or nature

Question 4

Motif

Answer 4

A reoccurring symbol that comes back again and again

Question 5

Tragic hero

Answer 5

Character who experiences a tragic downfall

Question 6

Three unities

Answer 6

Unity of action: a tragedy should have one principal action.
Unity of time: the action in a tragedy should occur over a period of no more than 24 hours.
Unity of place: a tragedy should exist in a single physical location.

Question 7

Tragic waste

Answer 7

when good is destroyed alongside evil

Question 8

chiasmus

Answer 8

when worlds are repeated in reverse order

Question 9

Hubris

Answer 9

excessive pride or self-confidence

Question 10

Peripetia

Answer 10

sudden reversal or fortune or change in circumstances

Question 11

Internal conflict

Answer 11

when a character struggles with their own opposing desires or beliefs

Question 12

External conflict

Answer 12

Another character that is against the antagonist or something else beyond control

Question 13

Despotic nature

Answer 13

Having unlimited power over other people, used unfairly and cruelly.

Question 14

Catharsis

Answer 14

A term Aristotle used to describe the release of emotions

Question 15

Pathos

Answer 15

the feeling of pity or sorrow evoked by a text

Question 16

Bathos

Answer 16

the movement from the elevated to the ridiculous, ordinary or mundane (anti-climax)