Here are all my visuals I put together in PowerPoints and worksheets when teaching students about tragic heroes. Students need a familiar model to reference before taking on whatever complex text we are currently reading. My go-tos are The Lion King and Romeo and Juliet.

The Lion King

Of Noble Birth/Highly Respected

I love these visuals to emphasize the noble birth and how respected he was by all of the other animals. Simba was born to the king of the jungle, Mufasa. Everyone came to see him as a baby and the expectation is that he will run the Prideland if/when Mufasa dies.

Tragic Flaw

Simba’s tragic flaw is listening to others instead of being a leader: being tricked by Scar into visiting the elephant graveyard and listening to Scar when he told him to “run away, Simba. Run away and never return.” If Simba had been more of a leader, he would have made his own decisions about whether or not to visit the elephant graveyard and he would have owned up to his perceived mistake with his father’s death.

Reversal of Fortune

Since Simba was not a leader, he fled Prideland out of fear. He thought he would be blamed for his father’s death and that no one would want him around. This led to Scar’s ruling of the Prideland and it’s destruction. Scar and the hyenas devastated the whole area and were oppressive towards Simba’s family. I like to go back to the original pictures of Simba’s birth to emphasis what a drastic change this is.

Increase in Self-Awareness

Here, Scar leans in and just before he tries to kill Simba; he admits that he is the one who killed Simba’s father, Mufasa. Samba realizes he is not at fault and this gives him the confidence he needs (and the leadership he always had somewhere inside him) in order to save himself and defeat Scar. Now he realizes he is a leader and he is a good person/lion.

I love using this gif because you can see his eyes widen as he makes the connections in his mind and realizes the truth about Scar and himself.

Catharsis

The Pridelands are a disaster and seemed ruined due to Simba’s actions of running away and allowing Scar to take over. Simba is frightened by the idea of climbing the rock and taking over leadership – just as he was frightened before of seeing everyone after his father died. We pity him because we understand that he really is a good person who just made a few errors in judgment, and we release the tension we have when we see him confidently roar from the rock, just like his father.

Romeo and Juliet

Of Noble Birth/Highly Respected

This is the movie version so of course there are many differences from the play. I focus only on what is happening in the movie which sometimes varies from the play.

I use these visuals to show the prominence of the Montague name in the city, and to show how the wealthy Montague patriarch is driven around by a person driver.

Tragic Flaw

Romeo’s tragic flaw is impulsive behavior: killing Tybalt (in an emotional reaction to Mercutio’s death), killing himself (he buys the poison right after hearing about Juliet’s death), marrying Juliet (deciding to marry Juliet just hours after meeting).

Reversal of Fortune

Romeo is banished after impulsively killing Tybalt (as vengeance for Tybalt murdering Mercutio). Romeo dies after committing suicide even though if he just would have waiting a few days or even hours longer Juliet would have woken up and everything would have been fine. Not only has Romeo fallen from his high social status to banishment, but in the end it results in the ultimate reversal of fortune: his death.

Increase in Self-Awareness

NOT IN THE PLAY, but in this movie version of the play, Romeo obviously has some last minute clarity about what he has just done. This gif from the movie is a great visual of the sudden realization and regret Romeo feels.

In the play, Romeo makes some comments about his own thinking and admits he is maybe not thinking clearly but continues on anyway.

Catharsis

Capulet and Montague were only able to put the feud behind them when they had lost everything: their only son and daughter. Prince sums everything up for audience and takes them through the emotional purging that results from the final deaths. The dramatic irony began in the prologue when the audience learns both characters will die. They wait the whole play for it to happen, and final release the built-up tension once the deaths finally happened.

Assessments

This is what I use to introduce the topic of tragic hero when reading texts such as Oedipus, The Crucible, Romeo and Juliet, or A Doll’s House. Here are a few links to assessments I have where students have to find specific quotes to support each tragic hero trait. It helps the students to practice closely reading portions of the text and supporting their answers with valid reasoning.

Romeo TH Worksheet

John Proctor TH Worksheet

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