A tragic hero is a great or virtuous character who is destined for downfall, suffering, or defeat. There are many qualities that make a tragic hero such as being born of noble birth,responsible for their own fate,tragic flaw and more. Now thinking of this what person comes in mind when you hear the words “tragic hero”? Maybe Oedipus from Oedipus Rex? Or perhaps Odysseus from the Greek play? All of those are correct but, what about Severus Snape? He fits in most of the categories of a tragic hero, classifying him a tragic hero. When it comes to tragic heros, Severus is the most tragic of them all.
A tragic hero,sometimes, are born of noble birth meaning that they were born with some high class. Such as the kid of a King or Queen, or even in modern the kid of a celebrity will be considered noble birth. Now how does Severus fit into this section of noble birth you ask? Well according to Ally Dotso from Prezi he is considered noble birth. Severus was born half wizard and half human which is extremely rare making him “high class” or as Elizabeth Bohme from Prezi put it “Wizards in general are noble because they are gifted with the ability to do magic”. Which is true, having the ability to do magic is one incredible skill you could possibly have. It is not only just rare and unique but, it also makes you someone that is looked up to for this spectacular gift. Making Severus quote “born of noble birth” making one step closer to becoming a tragic hero.
Of course not just being of noble birth classifies you as being a tragic hero, theres is also the fact of having a flaw that eventually leads to major down fall. Now for Severus his major flaw would be his deep love for Lily Potter who was killed by Voldemort along with her husband James Potter. (JK Rowling “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” chapter 5) “His deep,abiding love for Lily Evans…” (PotterMore) is what lead him to his major down fall. As children Lily Evans was a misunderstood…..her sister always making fun of her calling her a freak just because she had the extraordinary power. Snape saw this and put
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it to a stop by scaring Lily’s sister and forcing her to run away. From that day forth they started hanging out with each other often, and with that time Severus fell in love with her. When they both started going to Hogwarts Academy they went their separate ways. They both got put into different houses and Lily fell in love with James Potter. Snapes bully in Hogwarts. Both Lily and James soon got married and had a child together, Harry Potter.
Severus ended up losing his first love to the man he truly hated. When Lily and James Potter died from the hands of Voldemort, he was devastated. Especially since the reason they have died was cause of the information he had told Voldemort. (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Chapter 17) He felt burdened by being the reason that Lily died, so he decided to carry on Lily’s wish and protect Harry from all evil to come. Snape joined the Death Eaters, Voldemort’s group, so he can get information from them to report to Dumbledore to protect Harry. Everything Snape did was for the sake of Lily, even though she had move on, Snape had still had a deep love for her and with that love he was willing to do anything for her sake.. He then would die by the hands of Voldemort leading him to his downfall but, he died with honor he fulfilled Lily’s wish.
Severus Snape has had a tragic past, and ended up having a tragic ending as well. Out of all the tragic heros, Severus was the tragic of them all. There was only two categories mention of the tragic hero, but Severus can fit in many more. Having almost every quality, Severus is considered a tragic hero, from being born of noble to facing and accepting death with honor. Severus is and always will be a good example of a tragic hero.
