Echoes of Aristotle’s Poetics: Karna’s Tragic Fate as a Shakespearean Blueprint in the Mahabharata

  • Unique Paper ID: 186356
  • Volume: 12
  • Issue: 6
  • PageNo: 1741-1745
  • Abstract:
  • God created human beings for the betterment of society, yet they discriminate against one another based on caste, color, gender, and community. Born to the Sun (The Divine Illuminator)and the unwed Kunti(Panchakanya of Hindu epic), Karna’s birth was marked by divine blessing. Despite his noble heritage, he had to endure lifelong suffering, constantly struggling to establish his identity in a world that rejected him because of his humble upbringing.His unwavering commitment to dharma (righteousness) and inherent nobility, ironically, became instruments of his downfall, reflecting the tragic inevitability that defines the essence of classical tragedy where Karna’s life embodies the core characteristics of both Aristotelian and Shakespearean tragic heroes whose greatness is marred by fatal flaws, moral conflict, and the relentless force of destiny. This study highlights how Karna's life and death encapsulate the essence of tragic fate, where his virtues are paradoxically entwined with the flaws that lead to his demise and fatal culmination.This paper examines Karna’s tragic trajectory through the lens of both Aristotle's Poetics and the Shakespearean tragic hero blueprint, offering a comparative study of Eastern and Western tragic forms. Drawing on Aristotle’s concepts of hamartia (tragic flaw), anagnorisis (recognition), and catharsis (emotional purging), the study reveals how Karna’s internal conflict and moral dilemma mirror the classical principles of Greek tragedy. Simultaneously, the paper explores Karna’s alignment with the Shakespearean model of the tragic hero, characterized by a fatal combination of personal flaws, external forces, and inescapable destiny.

Copyright & License

Copyright © 2025 Authors retain the copyright of this article. This article is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

BibTeX

@article{186356,
        author = {Preeti Ranjan Ranasingh},
        title = {Echoes of Aristotle’s Poetics: Karna’s Tragic Fate as a Shakespearean Blueprint in the Mahabharata},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2025},
        volume = {12},
        number = {6},
        pages = {1741-1745},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=186356},
        abstract = {God created human beings for the betterment of society, yet they discriminate against one another based on caste, color, gender, and community. Born to the Sun (The Divine Illuminator)and the unwed Kunti(Panchakanya of Hindu epic), Karna’s birth was marked by divine blessing. Despite his noble heritage, he had to endure lifelong suffering, constantly struggling to establish his identity in a world that rejected him because of his humble upbringing.His unwavering commitment to dharma (righteousness) and inherent nobility, ironically, became instruments of his downfall, reflecting the tragic inevitability that defines the essence of classical tragedy where Karna’s life embodies the core characteristics of both Aristotelian and Shakespearean tragic heroes whose greatness is marred by fatal flaws, moral conflict, and the relentless force of destiny. This study highlights how Karna's life and death encapsulate the essence of tragic fate, where his virtues are paradoxically entwined with the flaws that lead to his demise and fatal culmination.This paper examines Karna’s tragic trajectory through the lens of both Aristotle's Poetics and the Shakespearean tragic hero blueprint, offering a comparative study of Eastern and Western tragic forms. Drawing on Aristotle’s concepts of hamartia (tragic flaw), anagnorisis (recognition), and catharsis (emotional purging), the study reveals how Karna’s internal conflict and moral dilemma mirror the classical principles of Greek tragedy. Simultaneously, the paper explores Karna’s alignment with the Shakespearean model of the tragic hero, characterized by a fatal combination of personal flaws, external forces, and inescapable destiny.},
        keywords = {Marginalization, Hamartia, Procrastination, Verna system, Existential crises},
        month = {November},
        }

Cite This Article

  • ISSN: 2349-6002
  • Volume: 12
  • Issue: 6
  • PageNo: 1741-1745

Echoes of Aristotle’s Poetics: Karna’s Tragic Fate as a Shakespearean Blueprint in the Mahabharata

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