What is Hamartia — The Secret to Writing a Tragic Flaw

Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction to Character's Tragic Flaws 00:49 - What is Hamartia? 02:54 - Chapter 1: Show the Consequences: Hamlet 06:44 - Chapter 2: Make It Central to the Story: Black Swan 11:49 - Chapter 3: Chance to Change: Burn After Reading 15:40 - Final Takeaways

I think an excellent example is everyone in Arcane on Netflix. At any point any one of them could have made a different choice to produce a better outcome, but any such alternate decision would have been so out of character that what happened was always the only truly possible outcome. A perfect tragedy, and I love it.

I think that Hamlet scene was a little over-simplified. For anyone unfamiliar/needing a refresher, Hamlet didn't just stop himself from killing his uncle during confession due to meaningless indecision. He actually realized that if he were to kill his murderous uncle during a confession in this holy place, there was a CHANCE that his uncle may be forgiven his sins, shown mercy, and allowed into heaven. So rather than take this prime opportunity for vengeance now, he opted to delay until a better opportunity where his uncle would be duly delivered his damnation. This scene in the play was not meant to show "indecisiveness as a flaw," but rather, a trait of either shrewdness, cool-headedness, patience, or cunning. It was meant to be one of MANY traits Hamlet had, like how later he showed his impatience and hot-headedness. He was able to be passionate or pragmatic, devious or meloncholic. That's one of the hallmarks of Hamlet the character, the fact that he is so complicated and has so many contradictory traits. So the idea of trying to boil him down to one thing is missing a lot of the point. That said, that's about the play. I haven't seen the movie.

I watched Black Swan countless times. One of my favorite psychological thrillers I've watched, together with Mulholland Drive and The Silence of the Lambs

OH MY GOSH.... I LOVE Studio Binder... YOU make my day.

I love the upfront spoiler list!! This should be more common.

One character that I really like is Monster Girl from Invincible. The idea of her character is that every time she uses her powers, she grows one week younger. Even though she’s 25, she looks 13 and she’s only getting younger. She could stop being a hero and live a normal life, but instead she joins the Guardians knowing that it’ll be her doom. She doesn’t have too much screen time so far, but there’s a lot of room to experiment with that concept

Great video, but just to clarify exactly what Hamartia means as it is often misinterpreted. The term in the original Greek sense means "to miss the mark" and was an archery term which was utilised by Aristotle to explain the cause of a tragic heroes' downfall. Crucially, it does NOT mean a "Tragic Flaw" in the general sense, but more specifically is a mistake made by the character which leads to their downfall. This of course can be rooted in a personal characteristic that leads to that mistake being made, but ultimately it is the action itself that leads to the downfall, rather than a flaw of character. For example with Oedipus, perhaps the most famous Greek tragic hero, his hamartia might be considered his attempt to escape his fate - which is a mistake but not a character flaw. Aristotle in the Poetics says on this issue: "For Tragedy is an imitation, not of men, but of an action and of life, and life consists in action, and its end is a mode of action, not a quality. Now character determines men's qualities, but it is by their actions that they are happy or the reverse. Dramatic action, therefore, is not with a view to the representation of character: character comes in as subsidiary to the actions. Hence the incidents and the plot are the end of a tragedy; and the end is the chief thing of all. Again, without action there cannot be a tragedy; there may be without character." Aristotle's point is quite simple - tragedies in life can occur when the person who it happens to has done nothing wrong, for example a natural disaster like a flood, - and since art imitates life this should be reflected in the plot of tragedy also. Oedipus did not ask to be cursed at birth, but his downfall came from the mistaken belief that he can escape his fate. This doesn't detract from the video which was great, but hopefully clarifies how the term Hamartia can have a bit more of a nuance to it than just being a "Tragic Flaw".

It's easy to write a character with a tragic flaw, what's hard is writing a story where the tragedy also has poetic irony, the most common example being a protagonist who, in attempting to avoid their downfall, unknowingly cause it. Try to give your characters flaws that are loaded with deeper meaning and that resonate with the larger themes of the story.

StudioBinder documentaries are flawed, only in that they are never long enough leaving the viewer always wanting more. Keep up the great work.

Hamartia means not being witness of our own actions. Not being a witness of our life and our actions. Not understanding the truth, what really motivates us, who we really are. This is what creates confusion, therefore the tragic flow. that's why all philosophers were saying 'find out who you are'

01:19 🎭 Hamartia, or tragic flaw, is a character's fault that leads to their downfall, as defined by Aristotle in "Poetics." 02:27 💰 Hamartia often involves irony and moral lessons, like Daniel Plainview's greed leading to wealth but not true fulfillment in "There Will Be Blood." 03:51 🤔 Hamlet's tragic flaw is indecision, causing inner turmoil and disastrous consequences for himself and those around him. 05:02 ⚔️ Hamlet's indecision leads to a chain of events, resulting in unintended deaths and a tragic climax. 07:14 🦢 In "Black Swan," Nina's pursuit of perfection becomes her tragic flaw, exacerbated by the cutthroat ballet world. 10:44 🔄 Giving flawed characters chances to change can sharpen irony and moral lessons, seen in "Burn After Reading." 13:06 🗣️ Each character's downfall in "Burn After Reading" is self-inflicted, showing opportunities for change before their tragic endings. 15:00 💔 The ensemble of tragic flaws in "Burn After Reading" creates a convoluted plot with high stakes and a moral lesson about selfishness and

oooooh. Thank you for pointing out characters being given the chance to change. This is extremely useful. Appreciate you

Writing a tragic flaw is best accomplished by finding something personal about a particular flaw. The emotion and experience of that flaw will draw out a written dramatic circumstance. Should be done as a writing exercise as well to better understand how things develop.

The ending of Burn after reading is one of the funniest scenes i've ever seen

The tragic flaw is considered to be a positive characteristic of the tragic hero and that positive part of his character some type of a virtue causes his downfall.In real life things are much more complicated than theatre and films but the point is to cause a sense of fear to the viewer that everyone can have such a similar fate

Such a fantastic video. Your compilation and editing are done in a high-quality mode that's not usually seen on YouTube. The subject matter, though, captured the undivided attention of my A.D.D. brain. Beautiful work and thank you!!

Good to see Ken's Hamlet getting the love it deserves!

A long time ago I asked if you could do anything, ANYTHING on Shakespeare and I would be so grateful, and you DID... I am so happy. You guys are literally the best. I have weaved your videos into my Grade 12 AP and IB English classes since you guys do such a good job of explaining these concepts. Thank you so much for listening-, and you guys have done an excellent job as ALWAYS.-from an avid, avid fan.

This concept of Hamartia / the downfall of a character's personality traits is what gives character's and writing so much depth, and is missing in some blockbuster's today, even though I'm no expert in writing, I watch a lot of movies from all eras and believe when writing a good character they should have a good amount of depth and should contribute to the overall story in a small or big way, but the key to writing a good character is depth.