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Question

Difficulty: EasyDramatic Elements and Structure

Read the dramatic extract below:

KING EZE: (Pacing the throne room after learning of his army's unexpected defeat)
"My pride has been my undoing! I ignored the council's wisdom and trusted solely in my own grand illusion of invincibility. It is not the gods who brought this ruin, but my own arrogance."

In the excerpt above, King Eze's self-acknowledgment primarily highlights which dramatic element?

  1. Tragic flaw (Hamartia)Answer
  2. B
    Dramatic irony
  3. C
    An aside
  4. D
    Comic relief

Answer

The dramatic element highlighted in the excerpt is the tragic flaw (Hamartia), specifically hubris (excessive pride).
The correct answer is tragic flaw because King Eze directly attributes his downfall to his internal personality defect—excessive pride and arrogance—which is the classic definition of hamartia in drama.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the character's speech in the excerpt
King Eze admits that his own pride, arrogance, and refusal to heed wisdom led to his army's defeat.
Identifying internal character traits versus external events determines the specific dramatic device at play.
2
Match the character's admission to dramatic terminology
An internal defect or error in judgment within a protagonist that leads to their demise is known in tragic drama as hamartia or a tragic flaw.
Connecting literary definition with textual evidence confirms the correct dramatic element.

Key Concept

Tragic Flaw (Hamartia)
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Topics

Dramatic Elements and Structure

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