hamartia
/həˈmɑːtɪə
/noun
A fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine: there’s supposed to be an action that reveals the protagonist’s hamartia...
- The critic Frank Kermode corrected our mistranslation of Aristotle's word hamartia (tragic flaw), suggesting that a more accurate and useful interpretation would be missing the mark.
- Aristotle's idea that a tragic hero acts from a hamartia or mistake rather than evil intent was distorted into a theory of the so-called tragic flaw and was applied to describe foibles of Hamlet and Othello (jealousy).
- The terms hamartia and hubris should become basic tools of your critical apparatus.
Origin
Late 18th century: Greek, 'fault, failure, guilt'; the term was used in Aristotle's Poetics with reference to ancient Greek tragedy.