The tragic flaw results in the hero"s ultimate downfall in which death or utter emotional destruction of the character takes place (Barnet 111-113). These things in combination with the general decency of the tragic hero, are very important to the plot of an Aristotelian tragedy. .

             In relation to the plot of each tragedy, the initial goodness of the protagonist is essential. For Aristotle, the tragedy is fundamentally a "play in which great moral issues are involved-matters of the greatest possible importance to human life: and these cannot be plain except in characters who are basically and mainly good" (House 85). In order for the audience to feel pity for the protagonist, he must be essentially 'good" , for if the hero is simply an evil person, it makes the audience dislike the character. As it is stated by Humphry House, "[a]n evil man has already a.habit of evil; and if this kind of action altogether controls the play, it is either.merely horrible or a comedy" (86). However the hero cannot be completely 'virtuous" because "the entirely good man passing from happiness to misery is not fear inspiring or piteous, but simply odious to us" (85). In Aristotle"s description of the tragic hero, "[he] was not to be pre-eminently virtuous and just."because he meant for the protagonist to be less than that (House 86). After establishing the goodness of the main character, one must be sure that he is also an 'appropriate" character.

             There are many interpretations of the word 'appropriate" in Aristotle"s definition of a tragic hero. He chooses to state that the character must be appropriate without elaborating enough on what he means. The general consensus is that the character should be suitably 'better" than normal people (Else 481). "tragedy makes it"s personages better than the. men in the street" (92). In other words, the hero should not be a common person.