In the classic Greek view, who is the principal tragic figure in Atonement?

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The prompt asks: 'In the classic Greek view, who is the principal tragic figure in Atonement?' Let's unpack the elements involved.

First, recall what a principal tragic figure means in the Greek tragedy framework: a central character (the tragic hero) who possesses a hamartia or fatal flaw, faces a reversal of fortune (peripeteia), and undergoes a moment of recognition or anagnorisis, leading to suffering or downfall.

Second, consider the novel Atonement and its narrator/center of action. In Ian McEwan's novel, Briony Tallis is the central character whose childhood accusation profoundly alters the lives of others and sets the tragic arc in motion. From a narrative standpoint, Briony is the focal lens through which the audience experiences the events and their consequences, and her actions—whether seen as misinterpretation, naivety, or a misused authority—constitute a form of hamartia that drives the tragedy for multiple characters (Robbie, Cecilia, and Briony herself).

Now, evaluating the options (even though no explicit choices are provided here), one would typically compare potential candidates against the Greek-tragedy model:
- If the option is Briony: As the protagonist whose flawed judgment initiates the catastrophe, she aligns with the idea of a central figure whose flaw leads to suffering and a costly reckoning, fitting the broad strokes of a classical tragic figure within a modern novel's framework.
- If the option were Robbie: He is a central victim and catalyst within the events, but in the Greek sense, the primary tragic figure is traditionally the one whose own flaw or misstep precipitates the downfall, rather than a victim who endures consequences; thus Robbie would be less aligned with the classical tragic hero shape.
- If the option were Cecilia or another character: They each experience tragedy, but the classic Aristotelian emphasis on a single tragic flaw in the protagonist and a reversal largely driven by that flaw would steer the reading toward Briony as the principal figure around whom the tragic structure centers.

In sum, from a Greek-tragedy-inflected reading, the principal tragic figure in Atonement would most plausibly be Briony, given her role as the originator of the central catastrophe through a flawed judgment and the subsequent emotional and moral consequences that unfold for herself and others. However, without the explicit list of answer options to contrast against, this reasoning centers on how the Greek tragic framework would map onto the novel’s characters and narrative architecture.

Note: The absence of explicit answer choices in the provided data means we’re interpreting the question through standard literary analysis rather than selecting from given alternatives. If options were present, each would be weighed against the Aristotelian criteria—flawed protagonist, peripeteia, anagnorisis, and catharsis—to determine which character best satisfies the role of the principal tragic figure.

MUSIC 4, Section 004: Film Music (22511--UP---RAMUSIC---4---------004-) Lesson 13 Quiz

In the classic Greek view, who is the principal tragic figure in Atonement?

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