We see and hear about tragedy every day and we read about it in stories and plays. Tragedy comes in many different shapes and forms, but generally follows the basic format of Aristotle’s Poetics of the 4th century B.C. Throughout time tragedy had elements that are essential, regardless of the time or place. A frequent term used in tragedy is tragic flaw. It is often a trait that is mainly responsible for the protagonist’s downfall. We’ve witnessed a modern tragedy and read about classic Greek tragedies, and Shakespearean tragedies, and all the protagonists in tragedies have a tragic flaw that creates a predicament for the protagonist.

Dramatists have many different styles, but many are drawn to the concepts of tragedy that Aristotle’s Poetics laid out. Certain elements are essential to this form of drama in any time and any place. In the literary sense, according to Aristotle, a “tragedy presents courageous individuals who confront powerful forces within or outside themselves with dignity that reveals the breadth and depth of the human spirit in the face of failure, defeat, and even death” (Meyer 985). The protagonists must be outstanding and complex human beings who have p

Hamlet is another example of a tragic protagonist whose tragic flaw caused his downfall. He is a prince, whose uncle kills his father and marries his mother. All of the people surrounding Hamlet feel that he isn’t mentally stable and going insane. Everything going on around him and all of his dilemmas bring out his tragic flaw and bring about chaos.

Tragedy today, in the 21st century, follows the same form as Aristotle’s Poetics, but has been interpreted for our time period. The United States started the 21st century with a grim beginning. The devastating tragedy of September 11th left all of us wondering why this happened.

September 11th was a tragedy, because of the lamentable events that took place. The destruction of the Twin Towers and all of the innocent people who died is enough to label this a tragedy. A structure that represented America’s power, freedom, wealth, and virtue, was destroyed and brought down to rubble and ash, leaving the whole world in shock. Today this disaster is what we consider tragedy and this follows Aristotle’s definition, because the Twin Towers represented power and stature, and were considered extraordinary structures, and they fell to a terrifying and agonizing ruin, killing so many people. This tragedy isn’t one in the literary sense, but does have a parallel connection to a literary tragedy.

Many tragedies now and then have a lot in common, because tragedy has been modified, it follows the same format and is just interpreted differently by people for their time periods. People aren’t perfect, the world isn’t perfect, protagonists in these stories aren’t perfect, but we have them to relate to. The protagonists in tragedies are set up to show how these characters are vulnerable, jus

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