(855) 4-ESSAYS

Type a new keyword(s) and press Enter to search

Tragedy

             Tragedy.
             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 power and stature. This makes their fall all the more startling and vivid. The protagonist suffers terribly and the conclusion is catastrophic. The suffering the protagonist undergoes is redemptive in bringing out the capacity for accepting moral responsibility. These are simply the guidelines of a tragedy that Aristotle set forth for this kind of drama and they primarily make up the theory of what a tragedy should be.
             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.


Essays Related to Tragedy

1. The Death of Tragedy:

... to appreciate Lear fully without historical knowledge of the original King Lear and its meaning to a Shakespearean audience. Reading Lear as a modern tragedy therefore becomes problematic, as we must watch it with reference to a Hellenic tradition. However if assessed in terms of strict Greek or Shakespearean ... at the centre of the universe subject to forces, which he cannot control. Lear is therefore homage to the tragic tradition not a modern tragedy. A modern tragedy would have to incorporate a shift in ideology from man as a victim of unnecessary suffering to man as the creator of ...

  • Word Count: 2342
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Aristotle, Chaucer and Hegel - On Tragedy

... of pity and fear. Aristotle was a great admirer of Sophocles'  'King Oedipus'. He considered it as the perfect tragedy. Plot is the most important feature of tragedy. Aristotle defines plot as "the arrangement of the incidents." Tragedies which have a tightly constructed cause-and-effect chain of actions ... Peripeteia leads directly to the anagnorisis. This creates the catastrophe, leading to the final "scene of suffering".   Characters in a tragedy are also very important. In a perfect tragedy, character supports plot. The protagonist should be renowned, so his 'change ...

  • Word Count: 559
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Violence in Classic Tragedy "

... and fear effecting proper purgation of these emotions. " (Aristotle Chap.VI) Aristotle goes on to examine what he thought were the most important elements in a tragedy, "it is not the function of the poet to relate what has happened, but what may happen, what is possible according to the law of probability ... whole journey. By not seeing certain things in the play but hearing about them it allows the audience to take into consideration the real tragedy which is Oedipus self-discovering his crimes. This particular passage takes us through all the crimes and mistakes that Oedipus has com...

  • Word Count: 1654
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

4. Willy Loman is too nave to be to be the hero of a tragedy

... me." Often the plays status as such is hinged on the appropriateness of its tragic protagonist, which is what I shall discuss here. The term "tragedy" normally refers to a form of drama in which a central character, the tragic protagonist or hero, suffers some serious misfortune that is not accidental but ... whose misfortunes are a result of a combination of controllable and uncontrollable actions, but is generally undeserved with regard to its harshness. An example of a tragedy would be Shakespeare's Hamlet, in which Hamlet is a great prince, passionate yet indecisive, and it is his ina...

  • Word Count: 1965
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Grade Level: High School

5. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet

... warnings and work out a way in which everyone is happy and alive. Romeo is also naive in many ways which also contributes to the occurrence of the tragedy. Romeo has no experience with how to solve a problem. This is shown when he takes his life for Juliet rather than face problems he says, " ... a kiss I die [Dies]." (V.iii.119-120). This shows how naive he is as his first solution to solve problems is suicide. This also causes tragedy as Romeo does suicide to be with Juliet and Juliet follows his footsteps. There could have been other ways to solve their problem but Romeo is naive ...

  • Word Count: 978
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Aristotle And Tragedy

... the challenge with deeds of extreme cruelty, others demonstrate their ability to overcome adversity and thus showing the tough and determined nature of the human spirit. Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, whole in itself [meaning that it has a beginning, middle, and end], and ... reversal, produces either pity or fear (or in some cases, both); and actions which produce these effects are those by which, by Aristotle's definition, tragedy represents. Recognition, then, if it is between persons, may be that only one person recognizes a truth concerning the hero's id...

  • Word Count: 1068
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

7. Modern Tragedy vs. Classic Tragedy

... , through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions. According to Aristotle, the diction must be elevated and the central character of a tragedy must not be so virtuous that instead of feeling pity or fear at his downfall, we are simply outraged. Also, the character cannot be so ... never be tragic in the dramatic sense because they do not occur as a result of an individual man's grandeur and virtue. Shakespeare all but reinvented tragedy and his play Macbeth is one of his finest. Macbeth embodies all the necessary traits for the essential tragic hero: he is a great...

  • Word Count: 733
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Tragedy in a doll

... dominant society. Othello being of high character is a tragic hero that rises to great heights and then fall to equally great depths. This is a Classic tragedy according to Aristotle poetics. Othello puts all his trust in Iago, during times of war and during Othello's marriage to Desdemona. This wasn't very bright ... ignorance in believing Iago and his jealousy led to his downfall, then his death of his tragic character. The story "A Doll's House" is a modern tragedy because it the protagonist Nora is not of royalty or of high rank, but just your normal everyday person. Nora is a tragic ...

  • Word Count: 734
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

9. The Tragedy of Inequality

... each other honestly and openly; subsequently, Ibsen demonstrates the importance of discovering who we are underneath the masks we wear. Aside from Krook's elements, further indication that A Doll House is a tragedy is the occurrence of a tragic hero along with elements of anagnorisis (recognition) and harmantia (tragic flaw). Tragic heroes are typically defined, in Aristotelian terms as, "grand, noble characters [. . ... about the rights of women [. . .] then about the need for individuals of both sexes to treat each other with mutual respect- (1053). In The Six Elements of Tragedy, Aris...

  • Word Count: 1553
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

Got a writing question? Ask our professional writer!
Submit My Question