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Domestic: refers to drama set in a household. It does not have
a
Modern: most often refers to plays written in the late 19
th
or
20
th
C.
Epic: refers to a play that has a grand or amitious
theme.
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Classical/Epic tragedy
Classical Gree! dramatists " later# $ha!espeare:
audience witnesses terrile chaos and rea!down in a
society
Modern/Domestic tragedy
%st. 19
th
C Isen and $tringerg: &rea!down of a family#
showing the corruption and chaos that lur!s eneath the
surface of apparent domestic order
'ragedies offer a lea! vision of the life since they
concentrate on failure# conflict and disaster. In
most dramas of this type# ( aspects are
emphasised: suffering# chaos and death.
Suffering is what the
characters must endure in a
tragedy. 'he audience sees
how the suffering is created
and how the central
characters deal with it.
Chaos / disorder can e
oth personal and social e.g.
central character rea!s
down ) society disintegrates )
oth collapse. Chaos
usually leads to death.
*t the end of the drama the
cast and the audience are
left staring at the reality of
death and its conse+uences.
Tragic Victim
,ery often the characters whom the audience are most sympathetic to in
a tragedy are the victims.
Climax and Resolution
*fter the clima- in many tragedies# comes the moment where the tragic hero
undergoes a process of revie and self!evaluation# when they finally
understand hat their fault has "een #anagnorisis$# and how they might have
prevented the tragedy from happening. 'his stage is followed y the eventual
resolution# which signals the dawn of a new period of time in the imagined world
of the play# where hopefully the same mista!es will not e made.
%ristotle&s tragedy
'ragedy should e-cite the emotions of .pity and fear/0 its action should
present a reversal of fortune involving persons .who are held in great
esteem/. 12ity for characters0 fear that it could happen to us3
'he three unities:
*ction is se+uential
*ction in one day
*ction in one place
4 the catharsis that the audience should feel is very concentrated
Catharsis
*ristotle said that tragedy should purge or sweep away the pity and fear
rought aout y the tragic action eing performed. It is an emotional
release that purifies the mind and ody. It should also teach the audience
how to ehave.
5ne of the things the audience should feel when watching a tragedy is that
somehow the world is a worse place when the tragic hero is not longer part
of it.
6espite the violence and sense of waste# we are uplifted y an ine-plicale
feeling that what happened was right and necessary.
German dramatist# &recht# argued against catharsis# suggesting that
tragedies should ma!e people thin! aout how est to alter and change the
world. 7e considered the concept of .purification/ to e outdated.
8aterialist critics such as Raymond 9illiams reads *ristotle/s .pity/ and
.fear/ to e the condition in which we live now# in a world of suffering and
Catharsis: purification of the mind and ody rought aout y the release of emotions. 'amartia: error committed y a tragic hero or heroine that leads to their downfall. 'u"ris: e-cessive pride or self:confidence
which leads a
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Tragic 'ero
*ristotle stated that in order for the tragic hero to arouse feelings of .pity and
fear/# he or she cannot e either all good or ad# ut importantly must e
someone whom the audience can identify with.
*ristotle elieved that if the tragic hero were superior in some specific way
1e.g. !ing# leader# super:intelligent3# then the tragedy and the pity and fear
would e intensified for the audience watching I.e. the tragedy is more intense
ecause the hero has further to fall.
'he disastrous results are rought aout y the tragic hero/s mista!e
1hamartia3 which is ased on a tragic flaw 1huris3 in that character.
7uris: a !ind of e-cessive pride that causes the hero to ignore divine or
important warnings# or to rea! moral codes
It is when the tragic hero/s suffering is greater than the actual offence that the
audience feels pity.
20
th
C interpretations
*.C.&radley 1190;3 proposed the idea of the tragic flaw in the psychological
ma!e:up of the protagonist < not to e confused with *ristotle/s notion of
hamartia# which is a matter of action# not character.
*ccording to this view# the protagonist is nole 1not necessarily .good/3 ut
possesses a flaw which means their downfall is inevitale.
20
th
C and eyond
'ragedy of the common man ut must e someone who is prepared to devote
themselves to some idea or notion: political elief# economic elief# need for
personal integrity
5R protagonist can e fundamentally good# ut doomed in attempting to e
virtuous in a world where selfishness is what society values.
$uch plays encourage the audience to admire the man or woman who ta!es
to e-treme the right to assert an individual elief in the face of an
uncomprehending or unsympathetic society.
20
th
C protagonist is devoted to the fulfillment of his or her own personal
ideal)eliefs and the cost of that fulfillment upon themselves and society is
often at the heart of the tragedy.
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)rder and Disorder
'he shift from order to disorder# and finally ac! to order
again# is a structural feature of most tragedies.
'he type of tragic hero who is oth hero and villain
emraces disorder y their actions# which are usually
motivated y greed# =ealousy# lust or amition.
Goodness turns to evil0 awareness of self turns to self:
conceit0 peaceful actions turn to violent action0 orthodo-
ehaviour turns to unorthodo- ehaviour.
2art of the reason for writing tragedies# therefore# is to
offer the audience a sense of what value systems are
important to us as human eings# and which systems we
should try to prevent from ta!ing a hold.
$eemingly less amitious# focuses on the family# undermines our
confidence in any order# shows that domesticity can e corrupt and
diseased# rational social order is no longer maintained# focuses on
the anti:hero.
*mitious# stresses the noility of the tragic hero# raises
fundamental +uestions aout life# shows the full horror of
life# conventional social onds are ro!en# focuses on the
hero
$imilarities:
$ome act ta!es place that disrupts society0
the social concord is ro!en and more
violent elements ta!e over0 with order gone#
the worst face of humanity is e-posed. 'he
hero or anti:hero has to confront these
issues0 one of more of the characters move
towards death.
Issues such as materialism# consumerism# procrastination
and alienation.
>ocus on anti:heroes# who do not +uite fit the society in which
they are involved.
Characters face some !ind of predicament
$ome element of the past impinges tragically on the present
Tragic Villain
*n antagonist < who has a negative effect on other characters.
In fiction# villains commonly function in the dual role of adversary and foil to
the story?s heroes. In the role as adversary# the villain serves as an ostacle
the hero must struggle to overcome. In the role as foil# the villain e-emplifies
characteristics that are diametrically opposed to those of the hero# creating a
contrast distinguishing heroic traits from villainous ones