IB English HL Year II

Part III: Genre Studies (Drama)

V. Quinn and A. Heusterberg-Richards
Aristotelian elements of drama

DIRECTIONS: Track the Aristotelian elements of tragedy as they appear (or do not) in our dramas. Be specific to moments/lines in the dramas.
Hamlet Rosencrantz and The Birthday Party Doctor Faustus
(Shakespeare) Guildenstern Are Dead (Pinter) (Marlowe)
(Stoppard)

The tragic hero Laertes Guildenstern Petey Dr. Faustus

How defined a tragic *Was a noble Able as a fighter *Petey is good as he tries to *He rose from a normal
hero *Wanted revenge for the Likable take care of Stanley as he is family and became
* "must be good" murder of his father Able to control the situation being taken away by brilliant.
* "[must] aim at Goldberg and McCann *He aims at conquering
proprietary" *He runs a boarding house the dark arts and makes a
* "[must be] true to life" which ended up on the list deal with the devil.
*He has an achievable
lifestyle, and is generally
mundane

The hamartia of said Flaw~ His desire for Refusal to change.
tragic hero (flaw) revenge He is set in his ways, always
picking tails, his view on
death, his belief that the
outcome next time will be
the same.
His absence and distance Pride, and Greed (could
are his flaw- even be Gluttony)
He is not there for Meg and
for Stanley especially for
things that mean a lot to
them.

The peripeteia (ironic Trying to get revenge just
situation) as Hamlet is. They are both
pawns of the King Claudius.
Seeing their deaths and
ridiculing the Players play
thinking that death cant be
that dramatic and they are
worth being killed.
He is there when Stanley is
taken away. He misses all of
the chaos of the birthday
party but he shows up after
they have broken him.
Faustus is given many
opportunities to repent
but he does not believe in
a heaven or hell but when
his deal is almost up he
realizes he should have
asked for forgiveness, and
then gets sent to hell.
The catastrophe When Ophelia dies and His fall is when he kills the
(fall/reversal of fortune) Hamlet kills Polonius and player he is doomed to be a
he and the King work character in a play, where
together to kill Hamlet. death is implied (the title),
but no one actually dies.
The anagnorisis Laertes: He is justly Guildenstern recognizes that
(recognition/acceptance) served./ It is a poison he is doomed to an
tempered by himself./ unsatisfactory ending, but
Exchange forgiveness with does not reach acceptance of
me, noble Hamlet./ Mine his demise which is shown
and my fathers death come when he says, Well, well
not upon thee,/ Nor thine know better next time. (4.
on me. (Dies) (V.ii.359) 126). He thinks it will be
different next time but the
play will always be the same.
It is like him picking tails
even though it has been
heads every time.
The audiences catharsis The King, the King is to When Guildenstern realizes
(purge of fear/pity) blame(V.ii.351) hes alone and forgets which
character he is for a second.
When Stanley does not fight His catastrophe is when
back and gets taken away. he chooses not to repent
time and time again and
his contract runs out and
he gets sent to hell.
After Stanley is gone Petey I feel that he does not
sits at the table and opens really accept that he was
the newspaper as he flawed, rather he only
realizes he cannot do tried to repent for selfish
anything to reverse reasons and even as he
Stanleys fortune. was getting dragged to
hell he cursed God and
asked for Mephistopheles.
When Petey resigns himself I feel that the catharsis is
to Stanleys fate and sits hard to achieve here
down, and when he tells Faustus fate is sealed and
Meg to let Stanley sleep. he has presumably been
taken to hell. The silence
after his begging creating
a tense atmosphere, and
throughout the play his
character became worse
and he did not redeem
himself.