TRAGEDY IS A PRECIOUS WORD. WE USE IT TO CONFER DIGNITY AND VALUE ON VIOLENCE, CATASTROPHE, AGONY, AND BEREAVEMENT.

TRAGEDY CLAIMS THAT THIS DEATH IS EXCEPTIONAL. YET THESE SUPPOSEDLY SPECIAL FATALITIES ARE IN OUR EARS AND EYES EVERY DAY, ON THE ROADS, IN THE SKIES, OUT THERE IN FOREIGN LANDS AND RIGHT HERE AT HOME, THE LATEST BAD NEWS. IS THE WORD NOW BANDIED AROUND SO FREELY THAT IT HAS LOST ALL MEANING? DO
OUR CONCEPTIONS OF TRAGEDY HAVE ANY REAL CONNECTION WITH THOSE OF THE ANCIENT YEARS AGO AS THE DESCRIPTION OF A PARTICULAR KIND OF DRAMA?

GREEKS, WITH WHOM IT

ORIGINATED TWO AND HALF THOUSAND

HOW DID
TRAGEDY MIGRATE FROM THE

GREEKS TO SHAKESPEARE AND RACINE, FROM

DRAMA TO OTHER ART FORMS, FROM FICTION TO REAL EVENTS?

THOUGH

TRAGEDY FIRST EMERGED ATHENS AROUND 533 BC WITH THE ACTOR THESPIS FROM WHOM WE GET THESPIAN! ACTOR ". IT EN#OYED A LONG HIGH NOON THROUGH THE FOLLOWING CENTURY, FROM WHICH A HANDFUL OF MASTERPIECES HAVE SURVIVED IN THEIR ENTIRETY, SEVEN ATTRIBUTED TO AESCHYLUS, SEVEN TO SOPHOCLES AND $% TO EURIPIDES, THE GREAT TRIO OF PLAYWRIGHTS. SOPHOCLES ALONE IS SAID TO HAVE COMPOSED $3& ' AND ITS SOBERING TO REALI(E WHAT A SMALL FRACTION HAS COME DOWN TO US. THE HONOUR OF HAVING THEIR WORK PERFORMED AT THE FESTIVAL OF THE GREAT DIONYSIA WAS RESTRICTED TO THREE DRAMATISTS SELECTED TO COMPETE FOR THE PRI(E OF BEST TRAGIC POET. EACH HAD TO SUPPLY THREE TRAGEDIES AND A SATYR PLAY, A GROTES)UELY COMIC AFTER*PIECE FEATURING A CHORUS OF SATYRS HALF*MAN AND HALF*BEAST", OF WHICH ONLY ONE COMPLETE EXAMPLE, THE CYCLOPS OF EURIPIDES, HAS SURVIVED. THERE WERE OTHER COMPETITIONS FOR COMEDY AND DITHYRAMB A FORM OF CHORAL SONG". SPECIAL OCCASIONS, SPECIAL PEOPLE+ TRAGEDY PORTRAYED THE FATE OF FAMOUS MEN AND WOMEN ' LEGENDS SUCH AS OEDIPUS AND MEDEA ' IN ELEVATED STYLE AND LANGUAGE. THE WORD TRAGEDY SEEMS TO BE DERIVED FROM TWO GREEK WORDS, FOR GOAT AND SONG. NOBODY )UITE KNOWS WHY. WAS THE GOAT ONCE A PRI(E? LATER COMMENTATORS THOUGHT THE GOAT EXPRESSED A TRUTH ABOUT THE FALL OF GREAT MEN, WHO LOOK GOOD TO BEGIN WITH BUT END UP BADLY. #UST LIKE A GOAT, SAID FRANCESCO DA BUTI IN $3%5, WHO HAS A PRINCE*LIKE LOOK IN THE FRONT HORNS AND BEARD" BUT A REAR END THAT IS FILTHY AND NAKED, AND GIOVANNI DA SERRAVALLE A FEW YEARS LATER, GOING ONE BETTER+ FOR A GOAT HAS A BEAUTIFUL ASPECT, BUT WHEN IT PASSES IT GIVES OFF A MIGHTY STINK FROM ITS TAIL)UARTERS. ,WE PARTICIPATE IN TRAGEDY. AT COMEDY WE ONLY LOOK., **ALDOUS HUXLEY ,I-VE NEVER THOUGHT OF MY CHARACTERS AS BEING SAD. ON THE CONTRARY, THEY ARE THEY DIDN-T CHOOSE TRAGEDY. TRAGEDY CHOSE THEM., **#ULIETTE BINOCHE
INTO THE LIGHT IN

ITS ORIGINS ARE SHROUDED IN OBSCURITY,

FULL OF LIFE.

MANY

PEOPLE DO NOT SEE THE POINT TO TRAGEDY.

MUCH

OF

COMIC VISION OF ART, FINDING TRAGEDY DEPRESSING OR DISTURBING. CLASSICAL

GREEK WRITERS THOUGHT THAT FACING TRAGEDY WAS A HEALTHY AND NECESSARY ANTIDOTE TO HUMAN FOOLISHNESS. IT TAUGHT HUMANS TO KNOW THEMSELVES IN A WAY COMEDY COULD NOT. THE GREEK PHILOSOPHER PLATO, )UOTING SOCRATES, ADMONISHED HIS LISTENERS, ,KNOW THYSELF., PART OF THAT IS HOW WE MIGHT REACT IN TRAGIC SITUATION SIMILAR TO WHAT THE PROTAGONIST FACES. ,TRAGEDY
BRINGS PEOPLE OUT OF THEIR OWN PETTY DESIRES AND INTO AWARENESS OF OTHER HUMANSSUFFERING. OTHERS, IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN LOVE.

AMERICAN POP CULTURE TENDS TO EMBRACE THE HOWEVER, IN THE 5TH CENTURY B.C.E.,

THE

OUT

OF ALL HUMAN EVENTS, IT IS TRAGEDY ALONE THAT

TRAGEDY

OCCURS IN HUMAN LIVES SO THAT WE WILL LEARN TO REACH OUT AND COMFORT

**C. S. LEWIS

LIKEWISE,

ROMANTIC POETS AND LATER VICTORIAN VIEWERS VALUED TRAGEDY AS AN EMOTIONAL EXERCISE HELPING WATCHING PEOPLE SUFFER ON STAGE COULD HELP THE AUDIENCE SYMPATHI(E WITH ANOTHER-S PAIN. THE RISE OF THE SENTIMENTAL NOVEL IN THE LATE $.&&S AND EARLY $/&&S REVEALS A CULTURAL INTEREST IN THIS PROCESS, AND ROMANTIC POETS LIKE SHELLEY, BYRON, AND KEATS WENT INTO ECSTASIES OVER SHAKESPEARE. THEIR POETIC WORKS ARE PERHAPS A DISTANT COUSIN TO THE GREAT TRAGIC DRAMAS OF EARLIER YEARS.
THE VIEWERS LEARN COMPASSION.

,IF

OTHER SIDE OF THE EARTH, IT IS A STATISTIC.,

A SINGLE PERSON DIES IN FRONT OF YOU, IT IS A TRAGEDY. IF A MILLION PEOPLE DIE ON THE

**#OSEF STALIN SO WHAT

PLAYS IN WHICH EVERYBODY DIES., STORIES CONTAIN TRAGEDY PER SE. EXACTLY COUNTS AS A LITERARY TRAGEDY?

WHAT DOES NOT? COMEDIANS #OKINGLY REFER TO TRAGEDY BUT THE GENRE IS MORE COMPLEX THAN THAT. MANY PLAYS, MOVIES, AND DEATH, VIOLENCE, AND UNHAPPY ENDINGS. THOUGH DEPRESSING, THESE TRAITS DO NOT MAKE A ARISTOTLE+

AS ,THE

THE

CLASSICAL DEFINITION COMES FROM

,TRAGEDY

MAGNITUDE, IN LANGUAGE EMBELLISHED WITH EACH KIND OF ARTISTIC ORNAMENT, THE SEVERAL KINDS BEING FOUND IN SEPARATE PARTS OF THE PLAY PROPER PURGATION OF THESE EMOTIONS.,

IS THE IMITATION OF AN ACTION THAT IS SERIOUS, COMPLETE, AND OF A CERTAIN

. . . THROUGH

PITY AND FEAR EFFECTING THE

**ARISTOTLE, THE POETICS THE ,PURGATION," IMPLIES THAT

TRAGEDY PURGES, REMOVES, OR UNCLOGS

WORD CATHARSIS

TRANSLATED ABOVE AS

NEGATIVE EMOTIONS SUCH AS PITY AND FEAR THAT BUILD UP WITHIN THE HUMAN SPIRIT. MIGHT BE A SORT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL

THUS, WATCHING A TRAGEDY DRAINO. HOWEVER, THE WORD CATHARSIS CAN ALSO BE TRANSLATED AS ,PURIFICATION,, IMPLYING THAT SOMEHOW TRAGEDY PURIFIES PITY AND FEAR, TURNS THEM INTO SOMETHING HEALTHY OR GOOD. CATHARSIS CAN ALSO MEAN ,DISTILLATION,, THE SENSE THAT PURIFYING SOMETHING INVOLVES CONCENTRATING IT INTO A MORE POTENT FORM. SOMEHOW TRAGEDY TAKES ALL THESE NEGATIVE EMOTIONS PEOPLE FEEL AND INTENSIFIES THEM. DEPENDING UPON HOW YOU TRANSLATE THAT SINGLE WORD, THE PURPOSE AND DEFINITION OF TRAGEDY VARIES GREATLY. THE
FIRST COMPONENT OF TRAGEDY IS THE TRAGIC HERO. IN TRADITIONAL

SOMEBODY OF GREAT SOCIAL IMPORTANCE**A PRINCE OR RULER OR HERO FAR REMOVED FROM THE EVERYDAY HERO HAD TO BE SOMEONE BASICALLY LIKEABLE0 HE HAD TO HAVE TRAITS THAT THE AUDIENCE ADMIRED.

GREEK DRAMA, THE HERO MUST FOR

BE

#OE*ONTHE*STREET. THE TRAGIC

OFTEN, IT

IS THIS SAME ADMIRABLE TRAIT THAT CAUSES THE HERO-S DOWNFALL.

EXAMPLE, WE ADMIRE

MACBETH

MACBETH TO HOWEVER, THE SAME TRAIT CAUSES HIS ETHICAL AND POLITICAL SELF*DESTRUCTION WHEN HE PLOTS TO KILL HIS LIEGE LORD. IN THE SAME WAY, WE MAY ADMIRE THE PASSION IN ROMEO AND #ULIET-S YOUNG ROMANCE, BUT THAT SAME INABILITY TO LIVE APART RESULTS IN THEIR MESSY DOUBLE*SUICIDE. WE ADMIRE BRUTUS FOR HIS PATRIOTIC CONCERN FOR ROME, BUT IT IS THAT SAME LOVE OF COUNTRY THAT LEADS HIM INTO BETRAYING HIS BEST FRIEND. AT SOME POINT, THE HERO FALLS FROM GLORY. HIS OWN HUBRIS, HIS OWN DESIRE TO REACH BEYOND WHAT IS POSSIBLE, ENSURES SUCH A FALL.
GLORIOUS HEIGHTS IN THE MILITARY.

INITIALLY FOR HIS AMBITIOUS, GO*GET*-EM ATTITUDE.

HIS

UP*AND*AT*-EM PHILOSOPHY TAKES

TRAGEDY

PERSONAL CHOICE AND AGENCY. IF A TEENAGER IS SHOT AT RANDOM IN A DRIVE*BY SHOOTING, HIS DEATH DOES NOT COUNT AS A LITERARY TRAGEDY BECAUSE THE VICTIM DID NOTHING TO BRING SUCH MISFORTUNE UPON HIMSELF. HAD NO CHOICE IN THE MATTER.

ALSO INVOLVES A WEIRD MIXTURE OF PERSONAL CHOICE AND FATE.

TO BE

A TRAGEDY, THE HERO MUST HAVE

SUCH

HE

A DEATH CAN ONLY BE FASHIONED INTO TRAGEDY IF THE SUB#ECT MAKES SOME

KIND OF PERSONAL OR MORAL DECISION.

THE DECISION ALWAYS MADE OUT OF FREE WILL" THEN RESULTS IN A CHAIN OF UNSTOPPABLE AND UNFORESEEN NEGATIVE EVENTS. THAT SUDDEN SHIFT FROM UPWARD GLORY TO TRAGIC DECLINE IS CALLED THE PERIPETEA. AFTER THE PERIPETEA, THE HERO CONFRONTS SOCIAL FORCES SO HUGE AND IRRESISTIBLE THE TRAGEDY SEEMS LIKE THE HAND OF FATE.

ANOTHER

REALI(E HIS MISTAKE AND ITS HORRIBLE RESULTS. IF A CHARACTER NEVER UNDERSTANDS WHAT OCCURRED AND WHY, THE

IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF TRAGEDY IS ANAGNORISIS.

FOR

THE TRAGEDY TO MEET THE BILL, THE HERO MUST

RESULT MAY BE BRUTE SUFFERING, BUT THAT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE TRAGEDY IN THE LITERARY SENSE. TRAGIC HERO MUST FACE IS HIS OWN REALI(ATION OF PERSONAL CULPABILITY AND ERROR. ALWAYS COMES TOO LATE FOR HIM TO CHANGE THE COMING DISASTER.

PART OF THE PAIN HOWEVER, THAT NEW INSIGHT

MACBETH REALI(ES HIS APPROACHING DOWNFALL, HE HAS BECOME A HOLLOW SHELL OF HUMANITY, DEVOID OF FORMER ETHICS, AND HE CANNOT WASH THE BLOOD FROM HIS HANDS. BY THE TIME BRUTUS REALI(ES THE ULTIMATE RESULTS OF CAESAR-S ASSASSINATION, #ULIUS- ADOPTED HEIR HAS ALREADY CLAIMED THE IMPERIAL SCEPTER AND ROUSED THE MOB AGAINST THE ASSASSINS. ANAGNORISIS REFERS TO THE MOMENT OF TRAGIC RECOGNITION, IN WHICH THE TRUTH, ESPECIALLY A UNIVERSAL OR TRANSCENDENT TRUTH*WITH*A*CAPITAL*T, REVEALS ITSELF TO THE HERO.
THE TIME

BY

,WHAT

MAKES A TRAGEDY SO TRAGIC IS NOT THAT THE NOBLE INDIVIDUAL FALLS INTO RUIN, BUT THAT

HIS FALL CAUSES SO MUCH SUFFERING IN OTHERS.,

**CHARME(EL DUDT. FINALLY,

NOT ONLY DOES HE SUFFER, HIS CHOICE INFLICTS MISERY THE ERROR MAY BE KING LEAR-S, BUT CORDELIA IS THE ONE HANGED. ROMEO AND #ULIET MADE THE CHOICE, BUT TIBALT AND MERCUTIO ALSO DIE. TRAGEDY IS WHEN A NOBLE INDIVIDUAL-S POOR CHOICE DESTROYS THAT ADMIRABLE INDIVIDUAL AND ALSO CAUSES SUFFERING, PAIN, AND DEATH TO OTHERS HE HOLDS DEAR. THE INTEREST LIES IN HOW THE HERO REACTS TO THIS KNOWLEDGE. HOW DOES HE RESPOND TO THE NO*WIN SITUATION RESULTING FROM HIS EARLIER CHOICES? MACBETH RESPONDS WITH NEARLY PSYCHOTIC FATALISM. OTHELLO WITH GRIEVING TEARS. HAMLET WITH LONG OVERDUE ACTION.
UPON OTHER INNOCENT PEOPLE, AND HE KNOWS IT.

TRAGEDY SPIRALS OUT BEHIND THE HERO HIMSELF.

FROM POETICS _ ARISTOTLE There are six parts consequently of every tragedy, as a whole, that is, of such or such quality, viz. a Fable or Plot, Characters, Diction, Thought, pectacle and !elody" two of the# arising fro# the #eans, one fro# the #anner, and three fro# the ob$ects of the dra#atic i#itation" and there is nothing else besides these six. %f these, its for#ative ele#ents, then, not a few of the dra#atists have #ade due use, as every play, one #ay say, ad#its of pectacle, Character, Fable, Diction, !elody, and Thought. Tragedy is an i#itation not of persons but of action and life, of happiness and #isery. &e #aintain, therefore, that the first essential, the life and soul, so to spea', of Tragedy is the Plot" and that the Characters co#e second((co#pare the parallel in painting, where the #ost beautiful colours laid on without order will not give one the sa#e pleasure as a si#ple blac'(and(white s'etch of a portrait. &e #aintain that Tragedy is pri#arily an i#itation of action, and that it is #ainly for the sa'e of the action that it i#itates the personal agents. Third co#es the ele#ent of Thought, i.e. the power of saying whatever can be said, or what is appropriate to the occasion. This is what, in the speeches in Tragedy, falls under the arts of Politics and )hetoric" for the older poets #a'e their personages discourse li'e states#en, and the #oderns li'e rhetoricians. Fourth a#ong the literary ele#ents is the Diction of the personages, i.e. as before explained, the expression of their thoughts in words, which is practically the sa#e thing with verse as with prose. *s for the two re#aining parts, the !elody is the greatest of the pleasurable accessories of Tragedy. The pectacle, though an attraction, is the least artistic of all the parts, and has least to do with the art of poetry. Tragedy, however, is an i#itation not only of a co#plete action, but also of incidents arousing pity and fear. &e assu#e that, for the finest for# of Tragedy, the Plot #ust be not si#ple but co#plex" and further, that it #ust i#itate actions arousing pity and fear, since that is the distinctive function of this 'ind of i#itation. +t follows, therefore, that there are three for#s of Plot to be avoided. ,-. * good #an #ust not be seen passing fro# happiness to #isery, or ,/. a bad #an fro# #isery to happiness. The perfect Plot, accordingly, #ust have a single, and not ,as so#e tell us. a double issue" the change in the hero0s fortunes #ust be not fro# #isery to happiness, but on the contrary fro# happiness to #isery" and the cause of it #ust lie not in any depravity, but in so#e great error on his part. +n the Characters there are four points to ai# at. First and fore#ost, that they shall be good. *s Tragedy is an i#itation of personages better than the ordinary #an, we in our way should follow the exa#ple of good portrait(painters, who reproduce the distinctive features of a #an, and at the sa#e ti#e, without losing the li'eness, #a'e hi# handso#er than he is. The poet in li'e #anner, in portraying #en quic' or slow to anger, or with si#ilar infir#ities of character, #ust 'now how to represent the# as such, and at the sa#e ti#e as good #en, as *gathon and 1o#er have represented *chilles.