Shakespearean Tragedy
Structure and Conflict
What is Tragedy?
What is Tragedy?
 What’s the difference between a Tragedy
and a Sad Story?
Origins of Tragedy
 The Greek
philosopher
Aristotle first
defined tragedy in
his book Poetics
written in about
330 BCE.
Tragedy is when bad stuff
happens to good people –
who kind of deserve it.
Elements of Tragedy
 A Tragic Hero
 Hamartia
 Peripeteia
 Anagnorisis
 Catharsis
 Restoration of Social
Order
The Tragic Hero
 The tragic hero is
someone we, as an
audience, look up to—
someone superior.
 The tragic hero is
nearly perfect, and we
identify with him/her
Hamartia
 Although he is nearly
perfect, the hero has
one flaw or weakness
 We call this the “tragic
flaw,” “fatal flaw,” or
hamartia.
 The most common form
of hamartia is hubris,
or excessive pride.
Peripeteia
 Also called Reversal of
Fortune
 The “fatal flaw” brings the
hero down from his/her
elevated state.
 Renaissance audiences
were familiar with the
“wheel of fortune” or “fickle
fate.”
 What goes up, must come
down.
Anagnorisis
 Anagnorisis is the moment when a character makes
a critical discovery. Anagnorisis originally meant
recognition in its Greek context, not only of a person
but also of what that person stood for. It was the
hero's sudden awareness or realization of things as
they stood, and finally, the hero's insight into a
relationship with an often antagonistic character in
Aristotelian tragedy.
Catharsis
 “Catharsis” is the
audience’s purging of
emotions through pity
and fear.
 The spectator is purged
as a result of watching
the hero fall.
 Vicarious lesson
 A story that evokes these emotions in the audience
has successfully taught a vicarious lesson.
Restoration of Social Order
(Dénouement)
 Tragedies include a private and
a public element
 The play cannot end until
society is, once again, at peace.
Structure of Tragedy
William Shakespeare wrote many tragedies in
his prolific career. In each, he adhered to a rigid
structure that has proven to be successful in
capturing an audience’s attention.
This structure has been used as a formula for
hundreds (thousands?) of plays and movies
over the past four centuries.
The Structure of Tragedy
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Exposition
Exciting Force
Rising Action
Climax
Falling Action
Catastrophe
Exposition
 The exposition
describes the mood
and conditions existing
at the beginning of the play. The time and
place will be identified as well as the main
characters and their positions, circumstances,
and relationships to one another.
Exciting Force
 Also sometimes
called the complication
or initial incident, the
exciting force is what “gets things going.” The
exciting force thus begins the conflict which
will continue throughout the play.
Rising Action
 The series of events leading
to the climax comprise the
rising action. These events
provide a progressive intensity of interest for
the audience. The rising action will involve
more than one act.
Climax
 The climax represents
the turning point of the
play. From this point on,
the Shakespearean hero moves to his
inevitable (often grisly) end.
Falling Action
 The falling action includes
those events occurring from the time of the
climax up to the hero’s death. The episodes
will show both advances and declines in the
various forces acting upon the hero.
The Catastrophe
 The catastrophe
concerns the
necessary
consequences of the hero’s actions (death).
The catastrophe will be characteristically
simple and brief.
Tragedy Structure
 Act I: Exposition, Exciting Force, Rising
Action
 Act II: Rising Action
 Act III: Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action
 Act IV: Falling Action
 Act V: Falling Action, Catastrophe
A. Exposition
B. Exciting Force
C. Rising Action
D. Climax
E. Falling Action
F. Catastrophe B
A
D
C
E
F
Conflict
Conflict is the dramatic struggle
between two forces in a story.
Without conflict, there is no plot.
Types of Conflict
There are two categories:
Internal Conflict
Man vs. Self
External Conflict
Man vs. Man
Man vs. Society
Man vs. Nature
Internal Conflict: Man vs. Self
In this type of conflict, the main character is torn
between two or more ideas/courses of action.
“Should I stay or should I go?
If I go there will be trouble,
But if I stay it will be double.”
-- The Clash
External Conflict: Man vs. Man
This type of conflict finds the main character in
conflict with another character. The conflict can be
physical, psychological, or even philosophical.
External Conflict: Man vs. Society
This type of conflict has the main character in conflict
with a larger group: a community, society, culture, etc.
External Conflict: Man vs. Nature
This type of conflict finds the main character in conflict
with the forces of nature, which serve as the antagonist.
The End
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