Theories Of TRAGEDY
All views of tragedy and comedy have been challenged, and no classification system
unequivocally provides for all examples. It is also quite unnecessary for readers to classify every play.
The most important questions to ask about a play are not “Is this a tragedy?” or “Is this a comedy?” but
“Does this play furnish an enjoyable, valid, and significant experience?” The quality of experience
furnished by a play, however, may be partially dependent on our perception of its relationship to earlier
literary forms, and therefore familiarity with traditional notions of tragedy and comedy is important for
our understanding and appreciation of works. Many of the conventions used in specific works have been
determined by the kind of (play or novel) the author felt himself to be writing. Other works have been
written in deliberate defiance of these conventions in order to emphasize a contrast, satire, or theme.
The popular distinctions between comedy and tragedy are fairly simple: comedy is funny;
tragedy is sad. Comedy has a happy ending, tragedy an unhappy one. The typical ending for a comedy is
marriage; the typical ending for tragedy is death. There is some truth in these notions, but only some.
Some plays called comedies make no attempt to be funny. Successful tragedies, though they involve
suffering and sadness, do not leave the spectator depressed. Some funny plays have sad endings: they
send the viewer away with a lump in the throat. A few plays usually classified as tragedies do not have
unhappy endings but conclude with the protagonist’s triumph. In short, the popular distinctions are not
reliable. Though we need not entirely abandon them, we must take a more complex view.
The most essential difference between tragedy and comedy, particularly scornful or satiric
comedy, is in their depiction of human nature. Where tragedy emphasizes human greatness, comedy
delineates human weakness. Where tragedy celebrates human freedom, comedy points up human
limitation. Comedy exhibits human absurdity and folly. Tragedy challenges us with a vision of human
possibility. Comedy reveals a spectacle of human ridiculousness. The protagonists of comedy are not the
commanding figures that tragic heroes are. They do not strike us with awe as the tragic hero does. They
do not so challengingly test the limits of human possibility.
The norms of comedy are primarily social. Where tragedy tends to isolate the tragic hero and
emphasize his uniqueness, comedy puts its protagonists always in the midst of a group and emphasizes
their commonness. Where the tragic hero possesses an overpowering individuality, so that his play is
often named after him, the comic protagonist tends to be a type, and his play is named for his type.
Readers tend to judge the tragic hero by absolute moral standards, by how far he soars above society and
the comic protagonist by social standards, by how well he adjusts to society and conforms to the group
expectations.
Comic plots are less likely than tragic plots to exhibit the high degree of organic unity -- of
logical cause-and-effect progression -- that Aristotle required of tragedy. Plausibility, in fact, is not
usually the central characteristic of comic plot. Unlikely coincidences, improbable disguises, mistaken
identities -- these are the stuff of which comedy is made. Conventionally, comedies have a happy ending,
but the emphasis here is on conventionally. The happy ending is, indeed, a convention of comedy, not
necessarily because a happy ending is plausible. The accidental discovery of a will, rescue by an act of
divine intervention (deus ex machina), the sudden reform of a mean-spirited person -- such devices have
been used by the greatest comic writers.
Laurence Perrine
Literature:
Structure, Sound, and Sense
Southern Methodist University
Tragedy reveals human potential and possibility, the nobility of the human spirit.
Comedy mocks human limitation and absurdity.
Theories Of TRAGEDY
A tragedy is the imitation in dramatic form of an action that is serious and complete, with
A tragedy is the imitation in dramatic form of an action that is serious and complete, with
incidents arousing pity and fear wherewith it effects a catharsis of such emotions. The
incidents arousing pity and fear wherewith it effects a catharsis of such emotions. The language
language used is pleasurable and throughout is appropriate to the situation in which it is used.
used is pleasurable and throughout is appropriate to the situation in which it is used. The chief
The chief characters are noble personages, and their actions noble. The plot involves a
characters are noble personages, and their actions noble. The plot involves a change in the
change in the protagonist’s fortune in which he falls from happiness to misery. The
protagonist’s fortune in which he falls from happiness to misery. The protagonist is not a
protagonist is not a perfectly good man nor yet a bad man; his misfortune is brought upon
perfectly good man nor yet a bad man; his misfortune is brought upon him not by vice and
him not by vice and depravity but by some error of judgment (hamartia). A good tragic plot
depravity but by some error of judgment (hamartia). A good tragic plot has organic unity: the
has organic unity: the events follow not just after one another but because of one another.
events follow not just after one another but because of one another. The best tragic plots involve
The best tragic plots involve a reversal (a change from one state of things within the play to
a reversal (a change from one state of things within the play to its opposite - also known as
its opposite - also known as peripety) or a discovery (change from ignorance to knowledge)
peripety) or a discovery (change from ignorance to knowledge) or both. Tragedy provides
or both. Tragedy provides catharsis, or cleansing.
catharsis, or cleansing.
Aristotle
Aristotle
Characteristics of the Tragic Hero
(contrast to mythic hero-not the same!!)
1. nobility (often a prince or a king); not ordinary
extraordinary power, qualities of passion or aspiration, nobility of mind
2. Aristotelian imperfection: a criminal act of injustice (hamartia) by ignorance or conviction,
not a mere personality flaw, but an error of judgment, a fatal weakness, fault of character
- hero is, nevertheless, good
3. downfall is partially his own fault
(essential reversal of circumstance = peripety)
the result of free will, not the result of pure accident, villainy, or fate
(although accident, villainy, or fate may contribute to his downfall)
The combination of greatness and responsibility for the downfall causes his fall to be
tragic rather than merely pathetic. Simple misfortune or accident is simply pathetic, not
tragic, even it causes death. A weak character who succumbs to his weakness is
pathetic, not tragic. The tragic event involves a fall from greatness, brought about, at
least partially, by the strong agent’s free action.
4. tragic hero does not wholly deserve his punishment
the suffering exceeds the crime or flaw
sense of loss of human potential, of waste of the good
5. his tragic fall is not pure loss gain in discovery, awareness, significant insight, self-knowledge, wisdom
a change from ignorance to knowledge
reconciliation with the universe
acceptance of fate and acknowledgment of justice
Hero may be defeated, but he at least dared greatly and gained understanding.
6. hero’s fate arouses solemn emotions
Aristotle: “pity and fear”
compassion and awe which trigger emotional release, even exhilaration (catharsis)
True tragedy does not create depression and discouragement.
tragedy = encouragement to aspire to the highest human
potential and courage no matter how bad the circumstances or events
Laurence Perrine
Tragedy reveals human potential and possibility, the nobility of the human spirit.
Comedy mocks human limitation and absurdity.
Theories Of TRAGEDY
Tragedy shows humankind what we can be; comedy shows us what we are.
Tragedy:
“What a piece of work is man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and
moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a
god!”
Hamlet
William Shakespeare
Comedy:
“Lord, what fools these mortals be!”
A Midsummer’s Night Dream
William Shakespeare
This information should shed new light on age-old questions from students:
Why do books classified as great literature so often have unhappy endings?
Why can’t we read happy books instead of all these sad ones?
Some great writers have called tragedy the queen of the literary arts and comedy her jester.
Tragedy provides the struggle through which the reader can see the best aspirations and efforts of
human beings. Comedy often provides the worse.
Tragedy celebrates the endurance, perseverance, beauty, and dignity of the human spirit.
Comedy revels in foolishness and folly. Tragedy inspires awe and courage to make our lives the
best they can be, no matter what. Even the worst disaster or death can still provide opportunity
for humans to make their lives matter, to endure with courage, or to take action even in the face
of inevitability.
Perseverance and dignity, even when the odds are overwhelming or when an individual stands
alone against powerful forces, are important qualities. Tragedy puts the spotlight on strength
of character, even under the worst of circumstances. Unhappy endings may ultimately provide
better endings because they produce moral reconciliation or spiritual reassessment.
Actual AP Exam essay question:
The British novelist Fay Weldon offers this observation about happy endings:
“The writers, I do believe, who get the best and most lasting response from readers are the writers who
offer a happy ending through moral development. By a happy ending, I do not mean mere fortunate events -- a
marriage or a last minute rescue from death -- but some kind of spiritual reassessment or moral reconciliation, even
with the self, even at death.”
Choose a novel or play that has the kind of ending Weldon describes. In a well-written essay, identify the
“spiritual reassessment or moral reconciliation” evident in the ending and explain its significance to the work as a
whole.
Tragedy reveals human potential and possibility, the nobility of the human spirit.
Comedy mocks human limitation and absurdity.
Theories Of TRAGEDY
PRINCIPLE OF ANTITHESIS
(as illustrated in Othello)
good
black
heaven
love
Venice
friend
order
divine
holy
truth
love
innocence
purity
naivete
public service
poetry
beauty
personal
vulnerability
divine
simple
domestic
joy
honesty
secular
fate
freeman
freedom
male
trust
individual
war
devils
articulate
silence
(add to the list)
evil
white
hell
warfare
Cypress
foe
chaos
bestial
unholy
lie
hate
experience
corruption
cynicism
public nuisance
prose
ugliness
public
manipulation
diabolic
complex
business (commercial)
disaster
duplicity
supernatural
purpose
slave
slavery
female
jealousy
fate
peace
angels
mute
uproar
Tragedy reveals human potential and possibility, the nobility of the human spirit.
Comedy mocks human limitation and absurdity.