Shakespeare's Plays: Tragedy

The genre of tragedy is rooted in the Greek dramas of Aeschylus (525-456 B.C., e.g. the Oresteia and Prometheus Bound), Euripides (ca. 480?-405 B.C., e.g. Medea and The Trojan Women) and Sophocles (4 6-406 B.C., e.g. Oedipus Rex and Antigone). !ne of the ear"iest #or$s of "iterary criticism, the Poetics of the Greek %hi"oso%her Aristotle (&84-&22 B.C.), inc"'des a disc'ssion of tragedy (ased in %art '%on the %"ays of )eschy"'s, *'ri%ides, and +o%hoc"es. ,hi"e +ha$es%eare %ro(a("y did not $no# -ree$ tragedy direct"y, he #o'"d ha.e (een fami"iar #ith the /atin ada%tations of -ree$ drama (y the Roman (i.e. Latin language! %"ay#right Seneca (ca. & B.C.-65 ).0.1 his nine tragedies inc"'de a Medea and an Oedipus). Both +enecan and 2enaissance tragedy #ere inf"'enced (y the theory of tragedy fo'nd in )ristot"e3s Poetics. "lassical Tragedy: )ccording to Aristotle's Poetics, tragedy in.o".es a protagonist o# high estate (4(etter than #e4) #ho #alls #rom prosperity to misery thro'gh a series of re.ersa"s and disco.eries as a res'"t of a 4tragic #la$,4 genera""y an error ca'sed (y h'man frai"ty. )side from this initia" mora" #ea$ness or error, the %rotagonist is (asica""y a good %erson5 for )ristot"e, the do#nfa"" of an e.i" %rotagonist is not tragic (6ac(eth #o'"d not 7'a"ify). 8n )ristote"ian tragedy, the action (or fable) genera""y in.o".es revolution ('nantici%ated re.ersa"s of #hat is e9%ected to occ'r) and discovery (in #hich the %rotagonists and a'dience "earn something that had (een hidden). The third %art of the fa("e, disasters, inc"'des a"" destr'cti.e actions, deaths, etc. Tragedy e.o$es %ity and fear in the a'dience, "eading fina""y to catharsis (the %'rgation of these %assions). %edie&al tragedy: ) narrative (not a %"ay) concerning ho# a %erson #alls #rom high to lo$ estate as the Goddess 'ortune spins her $heel. 8n the midd"e ages, there #as no 4tragic4 theater per se1 medie.a" theater in *ng"and #as %rimari"y "it'rgica" drama, #hich de.e"o%ed in the "ater midd"e ages (:5th cent'ry) as a #ay of teaching scri%t're to the i""iterate (mystery %"ays) or of reminding them to (e %re%ared for death and -od3s ;'dgment (mora"ity %"ays). 6edie.a" 4tragedy4 #as fo'nd not in the theater ('t in co""ections of stories i""'strating the fa""s of great men (e.g. Boccacio3s alls of !llustrious Men, Cha'cer3s Mon"#s Tale from the $anterbury Tales, and /ydgate3s alls of Princes). These narrati.es o#e their conce%tion of <ort'ne in %art to the /atin tragedies of +eneca, in #hich <ort'ne and her #hee" %"ay a %rominent ro"e. Renaissance tragedy deri.es "ess from medie.a" tragedy (#hich random"y occ'rs as <ort'ne s%ins her #hee") than from the )ristote"ian notion of the tragic #la$, a mora" #ea$ness or h'man error that ca'ses the %rotagonist3s do#nfa"". =n"i$e c"assica" tragedy, ho#e.er, it tends to inc"'de s'(%"ots and comic re"ief. <rom +eneca, ear"y 2enaissance tragedy (orro#ed the 4.io"ent and ("oody %"ots, reso'nding rhetorica" s%eeches, the fre7'ent 'se of ghosts . . . and sometimes the fi.e-act str'ct're4 (%orton Anthology of &nglish 'iterature, 6th ed., .o". 8, %. 4:0). 8n his greatest tragedies (e.g. (amlet, Othello, )ing 'ear and Macbeth), +ha$es%eare transcends the con.entions of 2enaissance tragedy, im('ing his %"ays #ith a time"ess 'ni.ersa"ity.

%odern theories o# Tragedy: 6ost modern theorists ('i"d '%on the )ristote"ian notions of tragedy. T#o e9am%"es are the >ictorian critic ).C. Brad"ey (*ha"espearean Tragedy, : 04) and ?orthro% <rye (The Anatomy of $riticism, : 5@). Aee% these theories in mind as yo' read1 consider #hether and ho# they are he"%f'" in 'nderstanding +ha$es%eare3s #or$.

A. ". (radley di.ides tragedy into an exposition of the state of affairs1 the (eginning, gro#th, and .icissit'des of the conflict1 and the fina" catastrophe or tragic o'tcome. Brad"ey em%hasiBes the )ristote"ian notion of the tragic flaw5 the tragic hero errs (y action or omission1 this error Coins #ith other ca'ses to (ring a(o't his r'in. )ccording to Brad"ey, 4This is a"#ays so #ith +ha$es%eare. The idea of the tragic hero as a (eing destroyed sim%"y and so"e"y (y e9terna" forces is 7'ite a"ien to him1 and not "ess so is the idea of the hero as contri('ting to his destr'ction on"y (y acts in #hich #e see no f"a#.4 Brad"ey3s em%hasis on the tragic f"a# im%"ies that +ha$es%eare3s characters (ring their fates '%on themse".es and th's, in a sense, deser.e #hat they get. 8t sho'"d ho#e.er (e noted that in some of +ha$es%eare3s %"ays (e.g. )ing 'ear), the tragedy "ies "ess in the fact that the characters 4deser.e4 their fates than in ho# m'ch more they s'ffer than their actions (or f"a#s) s'ggest they sho'"d.

)orthrop 'rye disting'ishes fi.e stages of action in tragedy5 *! Encroachment. Drotagonist ta$es on too m'ch, ma$es a mista$e that ca'ses hisEher 4fa"".4 This mista$e is often 'nconscio's (an act ("ind"y done, thro'gh o.er-confidence in one3s a(i"ity to reg'"ate the #or"d or thro'gh insensiti.ity to others) ('t sti"" .io"ates the norms of h'man cond'ct. +! Complication. The ('i"ding '% of e.ents a"igning o%%osing forces that #i"" "ead ine9ora("y to the tragic conc"'sion. 4;'st as comedy often sets '% an ar(itrary "a# and then organiBes the action to (rea$ or e.ade it, so tragedy %resents the re.erse theme of narro#ing a com%arati.e"y free "ife into a %rocess of ca'sation.4 ,! Reversal. The %oint at #hich it (ecomes c"ear that the hero3s e9%ectations are mista$en, that his fate #i"" (e the re.erse of #hat he had ho%ed. )t this moment, the .ision of the dramatist and the a'dience are the same. The c"assic e9am%"e is !edi%'s, #ho see$s the $no#"edge that %ro.es him g'i"ty of m'rdering his father and marrying his mother1 #hen he accom%"ishes his o(Cecti.e, he rea"iBes he has destroyed himse"f in the %rocess. -! Catastrophe. The catastro%he e9%oses the "imits of the hero3s %o#er and dramatiBes the #aste of his "ife. Di"es of dead (odies remind 's that the forces 'n"eashed are not easi"y contained1 there are a"so e"a(orate s'(%"ots (e.g. -"o'cester in )ing 'ear) #hich reinforce the im%ression of a #or"d in'ndated #ith e.i". .! Recognition. The a'dience (sometimes the hero as #e"") recogniBes the "arger %attern. 8f the hero does e9%erience recognition, he ass'mes the .ision of his "ife he"d (y the dramatist and the a'dience. <rom this ne# %ers%ecti.e he can see the irony of his actions, adding to the %oignancy of the tragic e.ents.