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ELEMENTS OF TRAGEDY

ELEMENTS OF TRAGEDY. TRAGIC HEROES: BEYOND THE FLAW & DOWNFALL. Tragedy by definition. Imitation Mimesis (Latin) Represents reality Gives form and meaning Othello. Tragedy by definition (cont). Tone Serious It raises pity and fear Moral issues Psychological issues Or social issues.

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ELEMENTS OF TRAGEDY

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  1. ELEMENTS OF TRAGEDY TRAGIC HEROES: BEYOND THE FLAW & DOWNFALL

  2. Tragedy by definition • Imitation • Mimesis (Latin) • Represents reality • Gives form and meaning • Othello

  3. Tragedy by definition (cont) • Tone • Serious • It raises pity and fear • Moral issues • Psychological issues • Or social issues

  4. Tragedy by definition (cont) • Structure • Beginning • Middle • End

  5. Tragedy by definition (cont) • Diction • Attractive • Appropriate for each part • i.e. chorus

  6. Tragedy by definition (cont) • Relies on an enactment or dramatic performance with focus on hero or heroine

  7. Tragedy by definition (cont) • Purification • Catharsis • Raise emotions of pity and terror • Purges or purifies the emotions • Arouses these emotions in spectator (audience) who also undergoes catharsis • Audience relates • Audience identifies

  8. ARISTOTLE on Tragedy • Six parts • Plot – most important • Character • Diction • Thought • Spectacle • Melody

  9. ARISTOTLE on Tragedy (cont) • Plot • most important part of tragedy • Complex and Simple plots • All plots need suffering • Pathos

  10. Complex plots • Complex plots are ideal (simple plots only have “change of fortune”) • Reversal • Peripeteia • Situation starts to develop one way • Suddenly reverses to another

  11. Complex plots • Recognition • Anagnorisis • “knowing again” • Protagonist must come to realization of how the world really works before his/her death • Usually a horrible event or secret marks recognition

  12. Complex plots • Suffering • pathos • Third part of plot is destructive or painful act

  13. Complex plots • Reversal • Recognition • Suffering

  14. ARISTOTLE on Tragedy • Six parts • Plot – most important • Character • Diction • Thought • Spectacle • Melody

  15. Character • Tragic hero/heroine • Hubris • Greek & Elizabethan hero – nobility • Modern literature • Good and decent person • Neither villain nor “perfect” model • Low/middle class status exploring own worthiness

  16. Character • Mistake or flaw • Hamartia • Inherent characteristic flaw • Determined and courageous in facing fate

  17. Change of fortune Catastrophe Pathos Reversal Peripeteia Knowledge Anagnorisis Change of fortune Castrophe Pathos Simple plots & Complex plots

  18. Character (cont) • Character has to be renowned and prosperous or morally upright • So change of fortune can be seen • Good to bad • Change of fortune comes as a result • Frailty and vulnerability • Thus, pity and fear is aroused • Unmerited misfortune • Fear in that misfortune of a man like ourselves

  19. Hamartia(ideal tragic model-mistake/flaw) • Protagonist mistakenly brings own downfall • Not from sin or moral weakness • But from lack of knowledge • Hamartia is not moral status but inevitable consequence it brings

  20. Given this, reversal is done in blindness, which leads to results completely opposite of what was intended • Tragic irony • Re-knowing is then the gaining of essential knowledge lacked before

  21. ARISTOTLE on Tragedy • Six parts • Plot – most important • Character • Diction • Thought • Spectacle • Melody

  22. Thought • A general maxim is established • Something is proven to be or not • Theme here

  23. Diction • Expression of words • Stylistic devices • Aristotle big on metaphors

  24. Melody • Chorus role • Fully integrated like actors • Not just interludes; contributes to plot interlude

  25. Spectacle • Staging • Can be emotionally attractive • Poets should rely more on inner structure of play than spectacle (settings)

  26. Influence in Modern Day • Aristotle influenced the Renaissance writers • 3 unities • Time • Action • Place

  27. Influence in Modern Day • Restrictions, dramatic code and definitions of Aristotle’s philosophies have lessened • General move away from Aristocratic politics • Rise on middle class - Bourgeoisie

  28. Influence in Modern Day • Tragic elements appear as today’s playwrights investigate social injustices and self determination • Keep in mind components of tragic hero as we continue our reading for the year

  29. 7 Elements of a perfect tragic hero: • Status (Hubris also part of this) • Flaw • Downfall • Change of fortune (Suffering also part of this) • Reversal • Recognition • Death

  30. Byronic Hero

  31. Romantic poet Lord Byron (George Gordon) credited • Prototypical anti-hero, known as the Byronic hero • Larger than life character but flawed • Could be considered a rebel

  32. Exhibits conflicting emotions and excessive moodiness • Is passionate about a particular issue • Can be introspective and critical of himself • Struggles with his own sense of integrity

  33. Operates largely within his own set of rules and principles • Rejects accepted codes and norms of society • Is fiercely independent and strongly individual • Is a loner (whether imposed by society of self-imposed)

  34. Displays a lack of respect for rank and privilege • Has a troubled or mysterious past • Can be cynical, demanding, and arrogant • Exhibits self-destructive tendencies and behavior

  35. This hyper-sensitive loner, obsessively following a quest-which being a Romantic Quest, is doomed to failure –usually ends up dead at the end of his story, either as the unintended consequences o f the hero’s own choices and actions, or as a conscious choice.

  36. Is Gatsby a classic tragic hero or a more modern Byronic hero?

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