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Tragedy Unveiled

The Anatomy of Dramatic Suffering

An exploration of the dramatic genre that grapples with human suffering, catharsis, and the enduring power of narrative.

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Essence of Tragedy

Human Suffering

Tragedy is a genre of drama fundamentally rooted in human suffering. It centers on the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character or a cast of characters, often leading to their downfall.

The Cathartic Response

Traditionally, the primary aim of tragedy is to evoke catharsis in the audienceโ€”a complex emotional release, often described as a "pain that awakens pleasure." This paradoxical response is central to the genre's enduring impact.

Cultural Significance

While various cultures have developed forms that provoke cathartic responses, the term "tragedy" most often refers to a specific tradition within Western civilization. This tradition has played a unique and vital role in shaping cultural identity and historical continuity.

Origin and Etymology

The Word "Tragedy"

The term "tragedy" originates from the Ancient Greek word tragoidia, believed to derive from tragos ("he-goat") and ode ("singing, ode"). This nomenclature likely stems from historical practices where a goat served as a prize in competitions or was part of a ritualistic sacrifice.

Dionysian Roots

According to Aristotle's seminal work, the Poetics, tragedy evolved from the improvisational performances of choral dithyrambsโ€”hymns sung and danced in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility. This suggests an origin deeply connected to religious ritual and ecstatic expression.

Hellenic Tragedy

Athenian Theatre

Athenian tragedy, the earliest surviving form, was an integral part of the city-state's theatrical culture. Emerging in the 6th century BCE and flourishing in the 5th century BCE, it was a dance-drama performed annually at festivals honoring Dionysus.

Surviving Masterpieces

While numerous tragedies were performed, only a fraction of works from playwrights like Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides survive. These playwrights, along with their contemporaries, established the foundational structures and thematic concerns of the genre.

The surviving corpus includes works by:

  • Aeschylus: Known for the Oresteia trilogy.
  • Sophocles: Renowned for plays like Oedipus Rex and Antigone.
  • Euripides: Author of Medea, The Bacchae, and Hippolytus.

These playwrights often presented their works in tetralogies, comprising three tragedies and a satyr play.

Theatrical Devices

Ancient Greek theatre employed innovative devices such as the ekkyklema (a platform to reveal the aftermath of off-stage events) and the mechane (a crane for divine entrances, giving rise to the term "deus ex machina"). These elements enhanced dramatic impact and narrative clarity.

Roman Tragedy

Adaptation and Influence

Following Rome's expansion, Greek tragedy was adopted and adapted. Early Roman dramatists like Livius Andronicus and Gnaeus Naevius began writing tragedies, laying the groundwork for Roman literature.

Seneca's Legacy

The most significant surviving Roman tragedies are those attributed to the Stoic philosopher Seneca the Younger. His nine plays, often adapted from Greek originals, are characterized by their rhetorical intensity, focus on violence, moralizing, and exploration of themes like revenge and the supernatural.

Seneca's tragedies, likely intended for recitation rather than full stage performance, emphasized:

  • Detailed accounts of horrific deeds and graphic violence.
  • Extended, reflective soliloquies.
  • Obtrusive moralizing and bombastic rhetoric.
  • Frequent appearances of ghosts and supernatural elements.
  • Exploration of themes such as revenge, the occult, and suicide.

Renaissance Revival

Rediscovery of Classics

During the Renaissance, classical Greek and Roman drama was rediscovered. Humanists and poets translated and adapted ancient tragedies, reintroducing their forms and themes to European theatre after centuries of relative obscurity.

British Tragedy

British tragedy, particularly during the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras, diverged from strict classical models. It often defied the unities of time, place, and action, incorporating elements of comedy and exploring psychological depth and political complexity.

Prominent figures include:

  • William Shakespeare: Master of tragedy with works like Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet, known for integrating philosophical and psychological depth.
  • Christopher Marlowe: Famous for Doctor Faustus and Tamburlaine the Great, blending medieval morality with Renaissance humanism.
  • John Webster: Author of The Duchess of Malfi and The White Devil, known for their dark themes and intense drama.

Italian and Continental Forms

In Italy, playwrights like Gian Giorgio Trissino and Giovanni di Bernardo Rucellai adapted classical tragedies into the vernacular, adhering closely to classical rules. This period also saw the emergence of opera, inspired by the ancient Greek ideal of sung drama.

Neoclassic Tragedy

French Tradition

In 17th-century France, playwrights like Pierre Corneille and Jean Racine developed a highly stylized form of tragedy. Influenced by classical precepts and Seneca, their works emphasized adherence to dramatic rules, noble characters, and the exploration of intense emotional conflicts.

Rules and Ideals

Corneille redefined tragedy, suggesting that noble characters and affairs of state were paramount, and that happy endings were not antithetical to the genre. Racine, conversely, focused on condensed plots, psychological intensity, and the representation of pathos and amorous passion.

Corneille's theoretical framework for tragedy included:

  • Noble Characters: Tragedy should feature characters of high status.
  • Affairs of State: Plots should revolve around significant events like wars or dynastic matters.
  • Moral Imperatives: Plays should not reward evil or degrade nobility, aligning with contemporary moral codes.
  • Flexible Catharsis: While Aristotle's catharsis was an ideal, plays could be considered tragic even without a strictly purgative emotional outcome.

Bourgeois Tragedy

The Ordinary Protagonist

Emerging in 18th-century Europe, bourgeois tragedy shifted focus from royalty and aristocracy to ordinary citizensโ€”merchants and common people. This marked a significant departure from classical and neoclassical ideals, which favored noble protagonists.

Reflecting Modern Life

This subgenre explored themes relevant to the burgeoning middle class, such as poverty, addiction, domestic violence, and social alienation. Plays like George Lillo's The London Merchant exemplified this new direction, making tragedy more accessible and relatable.

Bourgeois tragedy often delved into:

  • Economic hardship and debt.
  • Social exclusion and shunning.
  • Family conflict and abuse.
  • Personal struggles with addiction and mental health.
  • The consequences of moral failings in everyday life.

Modern Development

Redefining Tragedy

Modern interpretations have broadened the definition of tragedy, challenging Aristotle's notion that it must involve figures of high status. Playwrights like Arthur Miller argued for the tragic potential of ordinary individuals, reflecting contemporary societal shifts.

Critical Perspectives

Critics like George Steiner have questioned the continued existence of tragedy in its classical form, suggesting that modern works, including Shakespeare's, represent a departure from the absolute tragic model towards more hybrid, "realistic" forms that encompass a wider spectrum of human experience.

  • Arthur Miller: Championed the "common man" as a valid tragic protagonist in his essay "Tragedy and the Common Man."
  • Howard Barker: Advocated for a "rebirth of tragedy," asserting its power to equip audiences against deception.
  • George Steiner: In The Death of Tragedy, he analyzed the evolution of the genre and questioned its contemporary relevance, viewing Shakespeare's works as a "rejection" of the classical model.

Theoretical Frameworks

Aristotle's Poetics

Aristotle defined tragedy as an imitation of a serious, complete action of significant magnitude, employing enriched language and enacted rather than narrated. It aims to effect catharsis through pity and fear, typically involving a reversal of fortune (peripeteia) caused by the protagonist's error (hamartia).

Aristotle's key concepts include:

  • Magnitude and Completeness: A tragedy must have a clear beginning, middle, and end.
  • Peripeteia: A reversal of fortune, ideally from good to bad.
  • Hamartia: A tragic error or flaw, not necessarily a moral failing, but a mistake leading to downfall.
  • Anagnorisis: A moment of recognition or discovery by the protagonist.
  • Catharsis: The purging of emotions, specifically pity and fear, experienced by the audience.
  • Four Species: Complex (with peripeteia and discovery), Suffering, Character, and Spectacle.

Hegel's Dialectic

G.W.F. Hegel viewed tragedy as a conflict of ethical forces. In Greek tragedy, this conflict is between equally justified ethical powers. In Shakespearean tragedy, it shifts to a conflict within the individual, where subjective passions and personality clash with external circumstances, leading to self-destruction.

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References

References

  1.  The theory that Prometheus Bound was not written by Aeschylus adds a fourth, anonymous playwright to those whose work survives.
  2.  See Horace, Epistulae, II, 3, 220: "Carmine qui tragico vilem certavit ob hircum".
  3.  Taxidou 2004, p.ย 104: "most scholars now call 'Greek' tragedy 'Athenian' tragedy, which is historically correct".
  4.  Headington, Westbrook & Barfoot 1991, p.ย 22.
  5.  Headington, Westbrook & Barfoot 1991, p.ย 178.
  6.  George Steiner, The Death of Tragedy [1961] (Oxford University Press, 1980; Yale University Press, 1996), p. xiii.
A full list of references for this article are available at the Tragedy Wikipedia page

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