Freytag’s Pyramid

I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.exposition

complication

climax

resolution

conclusion

Gustav Freytag was a 19th century literary critic (1863) who proposed that Shakespeare’s plays (all of which are divided into 5 major sections, called acts)

follow this plan as regards the development of their plots.

rising

actio

n

falling action

The Elizabethan Era/1500-1600AD• Concurrent with the

Renaissance (continental Europe – France, the Netherlands, Italy).

• The beginning of England’s 350-year-long position as the world’s only economic, political, and military superpower.

• The time period is named after Elizabeth I, queen from 1558-1603. Shakespeare was a contemporary of Elizabeth I. He lived from 1564-1616.

Shakespeare wrote 38 plays

Tragedies Comedies Histories

Macbeth The Merchant of Venice Henry IV

Hamlet Much Ado About Nothing Richard II

King Lear Twelfth Night Richard III

All end with the All end with at least one Biographies (not

death of the main couple getting married always 100% his-

character, the tragic torically accurate)

hero Almost all feature a rude, of important kings clownish figure, called a of England

Almost all feature the “rustic”

appearance of a ghost

NATURAL ORDER• Elizabethans (those who lived in England under

the rule of Elizabeth I) believed strongly in natural order.

• This belief system governed personal health, politics, agriculture and religion.

• Any perversion of natural order would have dire natural and supernatural consequences that would not abate until natural balance was restored. In Shakespearean tragedies, this requires the death of the person who disrupted the natural order in the first place (i.e. the tragic hero).

Aristotelian Tragedy

Named after Aristotle, a Greek philosopher who said that all tragedies must have these characteristics:1. A man of high social

standing…2. …experiences a downfall…3. …because of a flaw in his

otherwise perfect character. The flaw is revealed only as a result of the tragic action of the

narrative.

Shakespearean TragedyShakespearean tragedy is essentially the same as

Aristotelian tragedy with these two changes:• The tragic hero must die. This must happen (says

Elizabethan philosophy) in order to restore the order that he (the tragic hero) perverted.

• Instead of a physical illness experienced by an entire society that marks the overthrow of natural order (as in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, where Oedipus’ kingship results in a deadly and persistent plague), Elizabethan drama signals natural imbalance with the appearance of supernatural signs… The tragic hero may also manifest some symptoms of mental disturbance.