Tragedy

The word “genre”

• “Genre” - from the French meaning “category” or “type”

• Not all plays fall into a single genre, but it helps us to understand the genres as a general basis for approaching art, music, theatre and literature.

The Greeks

• The Greeks saw Tragedy and Comedy as the only two distinct types of work

• Modern scholars see sub-genres including romance and satire/irony

• The Tragedy/Comedy masks that symbolize theatre come from the Greek belief that literature (for them literature was theatre) was ruled by the central forces of Tragedy and Comedy

Classic Comedy and Tragedy images

The Seasons and Frye

• Northrop Frye (1912 - 1991)

• World-renowned literary theorist connected the genres as representational of the real world

• He connected them to the four seasons

The Frye Cycle of Modes and Seasons

The Fall = Tragedy

• The season associated with Tragedy is the FALL as Tragedy is often about the fall of the individual and society, when the coldness of the real world sets in and death is all around.

• It is literally, the season of fall and the fall of humanity

• However, a society’s individual beliefs greatly influence their idea of what is meant by Tragedy.

Defining Tragedy

• Generally speaking, Tragedy can be defined as --

Serious drama involving important personages caught in calamitous circumstances; it evokes in the audience fear and apprehension for the suffering characters and admiration for the courage they display (Theatre: the Lively Art, p. 136)

Generally, Tragedy...

• probes the nature of human existence

• assumes the universe is indifferent to human concerns and often malevolent

• highlights that the innocent suffer and the evil prosper

Political/Religious/Societal Factors• The political/religious/societal factors of a

culture will effect the way Tragedy is created in a culture’s literature:

- In the happiest of times the least amount of Tragedy is written

• A lot of religious control and therefore a lot of piety - theatre was of and for the church

• The time and therefore the theatre was positive (“Miracle Plays” which taught of the goodness in humanity and God as well as “Liturgical Drama” which taught the doctrines of the church)

• Theatre at this time was about good defeating bad

Therefore, limited Tragic writing

Mediaeval Time - 500 - 1500 CE

• Great societal advancements that made life easier and more enjoyable for the everyday person

• Science and the arts were celebrated

• Optimistic societies where the best of humanity was celebrated

Therefore, limited Tragic writing

Astronomy was an advancement of the Enlightenment

The Steam Engine powered the Industrial Revolution

The Enlightenment 18th Cand

The Industrial Revolution 19th C

Conversely -There have been times when the conditions and climate for Tragedy have been ripe and this is generally when the society becomes brutally aware of two things:

1. Humans are capable of extraordinary things

AND

2. The world is potentially cruel and unjust

These TWO factors when COMBINED in a society’s climate tend to lead to the production of a good deal of Tragic drama. (18th and 19th C only had the first factor; therefore, less Tragedy).

• During these two times humans excelled and religion took a back seat to human achievement (factor 1) AND....

• There was also a great awareness of how cruel life can be (factor 2)

The Golden Age of Greece (5thC , BCE)AND

The Renaissance (14th - 17th C)

Architecture was an earmark of Greek skill

Lorenzo de’Midici was ruler of Florence and a patron of the arts

- Ancient Greece was “plagued” by great wars which killed many citizens (including the Greek civil war)

- The Renaissance was “plagued” by the Black Death which reminded people of their own mortality and the strength of nature over humanity.

• The mix of the two central factors (human possibility and the ultimate sadness that exists) act as the background for theatre.

• It is the artist that then creates the theatre based on his/her individual outlook

• And this is why there is some comedy produced during times when Tragedy is most prevalent.

Two generally accepted types of Tragedy -

1. Traditional Tragedy

AND

2. Modern Tragedy

Traditional Tragedy has...• Tragic heroes/heroines who are usually higher than the individual (Gods,

Queens, Kings)

• Tragic circumstances that have to be followed (fate)

• Tragic irretrievability (a sense of no turning back)

• Acceptance of the individual’s responsibility (willingness to admit fault and suffer consequences)

• Tragic verse (dealing with lofty and profound ideas using lofty and profound language and format)

• A pessimistic effect (damned if I do, damned if I don’t) coupled with an affirmation of the good in the world (seen through the actual act of writing the play and the sadness found within - we are not pleased with the outcome, and thereofore, we are good)

Modern Tragedy has...

• No Gods, Queens, or Kings as the central tragic figures, but instead the central figures are everday “schmoes” like you and me

• Modernity, industrialism and the computer age are the forces of inevitability that replace fate

• Prose writing - the language of the everyday “schmoe”

• An even more pessimistic tone than Traditional Tragedy as it suggests humanity may well be doomed

Hope from the ashesAlthough there is a real sense of hopelessness in Tragedy, there is still hope:

Hope springs eternal from the ashes of the fallen because:

1. The very existence of the hero and his or her struggle reminds us that there is goodness in the world

2. Our own “pathos” or feelings of sadness for the characters reminds us that we care about life and about goodness

If we didn’t care there would be no Tragedy

Three central questions asked, but left unanswered in Tragedy 1. Why do we suffer?

2. Why is there violence and injustice in the world?

3. What is the meaning of life?

WWII and the dropping of the Atomic Bomb caused incredible suffering -

but for what reason?

Violence is everywhere

This question has plagued us since the dawn of humanity