Tragedy is a type of drama or literature that shows the downfall or destruction of a noble or outstanding person (Miller 222). Such a character is one who possesses a character weakness known as a tragic flaw (Thompson and Bowler 934). The authors present Macbeth, for example, a brave and noble figure whose downfall is attributable to ambition. After a prediction is made that he will one day become king, Macbeth plots to murder Duncan with the consent of his wife.
He kills the guards who discover Duncan’s body and becomes king. Unfortunately, the ghost of Banquo eats at Lady Macbeth’s conscience until she commits suicide. Finally, Macduff who had discovered Duncan’s body kills Macbeth and becomes king. Thompson and Bowler point out that the tragic hero, through “choice or circumstance, is caught up in a series of events that result in an inevitable disaster” (936).
In such a disaster, Aristotle observed that the audience experiences emotional cleansing after identifying with what the protagonist like Macbeth goes through. In Oedipus Rex, ill-fated Oedipus kills his father and engages his mother in an incestuous relationship (Thompson and Bowler 944). Tragedy has undergone development just like other literary genres. An analysis of trends in tragedy from the time of Sophocles and Euripides to modern times is therefore important.
Aristotle conceived tragedy as the imitation of imperfect men, written dramatically and aimed at arousing pity and fear in the audience so as to purge their emotions (Miller 235). His definition must have been made with the plays of Euripides and Sophocles in mind, since those plays featured men of noble but imperfect character.
As far as form was concerned, Greek tragedy had what he called “language made beautiful in different ways” (Miller 238), specifically by rendering it poetically and dramatically. Tragedy underwent a remarkable transformation through the ages.
As seen above, tragedy originally revolved around the case of man who fell from happiness to misery, usually to death due to an error. Through time, the determining factor and consequences of such errors evolved remarkably (Montague and Henshlaw 230). Montague and Henshlaw demonstrate this change by noting that modern tragedy for instance, moved away from errors to evil acts as determinants of protagonist’s predicaments (389).
Modern tragedy, the authors note, depicts middle and lower class protagonists unlike the nobility of ancient times; protagonists are victims of modern society and do not have errors in judgement and most importantly the tragedy is based on issues of “domestic and private nature” (Montague and Henshlaw 399).
Shakespeare’s plays for instance, feature ghosts and graveyards while later ones like Henrick Ibsen’s Doll’s House depicts an ordinary housewife whose husband makes her disillusioned since he looks down upon her (Montague and Henshlaw 402).
Further development took place on the side of delivery. Ancient tragedies were enacted in front of audiences, replete with masked men and choruses who narrated all actions. Modern tragedy on the other hand found its way in prose and poetry (Miller 436). Verse has therefore given place to prose.
It can be argued that modern tragedy does not spring from beliefs that are universally held but usually arises from social or personal conditions which vary from society to society. It need not end in death like the ancient Greek, Roman and English ones, but any downfall resulting from the struggle between the individual and some unalterable conditions of life.
Montague and Henshlaw point that tragedy, in its purest Aristotelian sense has suffered from the advent of Christianity and growth of scientific knowledge. This could explain the absence of features such as oracles and ghosts in modern tragedy (241). Thus, it is not to be misconstrued to mean that writers, since Aristotle, have not been writing tragedy; it is what they have been writing that deviates from traditional versions. That is why the form of ancient tragedy could not be retained; it keeps evolving.
Works Cited
Miller, Jordan. The Heath Introduction to Drama. Toronto: D.C. Heath & Company, 1992. Print.
Montague, Gene and Henshlaw Marjorie. The Experiences of Literature. Engelwood Cliff, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1990. Print.
Thompson, Eileen and Ellen Bowler. Eds. Prentice Hall Literature. London: International Learning systems Corporation ltd. Print.