James Shelley’s thesis brings into perspective various dimensions of understandings that have been used to situate the problem of tragedy in different contexts. Tragedy has been associated with pain and pleasure, which are the core drivers in every individual that influence the quest for a solution in every problem. However, the solutions must meet a set of confines that determine how the problem can be solved. The thesis categorizes these confines into four major categories. One of the restrictions is that pleasure must stem from one source of relief. In this case, tragedy can only be assessed in the light of its own version of pleasure and relief. Pleasure must have the qualities of being associated with some relief from a particular thing. In essence, relief should stem from backward reflection where relief in a certain situation or past event can be associated with tragedy generated from another thing. The same case applies to the pleasure of relief.
Another confine that can be used to explain the solutions in tragedy is that the solution must contain elements of pain and pleasure at the same time. Solutions under this category present a complex approach to the problem by embracing the two elements in equal measure. However, in pain-pleasure solutions, pleasure is presumed to overwhelm the pain. On the other hand, no-pain approach to tragedy yields more pleasure compared to the level of pain in such a solution.
Apart from pain and pleasure approaches to the problem, another restriction is that the solution must be in tandem with the highest value of tragedy that has been accorded by traditions. In this case, the no-pleasure solution to tragedy is portrayed as an approach that denies the role of pleasure in valuing tragedy. However, the approach enables individuals to provide explanations of high esteems that traditionally influence the high ranked tragedies. The fourth restriction posits that pain and pleasure must have some internal relationship. This approach categorizes pain-pleasure solutions into two major groups. The first category asserts that there is a relation between the two elements while the second group posits that the two elements must take place at the same time. The second category can be associated with the fact that it is the content of tragedy that generates the pain. However, this will depend on the form of the tragedy.