What Defines Tragedy?

Where does tragedy come from?

The Greek philosopher Aristotle first defined “tragedy” in his book Poetics written in about 330 B.C.

Aristotle’s definition of tragedy had SIX parts:

Plot(Dramatic Structure) CharacterThoughtDiction (delivery)Spectacle

(visual demonstration)Melody (music, rhythm, & rhyme)

What Defines Shakespearean Tragedy?A Tragic HeroThe Tragic Flaw or HamartiaReversal of FortuneCatharsis (emotion)Restoration of Social Order

Who remembers this place?

The Tragic HeroThe tragic hero is someone we, as an audience, look up to—someone superior.The tragic hero is a character that the audience can identify withThe tragic hero features a fatal flaw that exposes his/her weakness.

What makes each of these figures a tragic hero?

Tragic FlawThe hero is nearly perfectThe hero has one flaw or weakness We call this the ‘tragic flaw’, ‘fatal flaw’, or hamartia.

Ex: Pride

Reversal of FortuneThe ‘fatal flaw’ brings the hero down from his/her elevated state.

(example from this year’s curriculum?)Renaissance audiences were familiar with the ‘wheel of fortune’ or ‘fickle fate’. What goes up, must come down.Cycle of life

CatharsisWe get the word ‘catharsis’ from Aristotle’s katharsis.‘Catharsis’ is the audience’s purging of emotions through pity, fear, anger, etc.The spectator is purged as a result of watching the hero fall.This is why we cry during movies!

Restoration of Social OrderTragedies include:

a private element (within a family or small group) a public element (society or governmental order)

The play cannot end until society is, once again, at peace.

The End