Tragedy Sem 3-Unit 1

 

Tragedy

Tragedy deals with the dark side of life. It aims at inspiring us with pity and awe. In tragedy the characters are involved in circumstances that impel them towards an unhappy fate. Tragedy in the Greek drama deals with the fate of characters of high birth stations, kings, princes and household. In ancient Greece the tragic actor put on a thick-soled and high heeled boot, called the buskin or cothurnus, to make him appear tall and majestic.

Though humble men can suffer just as deeply as the great, and their misfortunes equally deserve our pity, it was not unreasonable for the old dramatists to feel that only the lives of the famous and powerful offered fitting subjects for tragedy. The fall of a king, or the ruin of a great family, is bound to be more impressive to the spectator than the fate of a nonentity (common man) and the doings of an ordinary mortal can scarcely be clothed in sublime poetic language, grandeur and dignity.

In later literature there were many tragedies of lowly life. The best example of a tragic novel is Hardy’s ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’ there is no hero in this novel but a dairyamaid for its heroine.

The 18^th century saw the rise of a new type of tragedy, called the Domestic tragedy, which attempted to use the characters and incidents of ordinary life as the subject of serious drama. The best example of this is George Lillo’s London Merchant. One very important point that must be borne in mind is that the plays were written in prose and not in verse.

Tragic atmosphere

The atmosphere of tragedy is somber and serious. Tragedy ‘purges the emotions through pity and terror’. In pure tragedy one cannot find it intermingled with comedy. Such were the classical plays of both Greece and Rome.

In English literature the two are frequently found intermingled. There are comic interludes in many of the tragedies. Thus Shakespeare’s tragedies may begin happily and end unhappily and his comedies may begin unhappily and end happily.

This type of plot suits the English temperament and is also more in accordance with the realities of life. These variations however do not affect the general atmosphere which is gloomy in tragedy. Tragedy moves inevitably towards disaster.

Tragedy aims at giving pleasure. It may seem strange to say that pleasure can be found in spectacle (striking performance) of a human being’s suffering and unhappy fate. Nevertheless tragedy does afford pleasure, and of a lofty (high) order. For example the spectacle of noble character caught in the coils (twist) of circumstance, when the language and the artistry of the presentation rise to match the high passions and issues of the story, which makes the audience feel exalted and ennobled (noble rank) rather than distressed.

For the Greeks, tragedy was to effect a Catharsis (providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions) or a purgation (purification) of the emotions. Tragedy purified the feelings it raised the audience morally and spiritually.

Example Milton’s Samson Agonistes, a tragedy constructed on the Greek model.

The story in tragedy is usually allowed to convey its own moral, though it is sometimes stated at the end of the play by one of the characters. Even in the most tragic drama, wrong does not triumph, though right may have been worsted for a time.

 

Types of tragedy

Tragedy can be classified in two ways:

Form or structure 2. Matter or theme

Classical and Romantic

Classical tragedy is based on Greek convention. The main feature of classical type is the observance of what is called the Three Unities and the employment of the device called chorus. The theory of three unities i.e., time, action and place is based on the writings of Aristotle. Aristotle however mentions the first two and the third that is the place is being implied in the first.

Unity of time means that the time over which the plot is spread would be the same or approximately the same. For example if the events are exceeding over years are shown in few hours will have no semblance of reality to the logical Greek mind.

The unity of action makes double provision that means the plot should either be purely tragic or purely comic but not the mixture of two. The events of the play should be confined to one species and one single plot to ensure verisimilitude (appearance of being true or real). The incidents must be logically connected.

Unity of place is a natural corollary (outcome or result) of the Unity of time. If the place limits itself to events that cover only few hours, it must confine itself to one place. For example the scene could not in those days, have been in Athens first and next in Alexandria as this would require a plot to spread over a long period of time and hence violate the unity of time.

The chorus is other noteworthy element in Greek tragedy. It consisted of a body of actors whose business was to report what happened off the stage and to make such moral comment as required from time to time as it would deepen the desired effect. It was sometime an integral part of the plot or sometimes only loosely related to it.

The Greek theatrical tradition- the heavy costume, obstructive cothurnus, and the loosely-hanging mask, all of which the tragic actor puts on to appear more than a human, but this did not favor the representation of violent physical action on the stage; these were reported instead by the chorus. Its more important function was to send the audience with a strengthened conviction of the might of gods, for its purpose is to indulge in lengthy moral reflecting on the interruption of the progress of the plot.

The Romantic tragedy is built on different plan. It is not restricted to the three unities and it doesn’t employ chorus except for the occasional introductory passage. It is not banned from choosing a plot ranging over long stretches of time, or neccessiating a mixture of the tragic and the comic, or from introducing a subplot. The scene of action may also change as often as the plot requires.