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 18th 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.
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