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SHAKESPEAREAN TRAGEDY

SHAKESPEAREAN TRAGEDY. Tragedy. A drama that presents the downfall of a hero. THE TRAGIC HERO, IN GENERAL. Usually, there is only one tragic hero The so-called "Love Tragedies" are exceptions to the rule. THE TRAGIC HERO AND THE TRAGIC "STORY".

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SHAKESPEAREAN TRAGEDY

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  1. SHAKESPEAREAN TRAGEDY

  2. Tragedy • A drama that presents the downfall of a hero

  3. THE TRAGIC HERO, IN GENERAL • Usually, there is only one tragic hero • The so-called "Love Tragedies" are exceptions to the rule

  4. THE TRAGIC HERO AND THE TRAGIC "STORY" • The tragic story leads up to, and includes, the death of the hero

  5. The suffering and trouble are exceptional and : • happen to an important, probably royal person • are unexpected • are contrasted with previous happiness and/or glory

  6. ONLY GREAT MEN QUALIFY AS TRAGIC HEROES • Peasants do not inspire pity and fear as great men do • A Shakespearean tragedy, then, may be called a story of exceptional disaster leading to the death of a man of high status!

  7. TRAGEDY, HUMAN FLAWS, AND RESPONSIBILITY • The calamities of tragedy do not simply happen, nor are they sent • The calamities of tragedy come from actions…..the actions of tragic heroes…

  8. …who are responsible for the catastrophe of their downfalls.

  9. THE ABNORMAL, THE SUPERNATURAL, FATE/FORTUNE/CHANCE • Shakespeare occasionally presents abnormal conditions of mind: insanity, sleepwalking, hallucinations… • He also introduces the supernatural: ghosts and witches who have supernatural knowledge

  10. Continued • Finally, in most of the tragedies, Shakespeare allows "chance" in some form to influence some of the action

  11. TRAGIC CONFLICT: EXTERNAL • There are usually clear protagonists and antagonists… • Usually there are two persons, of whom the hero is one---OR, • Two Groups, one of which the hero leads-

  12. TRAGIC CONFLICT: INTERNAL • Shakespeare's tragic hero is at some point torn by an inward struggle • The innner struggle may include the action of "spiritual forces."

  13. COMMON QUALITIES OF THE TRAGIC HERO/PROTAGONIST • Tragic heroes are exceptional beings: this is the fundamental trait • Tragic heroes contribute to their own destruction by acts in which we see a tragic flaw in their character

  14. Continued • Tragic heroes illustrate the the sense of waste– • Tragic heroes need not be "good," though they generally are good

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