TRAGEDY

1. TRAGEDY

2. ARISTOTLE Tragedy, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with artistic ornament. Comprising of action, with incidents arousing pity and fear.

3. Parts of Tragedy Every Tragedy, therefore, must have six parts: • Plot 2. Characters • Diction 4. Thought 5. Spectacle 6. Melody

4. PLOT Plot is the “first principle,” the most important feature of tragedy. Aristotle defines plot as “the arrangement of the incidents”: i.e., not the story itself but the way the incidents are presented to the audience. It is the structure of the play.

5. PARTS OF PLOT • Invective Moment: Starts the cause-and-effect chain 2. Climax: Caused by earlier incidents and itself cause the incidents that follow it. • Resolution: Caused by the preceding events but not lead to other incidents outside the compass of the play

6. The plot must be “complete,” having “unity of action.” By this Aristotle means that the plot must be structurally self-contained, with the incidents bound together by internal necessity, each action leading inevitably to the next with no outside intervention,

7. The plot must be “of a certain magnitude,” both quantitatively (length, complexity) and qualitatively (“seriousness” and universal significance).

8. The plot may be either simple or complex, although complex is better. Simple plots have only a “change of fortune” (catastrophe). Complex plots have both “reversal of intention” (peripeteia) and “recognition” (anagnorisis)

9. Parts of a Tragedy There are four parts to the tragedy Part one - protasis, the setting up the situationPart two - epitasis, the complication of the actionPart three - catastasis, the main body of the actionPart four - catastrophe, the ending or unwinding

10. CHARACTER In a perfect tragedy, character will support plot, i.e., personal motivations will be intricately connected parts of the cause-and-effect chain of actions producing pity and fear in the audience.

11. PROTAGONIST The protagonist should be renowned and prosperous, so his change of fortune can be from good to bad. This change “should come about as the result, not of vice, but of some great error or frailty in a character.”

12. QUALITIES OF CHARACTERS • ‘Good’ i.e Belong to the noble/higher classes in society • “fit” i.e true to type. Warriors are brave and women are delicate. • “True to life” i.e be real • ‘consistent” i.e true to self

13. CATHARSIS The end of the tragedy is a Catharsis(purgation, cleansing) of the tragic emotions of pity and fear. The word means “purging,” and Aristotle seems to be employing a medical metaphor—tragedy arouses the emotions of pity and fear in order to purge away their excess, to reduce these passions to a healthy, balanced proportion.

14. SHAKESPEAREAN TRAGEDY • A Tragic Hero • The Tragic Flaw • Reversal of Fortune • Catharsis (Katharsis) • Restoration of social order

15. The Tragic Hero • We look up to the tragic hero. He is a ‘superior person’ • He is nearly perfect and we identify with him • He is invested with the ‘fatal flaw’- ‘’Hamartia” • Hamartia causes the hero’s downfall and the downfall of all surrounding him.

16. TRAGIC FLAW This is one flaw in the otherwise perfect hero. This flaw is the cause of his downfall and the downfall of all connected with him

17. REVERSAL OF FORTUNE • Fatal flaw brings the hero down from his elevated state. • Renaissance audience were familiar with the ‘wheel of fortune’ or ‘fickle fate’ • What goes up must come down

18. RESTORATION OF SOCIAL ORDER • Tragedies include a private and public element • The play does not end until the society is once again at peace . • Harmony is restored!