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Aristotelian Tragedy in Shakespeare Structure and Conflict

Aristotelian Tragedy in Shakespeare Structure and Conflict. What is Tragedy?. What’s the difference between a Tragedy and a Sad Story ?. Tragedy is when bad stuff happens to good people – who kind of deserve it. Origins of Tragedy.

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Aristotelian Tragedy in Shakespeare Structure and Conflict

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  1. Aristotelian Tragedy in ShakespeareStructure and Conflict

  2. What is Tragedy? • What’s the difference between a Tragedy and a Sad Story?

  3. Tragedy is when bad stuff happens to good people – who kind of deserve it. Origins of Tragedy • The Greek philosopher Aristotle first defined tragedy in his book Poetics written in about 330 BCE.

  4. Elements of Tragedy • A Tragic Hero • Hamartia • Peripeteia • Anagnorisis • Catharsis • Restoration of Social Order

  5. The Tragic Hero • The tragic hero is someone we, as an audience, look up to—someone superior. • Must receive a fate greater than deserved. • Hero must be doomed from the start, but bears no responsibility for possessing his flaw. • The tragic hero is nearly perfect, and we identify with him/her • In what ways is Hamlet a tragic hero?

  6. Hamartia • Although he is nearly perfect, the hero has one flaw or weakness • We call this the “tragic flaw,” “fatal flaw,” or hamartia. • The most common form of hamartia is hubris, or excessive pride. • What is Hamlet’s hamartia? How does he display it?

  7. Peripeteia • Also called Reversal of Fortune • The “fatal flaw” brings the hero down from his/her elevated state. • Renaissance audiences were familiar with the “wheel of fortune” or “fickle fate.” • What goes up, must come down. • What is the peripeteia of Hamlet?

  8. Anagnorisis • Anagnorisis is the moment when a character makes a critical discovery. Anagnorisis originally meant recognition in its Greek context, not only of a person but also of what that person stood for. It was the hero's sudden awareness or realization of things as they stood, and finally, the hero's insight into a relationship with an often antagonistic character in Aristotelian tragedy. • What is/are the moment(s) of anagnorisis for Hamlet?

  9. Catharsis • “Catharsis” is the audience’s purging of emotions through pity and fear. • The spectator is purged as a result of watching the hero fall. • Vicarious lesson • How does Hamlet enable the audience to experience catharsis?

  10. A story that evokes these emotions in the audience has successfully taught a vicarious lesson.

  11. Restoration of Social Order(Dénouement) • Tragedies include a private and a public element • The play cannot end until society is, once again, at peace. • The end result serves as a warning for future generations to heed the mistakes of the parents’ generation. • Do we achieve this in Hamlet?

  12. Structure of Tragedy William Shakespeare wrote many tragedies in his prolific career. In each, he adhered to a rigid structure that has proven to be successful in capturing an audience’s attention. This structure has been used as a formula for hundreds (thousands?) of plays and movies over the past four centuries.

  13. The Structure of Tragedy • Exposition • Exciting Force • Rising Action • Climax • Falling Action • Catastrophe

  14. Exposition • The exposition describes the mood and conditions existing at the beginning of the play. The time and place will be identified as well as the main characters and their positions, circumstances, and relationships to one another.

  15. Exciting Force • Also sometimes called the complication or initial incident, the exciting force is what “gets things going.” The exciting force thus begins the conflict which will continue throughout the play.

  16. Rising Action • The series of events leading to the climax comprise the rising action. These events provide a progressive intensity of interest for the audience. The rising action will involve more than one act.

  17. Climax • The climax represents the turning point of the play. From this point on, the Shakespearean hero moves to his inevitable (often grisly) end.

  18. Falling Action • The falling action includes those events occurring from the time of the climax up to the hero’s death. The episodes will show both advances and declines in the various forces acting upon the hero.

  19. The Catastrophe • The catastrophe concerns the necessary consequences of the hero’s actions (death). The catastrophe will be characteristically simple and brief.

  20. Quick Write • Give the moments of the play which fit the following tragic elements: • Exciting Force • Peripeteia • Anagnorisis • Climax • Catastrophe

  21. Tragedy Structure • Act I:Exposition, Exciting Force, Rising Action • Act II: Rising Action • Act III: Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action • Act IV: Falling Action • Act V: Falling Action, Catastrophe

  22. D • Exposition • Exciting Force • Rising Action • Climax • Falling Action • Catastrophe C E B A F

  23. Conflict Conflict is the dramatic struggle between two forces in a story. Without conflict, there is no plot.

  24. Types of Conflict There are two categories:

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