TRAGEDY

features of aristotelian tragedy

• fall from power

• peripeteia

• anagnorisis

• hamartia

• hubris

• time - events happen with 1 day / few days

• chorus

define peripeteia

the reversal of fortunes of the tragic hero

define anagnorisis

a moment of realisation

define hamartia

the flaw of the tragic hero that causes the mistakes and tragedies

define hubris

excessive pride, which prevents the hero from recognising their errors in the first instance

what time frame are aristotelian tragedies set in?

1 day / a few days

define chorus

group of actors who described and commented on the action of the play, often with a song and dance

who was the first person to theorise about tragedy?

aristotle, in his ‘poetics’

what did aristotle believe the purpose of tragedy was?

• to arouse pathos to create catharsis

• audience meant to gain knowledge from witnessing tragic journey

• audience meant to leave the tragedy feeling cleansed, uplifted, and with a better understanding of mankind and the gods

• soften the ‘harder passions of the heart’

how is catharsis served?

• pathos for characters

• all lose ends tied

• a hopeful future

aristotelian tragic features - order of importance

1. plot - without action there cannot be tragedy

2. character - characters are vessels to represent greater cosmic changes

what did arisotlean consider the most important feature of a tragedy? followed by what?

plot, followed by character

why did aristotle consider plot the most important tragic feature?

because without action, there cannot be tragedy

why did aristotle consider character of secondary importance?

because characters were mainly flat and used as vessels to represent the plot / cosmic messages within the tragedy

define flat character

• little to no complex emotions, personal goals, or personality

• doesn't undergo any kind of change throughout the story

• one-dimensional, lacks depth

• serves specific purposes

• limited range of emotions

define round character

• lifelike and complex

• fully fleshed-out personalities, backgrounds, desires, and motivations

• often undergo personal development over the course of a story

features of medieval tragedy

• often narrative, rather than a play

• suffering comes from gods and fate (spinning the ‘wheel of fortune’ #

• serves as ‘morality plays’ to teach a moral lesson and promote moral growth

• ad hominem; equating morality to material possession and socially acceptable forms of identity

• protagonist remains (from aristotelian tragedies) to be a person of high status who falls to low estate (fall from power)

• vice character used to represents sins / evils of man, often shown comically (flat characters show secondary importance of characterisation)

which type of text would medieval tragedies often be?

narratives rather than plays

where was suffering thought to come from in medieval tragedies?

gods and the fate; wheel of fortune

what did medieval tragedies serve as?

a moral lesson to promote moral growth

what was the protagonist like in a medieval tragedy?

a person of high status who falls to a low estate, continuing on from aristotelian tragedy

what is a vice character?

a character representing vices / a particular vice

features of renaissance tragedy

• tragedies should warn that life, happiness, and power are volatile and temporary

• much greater focus on tragic hero and their individual faults as opposed to the change of fortune, unlike aristotelian tragedy

what should reinassance tragedies do?

warn that life, happiness, and power are volatile and temporary

what do reinassance tragedies have a much greater focus on?

the tragic hero and their indiivudal faults as opposed to the reversal of fate

conventions of renaissance tragedy

• protagonist’s hamartia causes the suffering

• subplots

• comic relief

• violent and bloody plots

• rhetorical speeches

• ghosts

• death of the protagonist

• stock characters - e.g., cruel tyrant, faithful male servant, female confidante, ghost

• machiavellian characters

• plays fall into either (or multiple) a tragedy of circumstance, tragedy of miscalculation, or a revenge tragedy

what were the 3 categories in reinassance tragedy?

• tragedy of circumstance

• tragedy of miscalculation

• revenge tragedy

what kind of characters were common in renaissance tragedies?

• machiavellian characters

• stock characters (e.g., cruel tyrnant, ghost, female confidante)

what was believed to cause suffering in reinassance tragedy?

the tragic hero’s hamartia

which new narrative features were used in reinassance tragedy?

• subplots

• comic relief

• rhetorical speeches

• violent and bloody plots

• stock characters

what is a tragedy of circumstance?

tragic victims who were born into their situations rather than choosing them

what is a tragedy of miscalculation? GET THIS VERIFIED

unfortune or overexaggerated / ignorant actions from a character cause tragedy (think romeo and juliet, and the delay of the messenger) often using dramatic irony

what is a revenge tragedy?

principle theme is revenge / revenge’s consequences (think edmund)

what did reniassance poet, sidney, say about tragedy?

that tragedy should ‘teacheth the uncertainty of this world and upon how weak foundations gilden roofs are builded’

what does victorian-shakespearean tragic critic a.c bradley argue?

that the tragic flaw is central to the tragedy; the characters bring their suffering on themselves, and therefore deserve their demise

what era critic is a.c bradley?

victorian-shakespearean

what does modern critic kiernan ryan argue?

disagrees with a.c bradley. argues that shakespeare looks into a prophetic future, and that we should look at greater problems with society rather than individual flaws (i.e., shakespeare’s tragedies are criticisms of society and therefore it is useless looking at his work through a aristotelian lens)

what era critic is kiernan ryan?

modern

key vocabulary - characterisation

• hero

• protagonist

• antagonist

• nemesis

• machiavellian

• apollonian

• dionysian

• foil

• fool

key vocabulary - structural features

• zenith

• nadir

• anagnorisis

• peripeteia

• demise

• sub-plot

key vocabulary - features

• hubris

• hamartia

• blindness

• catastrophe

• fate

• catharsis

• pathos

• flaw

• tragic loading (?)

• isolation

define fool

overlooked character, often serving for comic relief, that reveals deeper truths about society and human nature

define foil

revealing information, traits, values, or motivations of one character through the comparison and contrast of another character

define zenith

time at which something is the most powerful / successful

define pathos

pity and fear

define catharsis

the process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions

define tragic victim

someone who experiences harm or misfortune due to circumstances beyond their control

define calamity

an event causing great and often sudden damage or distress

define tragic hero ASK CLOVER

the central character, depicted as a noble figure who experiences a tragic downfall

define tragic setting

a setting that exacerbates the current tragic tone

define tragic villain

sympathetic character who commits evil acts due to circumstances out of their control (like sangwon)

define tragic magnificence

IDK ASK

define tragic flaws

flaw in a character that causes their downfall + suffering

define tragic endings VERIFY

one that offers catharsis by tying up all loose ends, yet also keeps the solemn mood of the tragedy

define tragic fall

fall from power, usually from a place of affluence or high societal standing

define nadir

lowest or most unsuccessful point in a situation

define nemesis

something / someone that causes one’s downfall

define demise

death

define machiavellian

using clever but often dishonest methods that deceive people so that you can win power or control

define apollonian

relating to the rational, ordered, and self-disciplined aspects of human nature

define dionysian

relating to the sensual, spontaneous, and emotional aspects of human nature

define tragic loading

SORRY WHAT AND WHICH CATEGORY OF KEY VOCAB DOES IT GO IN