Tragedy Test

essential questions

what need, desire, and/or interest does genres and archetypes fulfill for human beings?

how do archetypes reveal themselves and contribute to our understanding of a text and/or our world/human experience?

why do people tell stories about this archetype, and why has the genre become so universal, popular, and significant?

uplifting archetypes

sacrificial hero and the hero that stands up to suffer or faces suffering head on

catharsis

it is the purging of emotions, using pity where we feel the suffering is unfair, and fear that we would act the same way

dramatic irony

when a character says/does something they don’t fully understand but the audience does

tragic flaw

a crack or fissure that causes them to act a certain way, flaw leads to decision which leads to fall

hubris

human elevating themself to the level of gods

recognition

when a character realizes something important, usually about themselves, another person, or their situation

reversal

when a character falls from a high status to a low status, their situation is completely different than where they used to be

greek gods

Dionysus who represents chaos and Apollo who represents order

6 archetypes

destruction of innocent life - something beautiful or innocent is destroyed by a greater force, showing how fragile humans are and raising questions about fate and free will

loss of innocence - a character learns about evil through their own mistakes; even though their loss is inevitable, we still feel pity for them

sacrificial hero - martyr who dies to benefit/advance a cause, scapegoat who willingly takes on the burden of the community to liberate them

hero stands up to their suffering/faces suffering head on - a higher power gives a character more suffering than they deserve, by questioning it or enduring it they gain dignity or grow as a person

death as a release - will to live is wilder than will to die, character stops struggling and the world takes on unreal quality

tragic hero + flaw - a greek tragedy hero with his status and unwavering beliefs, because of a tragic flaw they experience a reversal and are destroyed then recognize their mistake