Tragedy
Key ideas:
- Ends with death
- Characters become isolated - social breakdown
- A central figure who is noble but with a character flaw which leads them toward their
eventual downfall
- There is a sense that events are inevitable or inescapable
- Hamartia - a flaw in character that brings about the downfall of the hero of a tragedy
- There is some element of separation and reunification
- Family tensions that are usually resolved in the end
- Anagnorisis - the point at which the protagonist gains new insight and realises that what
he/she has done is wrong.
- Catharsis - purging of emotions
- Pity and fear
- Calamity - an event causing great and often sudden damage or distress; a disaster.
- Magnitude - the greatness of soul - megalopsychia - the greatness of soul also translated as
pride or magnanimity, is a virtue Aristotle attributes to the good person regarding his claim to
be worthy of great things, namely, honour.
- Pride - hubris - exaggerated pride or self-confidence
- The Gods - greek tragedy - may apply to religion
Aristotle’s tragedy:
Writing around 335 BC:
“Tragedy is an imitation (mimesis) of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude…
through pity and fear affecting the proper purgation (catharsis) of these emotions”
- A tragedy must be serious, momentous and believable
- The hero of a tragedy should be a person of noble status, not someone poor or ordinary
- The hero should not be an outright villain, but neither should they be perfectly virtuous
- The misfortune that they suffer should be the result of an error or fatal flaw in virtuous
- The misfortune they suffer should be the result of an error or fatal flaw in their personality
(harmatia)
- There should be a very clear structure to the play, with a sudden reversal of fortune
(peripetea) leading to a moment of sudden realisation (anagnorisis), and ending in a terrifying,
pitiful catastrophe.
- The result is a feeling of catharsis, a purging of emotion for the audience, which helps them to
contemplate suffering in the real world.
Key ideas:
- Ends with death
- Characters become isolated - social breakdown
- A central figure who is noble but with a character flaw which leads them toward their
eventual downfall
- There is a sense that events are inevitable or inescapable
- Hamartia - a flaw in character that brings about the downfall of the hero of a tragedy
- There is some element of separation and reunification
- Family tensions that are usually resolved in the end
- Anagnorisis - the point at which the protagonist gains new insight and realises that what
he/she has done is wrong.
- Catharsis - purging of emotions
- Pity and fear
- Calamity - an event causing great and often sudden damage or distress; a disaster.
- Magnitude - the greatness of soul - megalopsychia - the greatness of soul also translated as
pride or magnanimity, is a virtue Aristotle attributes to the good person regarding his claim to
be worthy of great things, namely, honour.
- Pride - hubris - exaggerated pride or self-confidence
- The Gods - greek tragedy - may apply to religion
Aristotle’s tragedy:
Writing around 335 BC:
“Tragedy is an imitation (mimesis) of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude…
through pity and fear affecting the proper purgation (catharsis) of these emotions”
- A tragedy must be serious, momentous and believable
- The hero of a tragedy should be a person of noble status, not someone poor or ordinary
- The hero should not be an outright villain, but neither should they be perfectly virtuous
- The misfortune that they suffer should be the result of an error or fatal flaw in virtuous
- The misfortune they suffer should be the result of an error or fatal flaw in their personality
(harmatia)
- There should be a very clear structure to the play, with a sudden reversal of fortune
(peripetea) leading to a moment of sudden realisation (anagnorisis), and ending in a terrifying,
pitiful catastrophe.
- The result is a feeling of catharsis, a purging of emotion for the audience, which helps them to
contemplate suffering in the real world.
