...Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy received great popularity and stamped as a form to be imitated not only because it has revenge as a tragic motive but also because it is a imitation from medieval tragedy. This masterpiece was presented as blood - revenge where the sacred duty of the father to avenge the murder of his son - and from that sensational theme (which was also popular in classic tragic dramas) derived its polarity and uniqueness. Revenge tragedy in its general sense defines the real dramatic motivation behind which blood and violence lies. Kyd, as an Elizabethan dramatist wanted to show his uniqueness with academic tradition and for this he owns a great deal to Lucius Annaceus Seneca who was a successful dramatist of Roman tyrants. In Senecan tragedies blood-revenge for murder, supernatural elements and delay are presented in realistic perspective. This style is followed by Kyd in his The Spanish Tragedy. As a revenge tragedy, The Spanish Tragedy starts with supernatural effect or the ghost of Andrea in Act I. Just like medieval or Senecan dramas Kyd introduced the drama with a ghost who has connections between the plays main protagonist character and future development of the plot. As Don Andrea was killed in a fair battle an Elizabethan audience would have little sympathy for him so Kyd also introduced the partial hero Horatio who is good in every sense and perspective so that audience have sympathy for his death and also feels sympathetic for his father...
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...opinion clearly and support it with direct references to both plays and to the elements of tragedy that you have learned so farWhich play, in your opinion, was more tragic – Hamlet or Agamemnon? Be sure to explain your opinion clearly and support it with direct references to both plays and to the elements of tragedy that you have learned so farWhich play, in your opinion, was more tragic – Hamlet or Agamemnon? Be sure to explain your opinion clearly and support it with direct references to both plays and to the elements of tragedy that you have learned so farWhich play, in your opinion, was more tragic – Hamlet or Agamemnon? Be sure to explain your opinion clearly and support it with direct references to both plays and to the elements of tragedy that you have learned so farWhich play, in your opinion, was more tragic – Hamlet or Agamemnon? Be sure to explain your opinion clearly and support it with direct references to both plays and to the elements of tragedy that you have learned so farWhich play, in your opinion, was more tragic – Hamlet or Agamemnon? Be sure to explain your opinion clearly and support it with direct references to both plays and to the elements of tragedy that you have learned so farWhich play, in your opinion, was more tragic – Hamlet or Agamemnon? Be sure to explain your opinion clearly and support it with direct references to both plays and to the elements of tragedy that you have learned so farWhich play, in your opinion, was more tragic – Hamlet...
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...tragic novel Aristotle’s concept of tragedy states that it is the enactment of an action that is complete in itself. It should sway the readers or audiences with pity or fear in the end. To keep it in mind, “The Return of Native” can be coined as a village tragic novel which brings us into contact with ordinary people. Hardy is able to create genuine tragedy out of the inter-relationships between characters and the background of Egdon Heath. The protagonist (Eustacia) of the novel because of her passionate nature and ungovernable longings for fashion life resulted in her tragedy. Some of the heath folks think she is a witch. The death of her whether it is accidental or a case of suicidal, is highly pitiful. Many of the people think that she is the real tragic heroin of the novel. But if we compare her with Clym, we will come to know that he is the real tragic hero. The very title of the novel tells about his return from Paris to Egdon Heath. He is quite an emotional sort of person reluctant to reality of situations. He is actually a person who could not understand the thinking of folks of Heath as those people only longs for money not intellectual development. His unpractical idealism is the cause of his downfall (hamartia). The novel also holds some supernatural or gothic element in it which suggests that it belongs to the category of tragedy. Redman is the symbol of gothic element. Hardy has magnificently woven a tapestry of tragedy with the threads of fate, providences...
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...Senecan elements in The Spanish Tragedy The Spanish Tragedy belongs to a class of drama known as the revenge play, which comes from the pen of Thomas Kyd (1558-1594). Almost all the English playwrights of that time followed the Classical playwrights, Classical tragedies. Kyd also did the same. Especially he followed Roman playwright Lucius Annaneus Seneca (4BC-65AD) blindly. So he is called The English Seneca. Seneca was also a Roman Stoic philosopher. Primly he wrote tragic dramas. His dramas were full of melodramatic elements, such as, blood-shed, killing, assassination, horror scenes, etc. For these reasons his dramas are suitable for only to read in chamber or in closed room. Let us now have a brief discussion about the elements of Seneca used by Kyd in his play The Spanish Tragedy. In all the plays of Seneca we find the revenge theme. Revenge was the main plot, main motive in his plays. Like him, Kyd also used the revenge theme. As we find The Ghost of Andrea, Bel-Imperia, Horatio, Isabella and Hieronimo all the characters want to take revenge. Though we see that the climates are different, but their motive is same. We find Hieronimo saying after the death of his son, Horatio: “See’st thou this handkerchief besmeared with blood? / It shall not from me till I take revenge.” (2. 5. 51-52). In Senecan plays, all the characters think that if they take revenge upon the killers who have murdered their dearest persons, it can never be a sin...
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...Aspects Of Tragedy Tragedy: A fatal event or affair dealing with a serious theme typically involving a great person destined to experience downfall or utter destruction. Through a flaw or conflict with an overpowering force. Macbeth can be considered a good example of a Tragedy firstly because it is considered to be one of Shakespeare’s Tragedies. Secondly Macbeth has a clear structure, which shows readers how Macbeth was seen as a hero, a loyal, truthful and brave soldier but then experienced downfall. The wickedness, greed and irrationality of his wife led him to want to have and take things forcefully although he was not destined to it. His involvement with witches and witchcraft led him to experience utter destruction due to the weakness he has for his wife since she is so dominant. Therefore Macbeth can be seen as a tragedy. On the other hand An Inspector Calls cannot be considered a good example of a tragedy this is because AIC is more of a mysterious, tension filled play. It is focused on not just one individual but on 7 main characters. None of these characters face utter destruction they instead are given a second chance to make things right. The characters get a wake up call in AIC whereas in a Tragedy the individual is driven by a spiritual force, hate and anger, love and despair. Lastly AIC is a morality play designed to make audiences think about what has been said and done. Therefore AIC cannot be seen as a tragedy. Hamlet Firstly the main...
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...Edmond Mak Professor Bradley ENGL-103-192 27 April 2011 Aristotle’s Theory of Tragedy When one thinks of Aristotle’s theory of tragedy, some works that might come to mind include Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles, or the many works written by Shakespeare such as Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, or Macbeth. A common feature that all of these works share is that they were all written around and/or before the sixteenth century. One might be surprised, however, to discover that stories are still being written in today’s societies that follow the elements of Aristotelian theory. One story written in relatively recent history is that of "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. which in many aspects, can be considered a Aristotelian tragedy. Aristotle described a tragedy as a story that consisted of a tragic hero and a plot that would generate fear and pity in its audience. In this story, fourteen-year-old Harrison Bergeron valiantly attempts to break free from an equality-based society, but is quickly denied by the authoritative force of the government. The most important element in Aristotelian tragedy is the plot of a story. Aristotle states in Poetics that a story must consist of a beginning, middle, and end (Aristotle, 7). "Harrison Bergeron" fits this description very well because the beginning, middle, and end can be clearly identified while reading the story. The story opens by giving a description of what the society people live in is like. "THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody...
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...'Death' , 'Revenge' , 'Unhappy endings' come to my mind When I think about the word 'tragedy'. What is tragedy? Tragedy is a form of drama based on human suffering that invokes in its audience an accompanying catharsis or pleasure in the viewing.(Banham 1998, p. 1118.) Then what are Shakespearean tragedies? "Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy." (F. Scott Fitzgerald) I also think this quote applies very well to William Shakespeare's works, for he has created such beautiful pieces of literature in the form of tragedies. There are several elements of Shakespearean tragedy. For example, Tragic hero, Tragic(Fatal) flaw, Internal and external conflict, Comic relief, The supernatural, The abnormality, Revenge, and Death etc. I am going to take a look at some of the elements of Shakespearean tragedy used in very famous plays, 'Hamlet' and 'Romeo and Juliet'. First of all, a 'Tragic flaw', by definition, is a personality trait that leads to the downfall of the protagonist. Hamlet is well aware of his fatal flaw from the beginning, he constantly questions himself on why he continues to delay the fulfillment of his duty. Hamlet finally acts to kill Claudius only after realizing that he is poisoned. But by putting off, his tragic flaw, leads to multiple death such as Polonius, Ophelia, Gertrude, Laertes, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern and himself, too. Second, Use of 'supernatural' elements is one of common characteristics of the Elizabethan drama. In Hamlet, the ghost of Hamlet's...
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...era and the theatres were always crowded during a play. Shakespeare wrote mainly tragedies by the end of the 16th century, including Hamlet, Othello and Macbeth. Aristotle's definition of a tragedy is that a tragedy is an imitation (mimesis) of an action that is morally admirable. Aristotle is a philosopher who wrote about poetry, poetry being epic, drama, and lyric for Aristotle, in his work “Poetics”. He said in his work that a tragedy should be composed by an introduction, a middle part and an ending. According to Aristotle the fable (mythos) is more important than the characters in the play. It is so because the purpose with the tragedy, according to Aristotle, is to make the audience feel pity (eleos) and fear (fobos) and as a result achieve an emotional cleansing(Catharsis). In order to bring those feelings to the audience the tragedy must be complex. The tragedy must involve a peripeteia, meaning that a great person experiences a turning point, a reversal of fortune. This turning point must be caused by a mistake, the tragic hero's mistake (hamartia). This reversal of fortune cannot be prevented but it is an unforeseen result of the mistake the tragic hero makes. The tragic hero must during the play achieve a revelation(anagnorisis) that means that the hero will go from not knowing to knowing, and that could be about anything. All these elements are what makes a tragedy a good tragedy according to Aristotle. In 1963 Gustav Freytag, a...
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...I chose a play because the play I chose has a lot of meaning to it. I chose Shakespeare’s Macbeth because it shows a lot of different elements and gives a great understanding. Shakespeare’s Macbeth expresses a lot about humanity and about the human experience. The story has so much meaning to it, and for you to understand it you have to really analyze and dig deeper into this story. People seem to take reading this story into a whole different perspective. Even though the story may show different negative sides to humans you have to really understand the story to say this. Shakespeare is a very influential poet he persuades and explains to the readers a lot of different things in his poems and short stories. Shakespeare is basically in this story telling humans to be aware of their surroundings because you never know when something my go bad. While on the other hand Macbeth’s themes and other literary elements usually talks about the disaster of something or just tragedy. In my opinion, his whole story would be considered as a tragedy. In this play it shows a lot of drama and gives off a fiery but attractive tome that draws the reader into the theme in the play. Shakespeare’s is known as the encyclopedia of humanities as they examine the most realistic and controversial issues of human nature. Shakespeare’s describes Macbeth’s inhumanity and human nature, which continually struggles against the evils in his soul. “To be or not to be” is about the choices we make in our everyday...
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...classified as a tragedy, it more closely resembles Shakespeare's comedies than his other tragedies. The lovers and their battle with authority is reminiscent of As You Like It and The Winter's Tale. "Characteristically, those comedies concern themselves with the inborn, unargued stupidity of older people and the life-affirming gaiety and resourcefulness of young ones. The lovers thread their way through obstacles set up by middle aged vanity and impercipience. Parents are stupid and do not know what it best for their children or themselves . . . [Romeo and Juliet] begins with the materials for a comedy - the stupid parental generation, the instant attraction of the young lovers, the quick surface life of street fights, masked balls and comic servants" (Wain, p. 107). Indeed, one could view Romeo and Juliet as a transitional play in which Shakespeare merges the comedic elements perfected in his earlier work with tragic elements he would later perfect in the great tragedies -- Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, and King Lear. This mixture of styles ultimately hurts Romeo and Juliet, exposing the immaturity of the playwright. The heroes of the play must contend with external forces that impede their relationship, but, unlike the great tragic heroes, they are devoid of the inner struggle that makes for great tragedy. The influential Shakespearean scholar, A.C. Bradley, went so far as to neglect the play entirely in his well-known collection of lectures on the great tragedies, Shakespearean...
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...“Poetics” Euripides’ Medea, a tale of love, sorrow, and revenge, is, by Aristotle’s standards, a tragedy. The play clearly includes each of the three unities and all of the six elements of theatre, as Aristotle discussed in “Poetics.” However, even though Medea can be accurately categorized as a Greek tragedy, the story lacks a tragic hero. Neither of the two main characters, Medea or Jason, possess all the traits that exist in a tragic hero. According to Aristotle, there are three unities of theatre that make plays more pleasurable for the audience. Euripides employs all three. Medea has unity of action, as it only contains one main plot: Medea’s revenge. This makes the story simple for the audience to follow. There is also unity of time, because all of the action involved in the plot occurs in one day. This action unfolds in only one location: Medea’s home. The latter exemplifies unity of place. For example, when Medea’s children bring Jason’s new bride the poison dress and diadem, the setting does not change to the home of Jason and his wife. Rather, a messenger arrives at Medea’s house to report what has happened to the princess. Euripides’ use of the three unities brings the plot together and makes it easy to understand. In addition to the three unities, Medea includes all six of Aristotle’s elements of theatre. The most important element of theatre is the plot. The plot of Medea is very straightforward, and occurs in a logical sequence...
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...The Tragedy in Othello The play Othello written by William Shakespeare in classical terms is considered a tragedy because of its tragic elements which Iago is the main tragic element. He is an antagonist and involute character that plans to ruin Othello and the downfall of a great hero due his tragic imperfection. The play has plenty of deaths that happen through the story. In the play Othello, Desdemona, Othello, Roderigo and Emilia have horrible and tragic endings. Iago who is the person who is the cause of this tragedy committed all this for revenge on Othello. In Act V scene II Lodovico expresses this to Iago “ O Spartan dog, more fell than anguish, hunger, or the sea, look on the tragic loading of this bed. This is thy work. The object poisons sight, let it be hid..” (V .ii.330-334) Lodovico feels and anger and is disgusted towards Iago for being a manipulator and causing all the deaths....
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...Which Play is More Tragic: Hamlet or Agamemnon In my opinion, the play Hamlet is more tragic than Agamemnon. They are both tragedies as they both fulfill Aristotle’s definition of tragedy as they both depict the downfall of a basically good person through some fatal error or misjudgment, which produces suffering and insight on the part of the protagonist and arousing pity and fear on the part of the audience. They also have all the elements of Greek tragedy such as hubris, catharsis, peripeteia, anagnorisis, and hamartia (“Ancient Greek Tragedy”). The most important reason that Hamlet is more tragic, in my opinion, is because the protagonist, Hamlet, is an integral part of the play and his character is much more developed. In Agamemnon , the protagonist, Agamemnon, is a secondary character to his wife who, in my opinion is the main character. Hamlet is a tragic hero, as is Agamemnon, following Aristotle’s criteria for the elements of a tragic hero. For example, they both evoke the audience’s pity and fear, have a major flaw of character and are destined to fall in some way (“Tragedy in Drama”). However, because Hamlet is the main character, we see, hear and understand more of his character. When Hamlet delivers his many dramatic soliloquies about mortality, betrayal, and the futility of life, he shows us his tortured world and the anguish, grief, and uncertainty which eventually takes over his life, leading to his death (“Hamlet Tone”). As the reader, I felt so much sympathy...
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...A drama, also known as a play, is a form of literature written intentionally for theatrical performance. Most of the parts in a drama are consisted of scripted dialogues, or only the acting in some cases, between characters intended to be performed by actors and actresses to move the story along. There are six main elements of drama which serve as the basis of producing a successful play. These essential elements of drama include the plot of the story, the theme, the genre in which the story belongs, the characters, the setting, and the audience. Altogether, they provide a building block by which dramatic works can be analyzed and evaluated. By knowing and using the elements of drama, the skills needed in creating a successful performance, as well as the skills required to analyze a drama, could be developed. The followings are the elements of drama and their brief description: Plot Plot, referring to the basic storyline of the play, is the structure of a play which tells what happens as the story goes. The plot structure can be divided into six stages: exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement. The exposition is simply an introductory part that provides the background information needed to properly understand the story. The inciting incident, or conflict, is the event that sets the action of the play in motion. It is what gets the story going. The rising action is a series of events, including complications and discoveries...
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...University of Quindío Modern Languages Program Literature and Theory Professor Gomez Julian Andres Ospina Correa The Tragedy of Macbeth: the thirsty for power In history, a vast majority of tragedies have been written causing excitement and other effects on the reader. Indeed, William Shakespeare and his work The Tragedy Macbeth is not the exception, on the contrary, great value and critics unfolded from this work. Macbeth opened up several ways for tragedy within the literature world, forasmuch as the high quality of its elements, such as its plot, thought, character, diction, and so. Hereafter, I will proceed to go beyond the lines and leave my analysis of the most relevant elements of the magnificent tragedy of Macbeth by the master William Shakespeare. Thrilling from beginning to end is how I perceive The Tragedy of Macbeth as in its plot, which I am going to analyze right after, some important moments take place which makes this tragedy brilliant upon the reader’s eyes. The story is developed during the eleventh century in Scotland lands of which Macbeth looked after as the thane, although some parts of the story take place in England. Some of the most important characters within this tragedy are Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, the three witches, Duncan, Banquo, Fleance, Malcolm, MacDuff, the three murderers, among others of minor relevance. The rising action initiates when both Macbeth and Banquo encountered with the three witches who predict their future telling...
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