Literary Criticism on Tragedies
I. Literary
Criticism
II. Tragic Hero
Tragedy is the limitation of a certain magnitude. The tragic hero is a man of noble
birth, a man of high degree. His fate affects many. He is good but has flaws
(hamartia). His flaw is an error or frailty and is not caused by vice or depravity. His
flaw brings about his inevitable down fall or catastrophe. Tragic irony lies in the
contrast between the vision he has of his future and the disaster, which befalls him.
Despite the inevitability of his fate, (disaster, catastrophe). The protagonist asserts
his dignity and is committed inexorably to a noble cause. He believe he is doing
the "right "thing. He struggles against his fate (disaster, catastrophe, and
downfall) which is inevitable. He struggles to be more than human and increase his
stature as a man. But since he is a man, he goes too far. He experiences a reversal and
recognition. He recognizes his error and suffers profoundly. He has to suffer pity. He
suffers and protests his fate. The suffering enables him to become human, wise, and see
his place in the universe that he is not a god, but a man, limited. The audience watches
the spectacle of suffering and experiences fear and pity and then catharsis.
The release of these emotions leaves a sense of tragic awe at the nobility of
human spirit, which struggles against its limitations.
III.Notes on Tragedy
- Elements of Greek Tragedy
- Plots were religious myths familiar to the audience
- No suspense-more subtle techniques
- foreshadowing-hint or clue of a future event
- verbal or "Sophoclean irony"-audience knows more than the character and a
different meaning for the audience
- All Greek plays had Unity
- Time-takes place within a single day
- Place-scene does not change
- Action-one story-no subplots
- Form
- Sophocles changed form of Greek Tragedy
- Added scene painting and a third actor
- Increased the chorus from 2-15
- The Chorus
- Sets the mood
- Represents the common man
- Sides with one character or another
- May warn a character of possible danger
- Aristotle
384-322BC
- Wrote Poetics-the study of Greek Drama
- Tragedy
- Subject
of tragedy is a struggle and down falls of a hero
- Aim
of tragedy is to bring about a catharsis--is a process that causes the
audience to feel pity and fear and then purges them of these emotions so that they leave
the theater feeling cleansed and uplifted.
- Audience feels pity for a hero because he doesn't deserve his misfortune
- Audience feels fear because they recognize that the hero is a man like themselves
and what happened to the hero could happen to them.
- Tragic Hero
- Man/Woman of noble birth-a "good" person, not god-like
- Has a flaw in his character
- Usually pride, hubris that ultimately causes his downfall
- Hero's fate flows from his character(flaw) it is not the result or an accident
- involved in a noble cause-an action of a certain magnitude in which the hero
believes he is doing the right thing.
- Struggles against his fate that is inevitable
- Experiences reversal and recognition
- Reversal-the opposite of what is planned for actually occurs
- Recognition-lives and suffers with the knowledge of what he has done
IV. Vocabulary words on Oedipus
Hubris
Hamartia
Peripetaia
Theban Plays
Prologue
Parodos
Strophe
Antistrophe
Ode(Chorus)
Exodos