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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page look at the changes the genre of dramatic tragedy has undergone between the days of the ancient Greeks and our own era. Examples are provided from Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. Bibliography lists 2 sources.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_Tragevo.doc
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
of the times; the tragedy of the twentieth century is much different from those of Athens Golden Age, and both are different from the genre as interpreted by Shakespeare in
the beginning of the seventeenth century. This paper will contrast Arthur Millers conception of the tragedy with both the classic form described by Aristotle and its Elizabethan manifestation illustrated by
Shakespeare, using as examples Sophocles Oedipus the King, Shakespeares Measure for Measure, and Millers Death of a Salesman. By Aristotles time, it had become accepted that tragedy should
deal with enormous issues -- good versus evil, the gods versus man, man versus fate. Aristotle first noted that a tragedy needed irony, and it needed a tragic flaw or
error; for him, the most effective plot is that in which mans purposes are frustrated by his own ignorance or obstinacy, so that he does not see the error of
his ways until it is too late. Most importantly, for Aristotle a tragedy had to deal with a great man (or less frequently, a woman). Dramatists in his day did
not write plays about common people, because nothing they did or did not do could be considered truly tragic; common people did not affect the fate of nations, and they
did not attract the attention of the gods. This was still true in Shakespeares time. The few commoners he included were never central characters; they were supporting actors or even
buffoons. In Measure for Measure, for example, Shakespeares cast list includes Theseus, the Duke; Angelo, his Deputy; Claudio, a young gentleman; Isabella, sister to Angelo; Mariana, betrothed to Angelo; and
Juliet, beloved of Claudio. Or, to put it another way, we have a duke, his deputy, the deputys sister, and the deputys girlfriend; another gentleman and his beloved. There are
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