The nature and definition of tragedy

Tragedy

As a form of literature, the tragedy has been in existence since the time of the Ancient Greeks. It has evolved over the centuries from the ancient world to the modern world while still retaining its basic themes and concepts as a branch of literature that explores in a serious manner how a character is effected by misfortune and anguish. Two tragic stories, separated by 2400 years, are Oedipus the King and Death of a Salesman; and while each tells the story of a suffering character, each is also a reflection of the society in which it was written.

Tragedy can trace it roots back to ancient Greece where Aristotle defined it as "serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude…in the form of action, not narrative, through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions." (Aristotle, 11) in other words, it is a form of drama where the audience engages in the emotions of fear and pity for a character in the story. The main character of a tragedy is one who suffers catastrophic events and the story often ends in tremendous sorrow with the devastation of the tragic character. This tradition, which began with such tales as Sophocles' Oedipus the King, continued through the Medieval period and into the Elizabethan period, and finally, into the modern world with such tragic characters as Willy Loman from Arthur Millers' Death of a Salesman.

If one needs to have a fall from grace as a component of a tragedy, then Oedipus the King began with a tragic hero, Oedipus, the King of Thebes. He was faced with a catastrophic plague which can only be ended when the killer of the previous king was brought to justice. It turned out that Oedipus was the killer, but this was only the beginning of his suffering as he soon discovered that the previous king was his father, and his current wife, and mother of his children, was really his birth mother. Devastated by this revelation, Oedipus's mother/wife hanged herself, while Oedipus blinded himself; and as a final tragic turn of events, even though he begged for death, he was banished instead.

Willy Loman, the main character in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman was a not-so-successful salesman who never attained any high rank or station, but still suffered a catastrophic fall from grace when he was fired from his job. He went from a person who had value to someone who was nothing, and while this may not have been as dramatic as the fall of a king, in 20th century America, it was a tragic fall that the audience could relate to. He was a dreamer at a time in his life when the dreams were all gone and the only thing left was the stark reality of a failed life. The character of Willy Loman was pitied by his family for not being able to succeed; and his shame at not being able to provide for them was too much to endure. In the end this failure of a father, husband, and salesman committed suicide leaving behind a disappointed family.

As tragic characters, both Oedipus and Willy Loman suffered great hardships, albeit hardships that were relative to their circumstances. As a king in ancient Greek literature, Oedipus was required to have a dramatically catastrophic fall, while modern literature needs a tragic hero who is an "everyman." But both suffered greatly in their own ways, and in ways that the audience both expected and regarded as essential. But while these two characters were both the central, tragic figure in their respective stories, their differences were a reflection of the role of dramatic tragedy in their societies.

The subject of ancient Greek literature was often the magnificent deeds of the gods and heroes, while everyday life was more often forgotten. As a result, the tragedies presented often had as their main character a great person, sometimes with a major personality flaw, who suffers extreme torments and a mighty plunge from an exalted position. Nothing exemplified this excessive amount of suffering than Oedipus, a man who became a king only to later discover that he unwittingly killed his own father, married and had children with his own mother, and ended up a blind beggar. His tragic journey took him from king to pauper; but this was expected by the ancient Greeks.