What is a Tragedy?

What do you think? What would be a tragic event for you? Can you think of tragic movies?

Who is Aristotle? Greek Philosopher Student of Plato, attended Plato’s Academy Teacher of Alexander the Great; he would later open his own school, the Lyceum Studied EVERYTHING, from physics to animals to biology to poetry. Wrote The Poetics, which discusses the nature of art and the relationship to real life Created the most well known and widely used definition for a tragedy Aristotle claimed that Oedipus the King was the perfect tragedy

Characteristics of a Tragedy

What is a tragedy? Definition A play, not a story, dealing with unfortunate events, especially one concerning the downfall of the main character. Unity of Plot The plot must be unified. The worst plays are episodic, where scenes do not build on each other. “There must be unity of plot… the structural union of parts being such that, if any of them is displaced or removed, the whole will be disjointed and disturbed. For a thing whose presence or absence makes no difference is not an organic part of the whole.”

Three’s a Charm The middle must grow from the introduction, and the end must be a resolution of the middle. “ A beginning is that which does not have to follow anything else, but after which something else naturally happens. An end, on the contrary, is that which naturally follows something else. A well- constructed plot must neither begin or end at haphazard.”

Probable Resolution The end must be predictable. The worst kind of ending is deux ex machina, god by machine, where a supernatural force comes and solves the problem

The Tragic Hero The tragic hero must not be a totally good man nor a completely bad person. No one feels bad when bad things happen to a bad person, and he can’t be so good that he doesn’t have flaws. The Tragic Flaw A personal weakness, an error in judgment, that causes the hero’s demise (fall). “[The change of fortune] should come about as a result not if vice, but if some great error or frailty.”

Dramatic Movement The tragic hero is usually someone of upstanding social status. In a tragedy, the main character must go from a high point in life (prosperity) to the lowest of the low points (adversity). Reversal – A change from one state of affairs to its opposite Discovery – A change from ignorance to knowledge Calamity – Suffering; an action of destructive, painful nature

Catharsis A tragedy must evoke fear and pity from the audience Fear because the audience can relate to him and believe that the events may happen to them Pity for the undeserved suffering By awakening the pity and fear within the audience they can be released and the audience can go home feeling better

Yes or No: Tragic Hero Bad guy going from misery to prosperity A very poor, already miserable person, getting much worse

Your Assignment Get into a group of 2 or 3 Pick one of the following movies Discuss it as a group Decide if it is a perfect tragedy If yes, explain all the parts that make it so. If no, explain what it is missing. You have 10 minutes

Tragedy, Yes or No: Movies Titanic Scarface Finding Nemo Black Swan I Am Legend Dodge Ball Anchorman Taken