2. Drama as a Genre….

3. Drama is a very old genre. The oldest surviving plays were written in ancient Greece over 2500 years ago… around the same time that The Odyssey was composed. Why do you think the Greeks wrote plays and not novels?

4. There are two major forms of drama : 1. Comedy: A comedy is a light hearted production that has a happy or pleasant ending. It does not necessarily have to be funny or humorous.

5. 2. Tragedy: What would you assume to be true about a tragedy? deals with a serious topic has a serious tone ends in disaster Has a special type of protagonist… not an epic hero but….

6. The Tragic Hero! Back in the day, a Greek philosopher named Aristotle made up a list of rules for what a tragic hero should be. Writers, including Shakespeare, followed these rules well into the 20th century. Some writers still follow them today!

7. When I say “hero,” what type of real life person do you think of ? ? Well… Aristotle and Shakespeare had someone quite different in mind….

13. But Aristotle would stop us there. Aristotle would say that this guy is NOT a tragic hero? Why?

14. Aristotle would say that Bob’s death wasn’t truly a tragedy because he was just an average man. It’s sad, but it’s not a “tragic” loss. Aristotle says a true “tragic hero” must have high stature: someone like a king or a prince or a respected person of high standing. Who in our society has high stature? The highest position in the US….

18. Would this be good enough for Aristotle? Well… it’s better… This scenario fulfills 2 of Aristotle’s requirements: 1.A tragic hero must be of high stature. 2.A tragic hero must experience a downfall. But Aristotle also says this downfall must be caused by a flaw in the tragic hero’s personality… A Tragic Flaw! Bush doesn’t exhibit a tragic flaw in this story. He’s doing something good just because it’s the right thing to do.

19. Let’s try again.

21. In this version, our person of high stature survives! But… after he places the baby in the arms of her relieved mother, and hugs her… He looks at his wrist…

23. Our hero’s tragic flaw of “greed” forces him to run back into the burning house to look for his watch! Hmmm….

24. But… This can’t be an easy decision for Mr. Bush. Aristotle says that a tragic hero must face a tragic dilemma. A dilemma is a choice that is very difficult to make. There are good points on both sides.

25. Let’s say this was a hard decision for our hero… He really sat there and considered both sides, but then his greed won him over and Bush ran back into the house….

27. Now our story meets almost all of Aristotle’s criteria for a tragic hero… 1. He has high stature. 2. He has a tragic flaw. 3. He faces a tragic dilemma. 4. He experiences a downfall caused by his flaw.

28. To be an ideal tragic hero though, we have to consider Aristotle’s final two criteria. 1.Our hero cannot be excessively good or evil. What would happen if he was purely evil? What would happen if he was perfectly good? In this story, does Mr. Bush fit this criteria? YES!

29. Aristotle says a true tragic hero must experience an anagnorisis. A what?

30. Anagnorisis: (Go ahead… say it!) A moment of self awareness when a tragic hero realizes that he or she caused their own downfall

31. Boy oh boy… I’m going to die because I was sooo greedy. I did this to myself!!!

32. Aristotle’s Criteria for a Tragic Hero 1.Must be of high stature. 2. Must have a tragic flaw. 3.Must face a tragic dilemma. 4. Must experience a downfall caused by his flaw. (Not always death.) 5.Cannot be totally good or totally evil. 6.Must experience an anagnorisis.

33. In Romeo and Juliet... We have a pair of tragic heroes… Guess who.

34. Let’s get into groups… You need to come up with a scenario like mine with –a modern person of a high stature –who must make a hard choice. –Because he/she has a major flaw –they make the wrong choice –and experience a big downfall –however he/she can’t be pure good or evil –then he/she realizes it was all their own fault.