Lauren Lee

[Changes in Attitude]

When I enrolled for tragedy it was intended to fulfill my final literature requirement in order to graduate this summer. I admit I was a little skeptical about what I was getting myself into because I did not really have much background in tragedy and did not figure a class in “drama” would help me at all in becoming a lawyer. I figured I would suffer through the torture, get the grade and be finished. Little did I know that the five week journey I was about to embark on would change my thoughts and ideas about families and women that I will someday be representing in court.

            The changes in my attitude began the first half of the semester with Hamlet when I witnessed Gertrude’s immediate love for Claudius after the death of her husband. My interests were sparked even more when Annie gave her “conspiracy theory” genre presentation. I could not help but wonder if Gertrude had indeed had something to do with the death of her husband and if so why no one seemed to pick up on it. The detective in me read the plays following Hamlet with the desire to uncover unique family dynamics. This desire was what allowed me to open my eyes and see the depth of sequential plays and the mixing of other genres with tragedy.

            The second half of the semester I was intrigued by the plays Medea and Antigone. “The women in Medea and Antigone truly stood up for themselves and their families. Although Medea took her fight with Jason overboard by killing her children, at least she fought.  I learned… (to) admire women who fight for their rights as human beings.  Something that in ancient Greece, women did not have” (AB, SS04). I feel that this admiration for women who stand up for what they believe in is something that I will be able to use for the rest of my life. Although women do have many more rights today than they did years ago, they still often are left fighting for their children in custody battles, or for their freedom in spousal abuse cases. Medea and Antigone both acted out against a system, which was both heroic and abnormal during that time period. Their passion for the freedom and rights of women is a universal idea that will definitely remind me that anything is possible in the future.

            A Raisin in the Sun was another inspirational play that really spoke to me this semester. I did have a hard time classifying it as tragedy because I felt that it fit in more with the romance genre. According to the representational genres handout, romance usually opens as all as well, but encounters a problem of separation. The separation in the case of, A Raisin in the Sun was the life insurance money that Walter gave to Willy. The family had never had money before and Willy had run off with money made of Walter’s father’s flesh (Jacobus, 1264). This separation, combined with the ending of the play when the family moves into a new home, showing their ability to get away from the negative situation that they were in, makes me feel as if there were a mixing of genres in this play. Both tragedy and romance, according to the representational genres handout end with a resolution to a problem and the restoration of justice.

            The ability to understand that genres can be mixed, and not strictly romance or tragedy, was a new concept for me. I learned so much about various elements of tragedy, comedy, and romance over this semester that I never knew before. My previous knowledge of romance was that if there were two people who fell in love and lived happily ever after it was considered a romance. Upon completion of tragedy, I realize that romance can simply be escaping a difficult situation, which the characters in A Raisin in the Sun, clearly did. I also learned that tragedy ends with the death, banishment, or quieting of the tragic hero which was clearly shown in Medea and Antigone (Representational genre handout, 4).

The knowledge that I have gained in this course is so valuable and will definitely be used down the road when relating to possible clients. I feel that reading as many tragic pieces of drama as we have, over such a wide range of history has shown me that tragedy is inevitable. It is going to happen to everyone at some point in their lives, it is what they do with it and the lessons they learn from it that is important. [LL]