Through this course, I have been delightfully enlightened about the literary term genre.  Who knew that everyday questions such as “What kind of books do you like to read?” or “What kind of movie do you want to see?” are simply questions referring to genre preferences.  For most people, genre is not a term used everyday.  So to those who are not in the literary loop, this term may escape them.  Throughout this course, genre has been defined and discussed but not so much focusing on the rules of genre but more so the expectations of genre.  More in depth, this course focuses on tragedy and what makes it great.  To get an understanding of tragedy and the greatness of it, one must realize the complexity of it.  Tragedy is subtle.  It has the ability to evolve.  It inspires a search for truth.  It takes risks.  Tragedy is something that exceeds normal greatness.  But to get a vivid picture of tragedy and its greatness, one is unable to do so without adequately discussing and understanding Comedy and Romance genres as well because they often times work in combination with one another.  Through the four plays:  Oedipus Rex, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, and Desire Under the Elms, we will learn what genre is but more so, we will learn why Tragedy is widely considered and recognized as the greatest genre in western literary history. 

So, what exactly is this thing called genre?  Genre simply means classification.  In Literature, genre is classified as what type, kind, or class of literature.  This course titled ‘Tragedy’ is a genre course.  Tragedy is the type or kind of genre being studied.  “This course classifies the uses of genre in three broad, non-exclusive categories:  representation, narrative, and subject.” 

Representational genre refers to the number and types of voices in the genre.  There are three types and examples of representative genre:  narrator or single voice, drama or dialogue, and narrator + dialogue.  Most plays are performed in drama or dialogue, in which two or more characters speak directly with each other, which the audience overhears.  An example of this is in Oedipus Rex, when Oedipus discovers from the Shepherd that the prophecy that had been made years ago had indeed come to pass.  Oedipus says “Ah, God!  It was true!  All the prophecies...”

Subject genre refers to the content, subject matter, “special interest” or “audience appeal” of a text.  One of the audience appeals in A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a play performed within a play.  Quince stated, “…to play in our interlude before the Duke and the Duchess…Marry, our play is “The most lamentable comedy and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisby.”

Narrative genre refers to the kind of story or plot that a work of literature tells or enacts.  There are four basic story lines:  tragedy, comedy, romance, and satire; which often work in combination with one another.  According to Aristotle, “The plot…is…the soul of a tragedy.”  In Hamlet, the plot was the revenge by Hamlet against Hamlet’s uncle, Claudio for the death of Hamlet’s father.  Hamlet said, “Now might I do it pat…A villain kills my father, and for that, I, his sole, son, do this same villain send to heaven.”   

One of the major story lines of narrative is Tragedy.  Part of what makes Tragedy great is the elusiveness about it.  Tragedy often times involve looking beyond what you see; it’s subtle.  Because of this, Tragedy requires a special audience; a usually confident audience who is intellectually able to understand tragedy.  It requires an audience who expects to be disappointed.  Usually, the audience and even the characters learn from tragedy.  Aristotle said, “To learn gives the liveliest pleasure”.  Tragedy forces us to look beyond the ‘trees to see the forest”.  

“The evolution of tragedy is unique” so says midterm sample posting 2002 (BY02), which is another aspect of its greatness.  Tragedy has a way of surviving and adapting to changing conditions.  It adapts to changing history.  It has a way of transcending time.   We see this in Oedipus, Hamlet, and Desire Under the Elms.  Because Tragedy continues to adapt and evolve, it continues being great.  If it stopped adapting to history, then tragedy would lose its greatness; it would no longer be considered a classic. 

What is greatness without truth?  Tragedy inspires us to seek out the truth. Instead of stopping while we are ahead of the game, Tragedy inspires to seek the truth and nothing but the truth even at the cost of personal peril.  Tragedy doesn’t allow us to assume what is true but to search until truth has prevailed. 

Greatness often times requires us to go beyond our comfort zone.  Tragedy does that for us.  Tragedy takes risks.  It takes chances.  It does this by giving a voice or expression to taboo topics such as incest (Oedipus), suicide (Hamlet), and child murder (Desire) while at the same time punishing the transgressions. 

While “Comedy is…an imitation of characters of a lower type consisting of some defect or ugliness which is painless or nondestructive” and Romance concluding with “getting away from it all” or “rising above it all”, Tragedy is a story “that is significant to society, its leaders, or its representatives” which “ends with the resolution of the problem and the restoration of justice, often accompanied by the death, banishment, or quieting of the tragic hero.”  (Handout)

Tragedy is something you are unable to forget.  It doesn’t just fade away.  In tragedy, things matter; things are important.  Things are significant.  Tragedy confronts issues that are important to people. Tragedy is something that exceeds normal greatness and because of this and many other things, Tragedy is considered the greatest genre in western literary history. [IG]