Many readers and movie watchers have knowledge of the definition genre, but they may not know the term “genre.”  The general term allows for wonderers to ask readers, “What are you reading?”.  The answer may be as general as “a novel”, but the more specific response of genre would be, “a tragedy, the greatest literary genre.”  The reader of the great work of tragedy may have knowledge of the different narrative genres of comedy and romance, and he may have the understanding within tragedy of the depth of plot, characters, and “taboo topics” that other less significant genres may only touch on briefly. 

            In general, the genre of a book or movie could be the deciding factor of the person reading the book or viewing a movie.  If the picture is classified as science fiction many women may not be interested, but in fact there may be a Romantic narrative within the movie’s science fiction elements.  Most good films, plays and novels have mixed genres within them which makes each stronger and gains the appeal of a wider audience.  As in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the play is generally a comedy, but there are elements of Romance through separation of love and ending together.  The combination of genres flows through to even tragedies.  Within the tragic play Desire Under the Elms there are elements of the Romantic narrative.  The romance that Abbie and Eben are involved in is classified as a Romance narrative because there is a separation because Abbie is married to Eben’s father, and the struggle to be together is evident.  It is clear by the end of the play that Abbie and Eben are truly in love with each other and the kiss before Abbie is taken away to jail allows some sort of coming together resulting in the rounding out of the Romance narrative within the tragedy as a whole.  The combination genres allow a depth to be gained within the work through the plot and characters.

            The genre tragedy is classified as the greatest genre because the depth of issues it deals with, the solid plot, and the ability to affect the audience hundreds of years later with the same play.  The audience must be special in order to deal with the depth that a tragedy takes them.  Tragedy directly addresses difficult, but real life, topics such as betrayal, incest, and death issues: murder, suicide, and infanticide while in the end banishing or punishing the doer as a message to the reader that the wrong will be brought to right.  The issues of incest run through the plays Hamlet, Oedipus Rex, and Desire Under the Elms.  Facing the tough issue within the plays allows a reality check to people who deny problems of such.  The audience is forced to see the psychological issues that otherwise may be buried if the upfront attack of the problem is not dealt with.  When Abbie kills her baby at the ending of Desire the absolute horror that surrounded me made me see the reality of the situation that may result from incest.  The problems of life build on each other as they do in the readings.

            The psychological issues the genre of tragedy faces are ones that many people face in their everyday life.  Tragedies seem to be more popular in a production setting as opposed to a movie because people that can afford to see plays may be able to deal with the issues a tragedy may face.  Therefore, the majorities of people wants escape from their problems and see or read a popular genre of comedy or romance.  Comedy only touches on any tragic issue if only to make fun of the concern.  The easy to watch genre is a flight from real life’s problems.  Aristotle’s Poetics V. clearly allows the reader to see the characters of a comedy as “…an imitation of characters of a lower type….” The characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream are much less memorable than the tragic character Hamlet.  The reader is affected by the actions of Hamlet which stays with the reader and the comedy of the play within a play of Midsummer allows for a laugh, but the actions of the characters are not life altering and therefore are not memorable.  There are two different types of comedy high and low, both are showcased in Midsummer.  High comedy is using words as wit to quickly make a joke; it may also be described as dry humor.  Low comedy often involves food or refers to body humor.  Comedy is often making fun of the time and the jokes often do not travel well into future settings.  The crowd the play is intended for often is not the crowd of today referring to Shakespeare’s plays, and some of the wit may be taken for granted unlike a tragic play that the deep issues still are alive as they ever were. 

            The plot of a tragedy is the essence of tragedy because the story must be very well written and planned for everything to be executed as reality.  The problem must be made known to the audience and many times the audience already knows the complete story as in ancient times with Oedipus Rex.  The plot must stay interesting to the viewers even as the outcome is known.  As in Oedipus Rex, the character strives to find the truth about the problem and to restore justice the problem causer is banished or put to death (handout).  The characters also tend to be both a blend of good and bad, as in real life or Oedipus, rather than severely good or bad as in the Romance narrative.  The ending is the ultimate way to tell the genre of tragedy even if other elements of Romance or comedy are in the narrative.  The ending of a tragedy is resolved but as in comedy the characters are not gathered together and happy in the end, but rather put to death or banished.  The plot must be solid for the play to work as a tragedy because the plot is an intertwining of many character’s actions to become one movement. 

            Tragedy is the greatest genre because it affects the way people see society’s problems and the punishment or banishment that should result.  The plot if a tragedy is solid because it allows for a realistic view of the characters and their memorable actions.  The weight of the issues of incest, death and deception keep the narrative alive over the stretch of history and beyond. [SH]