Jarrod Goergen

Spectacular and Sublime at the Same Time?

            Spectacle and “the sublime” are two important components of tragic plays. Even though they may work separate and individual from each other, they may also work together if needed. First of all, spectacle is big visual power that is seen by the audience. In tragic plays, however, spectacle is usually suppressed, or kept out of sight from the audience. Instead, spectacle is usually told to the audience by one of the cast members. Since this cast member is telling a spectacular story, it is the cast member’s job to make sure his or her presentation of the spectacle is grand. Aristotle noted in his Poetics that “the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet” (Aristotle on Poetics Handout). On the other hand, the sublime involves a mixture of pleasure and pain instead of just pain that is usually felt within spectacle. Within the sublime, beauty is that which gives us pleasure, and ugliness is that which gives us pain (“The Sublime” Handout). The audience that is witnessing the sublime, however, experiences a mixture of pleasure and pain and even though an audience may enjoy what they are seeing in a tragic play, they will also have the urgency to escape from viewing the situation at the same time (“The Sublime” Handout).

            As stated before, spectacle is a genre convention of tragic plays that is usually suppressed and kept out of sight. Rather, it is usually told to an audience by a cast member. In Racine’s Phaedra, the spectacle of Hippolytos’ death is never seen by the audience. Instead, it is told to Hippoloytos’ father Theseus and the audience by Theramenes. When describing how Hippolytos was killed by his chariot team, Theramenes states that “Over jagged rocks they rush urged on by terror; / Crash! Goes the axle-tree. The intrepid youth / Sees his car broken up, flying to pieces; / He falls himself, entangled in the reins” (Phaedra, p. 49). This scene could have been have been a huge and spectacular scene witnessed by the audience. Instead, it is simply told to the audience rather than witnessed. The suppression of spectacle is also seen in a film-noir movie titled Detour when Mr. Roberts, the main character of the movie, accidentally strangles a woman named Vera with a phone cord. However, Vera is on the other side of the door with the phone cord wrapped around her neck. When Mr. Roberts pulls on the phone cord, he thinks he is breaking the cord so that she cannot call the cops on him. However, his pulls on the phone cord strangle her, but this spectacle is never directly seen by the audience due to the fact that she is on the other side of the door. There are instances in tragic plays where the spectacle is seen, however. In Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, the dead and bloodied bodies of Agamemnon and Cassandra are seen after Clytaemnestra has killed them. Furthermore, Clytaemnestra is covered in blood. In describing the scene, the play notes that “the palace doors open, revealing the bodies of Agamemnon and Clytaemnestra. Clytaemnestra stands over them. She is covered in blood” (Agamemnon, p. 48). Therefore, the audience directly sees the spectacle in some cases, which makes spectacle a genre convention rather than a genre rule.

            Sublime is also a powerful tool used in tragic plays. As stated before, it involves the usage of both pleasure and pain at the same time to create powerful feelings amongst the cast and the audience. One example of the sublime is seen in Eugene O’Neill’s Desire Under the Elms after Abbie has killed her own child in order to prove her love to Eben. O’Neill outlines the scene by noting that “Abbie is bending over the cradle, listening, her face full of terror yet with an undercurrent of desperate triumph. Suddenly, she breaks down and sobs, [and] appears [that she is] about to throw herself on her knees beside the cradle” (Desire Under the Elms, p. 55). Even though she is described as being “full of terror,” she is also relieved in a way to have gotten rid of this burden that was straining her relationship with Eben. Her face carries an undercurrent of “desperate triumph” while carrying terror at the same time, which is an exact description of the sublime.

The sublime is also seen in Milton’s Samson Agonistes in the scene where Manoa is awaiting the news of exactly what happened in an accident he heard. The messenger at first tells him “O whither shall I run, or which way fly / The sight of this so horrid spectacle / Which earst my eyes beheld and yet behold” (Samson Agonistes, Lines 1541-1543). Even though Manoa knows that the news is going to be terrible, he still is desperate to know exactly what took place. Manoa says “The accident was loud, & here before thee / With rueful cry, yet what it was we hear not,/ No preface needs, thou seest we long to know” (Samson Agonistes, Lines 1552-1554). Even though the messenger tells him that what has been witnessed is a “horrid spectacle,” Manoa still desires to know exactly what happened in order to please his curiosity and he is finding pleasure in a painful story, which is a direct definition of the sublime. Furthermore, spectacle plays an important role in both of these examples of the sublime. Abbie is seen as almost breaking down and throwing herself to her knees beside the cradle. The messenger tells Manoa that what has been witnessed is a “horrid spectacle”. However, the inclusion of spectacle in sublime moments simply allows the scene to become much stronger and emotional. The sublime and spectacle are also able to function both separately and together at the same time, as in the scene in Desire Under the Elms with Abbie next to the cradle.

            Both spectacle and the sublime are important functions of tragic plays. They give tragic plays that edge that makes them captivating and fearful at the same time. Even though spectacle and sublime can function on their own, they can also function together in order to give a certain scene in a tragic play an overwhelming experience for an audience.