Jennifer Clary

Discovering the Greatness Within

As I entered LITR 4533 I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. When I was first introduced to Tragedy, in high school, I found it not only hard to follow, but quite dull as well. I honestly could not tell you what I took away from that curriculum. Tragedy is a staple in high school curriculum. Therefore, as a future high school teacher, it is my responsibility to find the spectacle, the sublime, the joy, and the fear behind great Tragedy, so that I can guide my students to find the same aspects as enjoyable and as memorable as I have found them to be in LITR 4533.

Basic high school Tragedy classes tend to focus mainly on Tragic Hero’s and their Tragic Flaws. When this is the only focus of studying this great genre, multitudes of learning opportunities and developmental skills are lost. Students can be lead to discover all the little aspects that make Tragedy great. For example, where exactly does fate and free will come into play with Oedipus? Would Oedipus have found himself in his final position if he hadn’t allowed his temper to get the best of him? What is the irony of Oedipus’s situation?

It upsets me to hear teenagers make comments like, “literature is so boring”. The study of literature wouldn’t be boring if it were applied to real life circumstances. Tragedy is a genre that can guide students toward looking at the choices and circumstances within their own lives. Yes, Tragic Heroes have flaws that seem to be larger than what we, as average people, would possess. But are their flaws really that different from our own? We all face issues in our lives that bring on guilt, jealously, pride, and anger. Some situations we put ourselves in, and others we find ourselves, unwillingly, put into by the actions of others. Take the play Agamemnon, for example. Agamemnon put himself in a grave position when he choose to sacrifice his and Jocasta’s daughter. That was a choice. Then take a look at the character of Cassandra. She was forced into the position of slavery; a position not of her own choosing. Taking a look at how each of these characters choose to react could be paralleled with choices students have made in their own lives and how students feel they would react in similar situations. This way of looking at Tragedy makes it applicable to real life. Students become a part of the action and boredom is avoided.   

We have learned from Aristotle that the first principle of Tragedy is the plot. I found this statement to ring very true this semester. Without the plot change in Euripides’ Hippolytos, Aphrodite would have ceased to take center stage, and we would have found ourselves re-reading Racine’s Phaedra.  Without the use of spectacle and the sublime Desire Under the Elms would be nothing more than a boring story of an old man who re-marries.

As a Literature student and a future educator, I was also excited to learn that the deciphering of literature is an activity that not only teaches life lessons to students, but also stimulates the frontal lobe of the brain. This stimulation helps to enhance problem solving skills! So, digging through works such as Samson Agonistes and Oedipus the King can not only be used to broaden knowledge of the genre of Tragedy, but can also help brain development.

            In this class I have learned that all elements of Tragedy need to be covered in order for the full effect of Tragedy to be discovered. As a future high school educator, it will be my responsibility to bring all those exciting elements of Tragedy to the surface so that I can guide my students to find the joy in this often complicated genre.