final exam assignment

LITR 4533 TRAGEDY  Final Exam Samples 2012 Essays & Excerpts for Part B: Special Topics

Jennifer Hamilton

A World of Tragedy

          I have always been fascinated with the connection between history and literature. So the opportunity to examine tragedy’s cultural and historical background is something I look forward to. We have already learned in class that tragedy seems to become prevalent when a society is going through more prosperous periods. Although it makes sense that people would want to read, watch and listen to cheerful subjects if they were going through hard times, I had never really stopped and considered it before. So why is it that tragedy rises during periods of prosperity and power? After taking this course, I have begun to think that it is during these periods of power that people become aware of problems in their society and try to prevent their abuse. Horace (65 BC-8BC), a Roman poet, wrote on the purpose of literature: “Often the truth spoken with a smile will penetrate the mind and reach the heart; the lesson strikes home without wounding because of the wit in the saying.” If the purpose of literature is to entertain and inform, than perhaps the reason tragedy rises during the great periods of history is to caution against mistakes made in the past and the possible abuses of growing power.

          I know from some of my history classes that during the time Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Plato, and Aristotle were writing, Greek culture was beginning to achieve its high point. One of the greatest changes was the emergence of literacy which may have played a role in the rise of tragedy. There may also be an argument that tragedy developed to explain why things were the way they were. For example, at the end of the Oresteia by Aeschylus, when the furies compromise with Athena to leave Orestes alone and as a result are honored and allowed to live under the city in the caverns, this is also an explanation of Athens system of justice and how it was formed.

          If you also examine the difference in opinions between Plato and Aristotle it is possible to see how they are both trying to deal with the issues in their society that the rise of art brought about. For instance, almost every writer we have looked at so far has dealt with the problem of imitation. Plato was very concerned with the nature of things. In The Republic, Plato questions the role art as well as literature plays and its relation to morality. He was afraid that if poets and writers were able to imitate reality so accurately that the audience was totally drawn in, then the poet then had the power to mislead his readers into believing what was not ‘the truth.’

Aristotle on the other hand, although also concerned with the nature of tragedy, believed that the emotion inspired by tragedy was able to end positively. In his Poetics, Aristotle wanted to create the form that great tragedy would follow writing, “Now, according to our definition, tragedy is an imitation of an action that is complete, and whole and of a certain magnitude . . . . A whole is that which has a beginning, a middle, and an end” (VII). Though the ancient Greeks developed ideas that proved to be the most influential to the modern western world, tragedy will continue to show up in other critical moments in history. According to Dr. White’s website, these periods of tragedy were: “historical-cultural periods when, simultaneously, nations or civilizations were confidently expansive or assertive while also producing great tragedies (along with other genres of literature).”

          After classical Greece the next great period of tragedy is that of the European Renaissance. Renaissance means “rebirth,” both of culture and the arts during the 15^th, 16^th, and 17^th centuries. One of the biggest problems of this period is that of expansion and how to deal with the issues created with the discovery of new lands, including America. Another issue that arises is the increased literacy of the population due to the printing press, which also allows people for the first time to read the Bible and not rely on the church. Shakespeare, known as one of the greatest playwrights ever, wrote many popular tragedies during this time including Hamlet. Hamlet is an example of the departure of more recent modern tragedies from the tradition of the Greeks and Romans. Hamlet, the tragic hero, instead of resorting to action to escape his ultimate fate, struggles internally on what to do. According to Nietzsche: “Both have truly seen to the essence of things, they have understood, and action repels them; for their action can change nothing in the eternal essence of things, they consider it ludicrous or shameful that they should be expected to restore order to the chaotic world” (39). Having used this quote in the previous essay, I feel it also is a great explanation to Hamlet. Through his interaction with the ghost, Hamlet realizes action on his part is futile, his fate remains the same regardless. It is this realization that makes Hamlet so human, so relatable. As historical periods come and go, changing, so does tragedy.

          One of the more modern tragedies we examined was Desire Under the Elms by Eugene O’Neill. In this 1925 play, Eben, the tragic hero, has moved far away from the classical Greek model. Haylie Unger wrote in her 2010 final: “As Eben moves away from the heroic character of Euripides’ Hippolytus, he moves toward a more pure tragic hero—and in effect, a more realistic human figure. A scrutiny of the Phaedra/Abbie character in all three plays will reveal a gradual movement from an entirely “bad” character to one driven by passions—some good and some bad.”

          Tragedy, not unlike every other genre, is constantly changing and cannot be concretely defined. However, what makes tragedies unique is that they only can be discovered during the great periods of our civilization. It is the recognition of something in the characters that we can all identify with. If art is the imitation of life, then tragedy is the imitation of reality that nobody wants to experience. Fate is inescapable, death unavoidable. However, while these characters are the most memorable, it is the lesson we take from tragedies that are the most important.  

Work Cited

Aeschylus. Oresteia. Tragedy Course Webpage. University of Houston-Clear Lake, summer 2012.

Aristotle. “Poetics on Tragedy.” Tragedy Course Webpage. University of Houston-Clear Lake, summer 2012.

Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Birth of Tragedy. New York: Penguin Books, 2003. 39.

O’Neill, Eugene. Desire Under the Elms.

Plato. The Republic.