final exam assignment

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

Final Exam - Part B

1.     Tragedy and its Updates (Obj. 2a) Hippolytus > Phaedra > Desire Under the Elms

Tragedy: An Evolving Genre

   The evolution of Tragedy can be seen through the works of Euripides’ Hippolytus, Racine’s Phaedra, and O’Neill’s Desire Under the Elms, all with the same basic storyline but with increasing updates. Phaedra, written in 1677, and Desire Under the Elms, written in 1924, are both based on the original play Hippolytus, thought to have been written around 429 BCE. While all three keep in line with tortured characters and tragic outcomes, there are some key differences as the design progresses over time.

   The gods and chorus have a less important role in the tragic plays as they modernize. Phaedra lusts after her stepson in the two earlier plays, as does Abbie in the latest adaptation, but in Euripides’s version, this desire is planted in the character and driven solely by the goddess Aphrodite in an effort to avenge Hippolytus’s insolence toward her. Phaedra suffers from an affliction brought on by Aphrodite and then kills herself in order to appease the goddess, leaving a tablet of false accusations against Hippolytus, at the urging of her nurse.

   In Racine’s version, the Phaedra character seems more controlled by her own thoughts urges and less by any outside forces, although ultimately she blames Oenone for her lies, instead of taking full responsibility for her own feelings and actions. The gods take a backseat and humans determine their fate. In Desire Under the Elms, Abbie is self-motivated and unapologetically attracted to Eben, doing nothing to resist her urge to be with him; she even makes the first move. Unlike Hippolytus in the previous plays, Eben reciprocates her desire, and does so without interference. God is now worshiped as a silent monotheistic divinity and Cabot is the only character the audience witnesses praying to him. Characters become more humanist and their fears are of lawful judgment, rather than of divine consequences.

   Unlike Hippolytus, Racine’s Phaedra eliminates the chorus and gives individual characters names beyond “Old Man” and “Nurse,” as well as spoken lines that demonstrate individual thought. Desire Under the Elms has neither a chorus nor friends in which the main characters confide. The characters are guided and informed by their own will. They are less noble and heroic than their predecessors. Living and working on a farm is more relatable to an audience than living in a castle as royalty. Modernity creates less influential people who become more important and this provides more opportunity for other elements to Tragedy, such as comedy and romance.    

   Based on these plays, Tragedy seems to keep with the structure of limiting comedic elements and in the event there is dark humor, it remains reserved for lower characters like the nurse in both Hippolytus and Phaedra who complains about her duties and for the bumbling brothers of Eben in Desire Under the Elms who are excited about smelling bacon before their evening meal. While the three versions maintain the structure of Tragedy, an element of romance is introduced by the time Phaedra is written, as the audience witnesses Hippolytus fall in love with Aricia. There is even more romance included by O’Neill between Eben and Abbie in the 1924 version, albeit uncomfortable for the audience.   

   While Hippolytus, Phaedra, and Desire Under the Elms all are consistent in basic storyline of a woman who lusts after her stepson, polytheistic gods diminish and the chorus disappears in modern Tragedy, and gradually romance reveals itself as a suitable and vibrant accompaniment to tragedy. In addition, more relatable and individualized characters emerge in modernity. These updates seem to work well for a contemporary audience likely to expect a more broad-based or sophisticated experience. The survival of Tragedy in a modern world may depend on its continuing evolution and adaptability.

2.     “Plot is the Soul of Tragedy” + Comedy & Romance

Plotting Against Genres

   When genres are not competing, they are intermingling. While Romance and Comedy often accompany each other, there is little humor found in Tragedy and any Romantic element found in Tragedy does not include a happy ending. Tragedy imitates severe action, rather than narratives, like Romance and Comedy. According to Aristotle’s Poetics, “structure of the incidents” is the most significant aspect of Tragedy. The plot imitates the action of its characters.

   Characters in Tragedies are represented as neither inherently good nor inherently evil causing the audience to recoil at some of the characters’ actions while still empathizing with their situations in many cases. Agamemnon’s wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover are plotting Agamemnon’s death and while the audience might think he deserves punishment for sacrificing his innocent daughter, they might also think that the king was in an impossible situation when he made the difficult decision to put the lives of his men above the life of his child. Aristotle’s Poetics says the events in Tragedy inspire fear or pity and that the best ones take place in a few houses. It is as if the audience looks through a telescopic lens at royalty in all its splendor and horror.

   Characters in narrative form have a distinct difference between good and evil. Even though Peter Parker is not immune from making mistakes, he learns from them and is determined to protect the public from villains as the hero Spider Man. The distinction is clear – the hero is moral and stands for justice while the villains (Green Goblin, Venom, and Dr. Octopus to name a few) are clearly motivated to either take over or destroy the planet. As films, comics, and novels, Spider Man is a mixed genre of action-packed, sci-fi fantasy romance. What makes it romantic is the elevated hero who saves the world and ties up loose ends just enough to satisfy the audience while still keeping the option of a sequel possible (depending on ticket sales).

   In Tragedy, characters are secondary and plot is the first principle and “the soul of a tragedy” (Aristotle’s Poetics). With more character development, as in Romance and Comedy, there is less plot to develop because the power of the characters seem to drive the action forward so that the reader is expecting certain kinds of action, even if it is not specifically predictable. Allison Evans describes Romance as “a genre that often intermingles in several genres and helps to drive characters’ actions and emotions” (Dr. White, Samples 2010). Speaking as a fan of drama, mystery, and thrillers, I think character development is a very important aspect of these types of stories because getting to know people is what makes the “romance” believable.

   This approach is beneficial in the study of Tragedy for the same reason, but overanalyzing the characters comes at the cost of undermining the magnitude of complete action in Tragedy. I agree with Melissa King when she states, “As the plot develops, we as an audience become invested in the story and feel the pain ourselves” (Dr. White, Sample 2010). In Tragedy, the story’s plot provides the foundation, as it is the root of tragedy. The characters are doomed from the start as the audience watches the plot unravel. There is a question of whether or not the characters’ fate is their destiny or if their free will is what dooms them. Oedipus’s natural parents thought that by getting rid of their baby, they could avoid the prophecy of his killing his father and marrying his mother. Was this outcome inevitable, or could the king and queen have avoided the prophecy by keeping their son close to them and raising him in an environment where this prediction would not have materialized? They sealed a fate they would have been better off not being privy to.

        In tragic tales, Comedy is almost exclusively reserved for lower class characters or blue-collar individuals who are more relatable to readers or film viewers than are members of royalty. Higher classes remain dignified, rather than subjecting themselves to self-deprecating humor, such as the guard in Agamemnon standing outside of the castle who compares himself to a watchdog. Crude humor evident in films like The Hangover would not be acceptable in the high-comedy action, romantic films Oceans 11, 12 and 13. Even though the wit is obviously of higher intellect than curse words and body humor, the characters, albeit smart and well-dressed, are criminals who make their money illegally. Humor is reserved for “common folk,” even the bright and/or attractive proletarians and their problems are trivial compared to serious or social issues characters face in Tragedies.

   The “Narrative Genre” handout explains that the conclusions in Tragedies provide closure, but not a happy ending like typical romances or in the form of unity of resolution, as in comedies. Audiences who invest their time in tragic plays or films do not do so because they are looking for happy or inspiring experiences. And this makes tragedies stand out from other genres. This also makes Tragedies less popular than other genres these days because they do not provide an escape from a stressful routine. Without the teaching of Tragedies in educational institutions, Tragedy could be deflating under the pressure of feel-good movies.