final exam assignment

LITR 4533 TRAGEDY  Final Exam Samples 2014 (final exam assignment) Essay 1: Overall Learning Experience

Scott Agruso

3 July 2014

            Tragedy is Not Just a Sad Story

            Before attending classes and studying for this course, my knowledge and idea of tragedy was eerily similar to Umaymah Shahid’s in that “tragedy was always of blood, death, and grief” (Summer 2012, Essay 2), and its differences with the comedy genre were limited to the common idea that “tragedies are sad stories and comedies are happy stories.” A slightly more brilliant and sophisticated literary definition of “tragedies move towards conflict, and comedies move towards resolution,” was provided to me during a class a couple of semesters ago. This class has taught me that defining tragedy or any other literary genre cannot be achieved through such a simple phrase.

            I had read many of the plays (Oresteia trilogy, Oedipus, Hamlet) that we have read in this class previously in my collegiate career. My recollections of the Greek tragedies were of bloody violence and scenes of gore. I seemed to remember vivid details of Oedipus killing his father, ripping out his eyes, and gazing upon his hung mother in agony. I recalled images of the brutal stabbings of Agamemnon, Cassandra and Clytaemnestra in the Oresteia. It was not until re-reading and listening to in-class lectures that I realized that these scenes were merely a product of my imagination as a result of repressed spectacle. Agamemnon is stabbed off-stage and the only immediate indication of death is brought through a scream off-stage. The only indication the audience receives through stage direction that Cassandra has been killed is through Clytaemnestra entering the stage covered in blood. The brutal deaths are described in detail, but the audience never sees it. This contrasts the play written nearly two thousand years later, Hamlet, where the final scene consists of multiple stabbings, poisonings, and deaths. An even later play, Mourning Becomes Electra, does not feature the gore Hamlet does, but in much the same way, the spectacle of Mannon’s death is in plain view of the audience and is in no way repressed. This realization gained through the course readings and class discussions has allowed me to contemplate and wish to explore more about how the audience’s tolerance for physical violence in the flesh, as well as physical and technological limitations, impacted spectacle in early Greek tragedies.

            A couple of weeks before this class began, I attempted to read Nietzsche’s Birth of Tragedy to get ahead on my reading for this abbreviated summer semester. After failing miserably and effectively psyching myself out for the semester, I jokingly read a randomly selected passage to my wife to see if she understood its meaning (this exercise was ineffective in helping my confidence). During the first days of class, a brief lecture over the conflicting forces of the Dionysine and Apolline was given. This small discussion acted as a sort of Rosetta Stone for understanding and comprehending many of Nietzsche’s observations and commentary. Although I cannot say that I completely understand all of what Nietzsche has to offer, as evidenced by my Birth of Tragedy presentation, I am now able to grab hold of many of his ideas and have begun the beginning stages of applying them to the course readings.

            The idea of Nietzsche’s I was most intrigued by was Euripides “fighting tragedy’s death-struggle” (course website), and that he needed to add something to it before it lost its audience. As opposed to Aeschylus and Sophocles who kept the chorus as a representative of the audience outside of the events of the play, Euripides made the chorus an active member of the plot of the play, which allowed the audience to feel like they were part of the play. By doing this, Euripides simultaneously appealed to the “ideal spectator” of tragedy that Aeschylus and Sophocles pandered to, while also appealing to the audience members who did not “get” tragedy like the ideals did.

            Another method that tragedy used to continue to stay relevant, which Euripides employed during the Bacchae when Pentheus cross-dressed, was to allow tragedy to transcend its own genre barriers by enabling elements of comedy, romance and other genres to find their place within tragic plays. Witnessing the evolution of this idea during this semester allowed me to recognize the mixing of genres that continues to exist in movies today. Marvel’s Iron Man franchise is successful in part due to its own ability to mix genres effectively. While it is at its core a romance, the ability to incorporate comedy through one-liners and exaggerated violence allows it to lessen the impact of its spectacle, which in turn allows a larger variety of ages to enjoy it; the repression of spectacle in this case through incorporating comedy is part of the reason super hero movies are so popular with young children, and also why many parents are not as against exposing its violence as much as they are an R-rated action movie.

            The ability to apply Classical Greek tragedy elements and insights by Aristotle and Nietzsche to modern examples of tragedy, romance and comedies, is probably the most valuable skill this course was able to foster within me. Even in the short time we have spent in this class, the way I view movies is far more analytical than before this summer began. Being a literature major, the ability to watch and appreciate media through this lens helps me enjoy what I am viewing more.

As a soon to be language arts teacher in a classroom, this skill will prove invaluable to my own effectiveness in the profession. Students need to be given the chance and tools to apply what they learn from Classical and older texts to ideas, texts, and media of the modern world so that they are able to relate it to their own lives and learn it more effectively. Teaching tragedy is difficult without the benefit of motivated readers and students, and many of the ideas learned in this class, most notably with the numerous inclusions of relevant videos and other texts, will help alleviate this problem with my own students.