final exam assignment

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

Cassandra Rea

3^rd July 2014

Aesthetics: The Key to Tragedy

Before beginning the course of Tragedy, I would have never pegged it as the greatest genre of all time but now my mind has definitely shifted. The only notion that I had of tragedy was that everyone died at the end and the story always seemed depressing. It turns out that my understanding of tragedy was all wrong. What sets tragedy apart from all other types of genre is that it deals with humanity and the essence of struggling with problems. Unlike the other genres that allow a reader to escape from the world, tragedy is the complete opposite with its humanistic problems. Even though tragedy deals with intense problems as well as consequences, I cannot help but wonder, what is it about tragic stories that appeal so much to an audience? The answer could be seen as complicated or simple, but I feel that it has do with the aesthetics such as the plot of the story, the sublime, repression of the spectacle, and the tragic flaw or hero. These different type of aesthetics provide the audience with entertainment and pleasure that makes Tragedy the greatest genre of all time.

The plot of the story is considered by Aristotle’s as “the soul of tragedy”. The plot focuses on the idea of the events that make up the story or the foundation. According to Aristotle, “plot is the imitation of the action—the arrangement of the incidents” (VI. 6d). Since tragedy is an imitation through the action instead of the characters, the life of the story is within the plot itself. Ideas that can exist in the plot that allow the action to come to life could be the reversal of the situation and recognition scene. A reversal of the situation is an idea that deals with an event going in one direction then shifting to the complete opposite. An example of this can be found in a modern text known as Desire Under the Elms, where Eben has gone to turn Abbie in for the murder of their son but by the time he gets back he forgives her. At first, it seemed as though Eben hated Abbie for what she had done but then comes back and shows not only understanding but sympathy as well. The reversal of this situation sends the reader in a tailspin which makes the story so great. The recognition scene also has the same effect because it gives a character a change from ignorance to awareness. This is done through action such as when Oedipus kills his father unknowingly then learns of his relationship to the man that he murdered and the chain link of events that transpire because of that. These two ideas help elevate the plot into the foundation of the story which makes it the “soul of tragedy”. It is through these imitations of actions that tug at the interests of the audience.

It is with these elements of the plot that arouses another aesthetic to the forefront, which is pity and fear that turns into the sublime. Pity and fear is a key for Aristotle’s definition of tragedy because without it the story cannot evolve. These elements are vital to the tragedy story because these are the emotions that set tragedy apart from all the other genres. The breakdown of these two terms can be seen as the fear that separates individuals from one another and pity draws us back together. They can be seen as harmonizing to one another because they both need to be present within the action of tragedy to come full circle. It is because of these two that must go hand in hand that the sublime is born within the text. The sublime is “beauty mixed or edged with danger, terror, threat--all on a grand or elevated scale” (Dr. White). This is a concoction that mixes beauty which is appealing to the audience and fear which is repelling. They all parallel with one another because even though they are opposites, one draws the audience away, then the other brings it back. A prime example of all of these elements working together is Oedipus at Colonus.

Sophocles uses many references of the sublime through pity and fear for the audience to see the transformation such as when the messenger states “shivered and crouching at their father’s knees” (line 1738). This line in particular uses the sublime as fear. Even Nietzsche refers a great amount to Oedipus in Birth of Tragedy because he is “the noble man who is predestined for error and misery despite his wisdom, but who finally, through his terrible suffering, exerts a magical/beneficial power that continues to prevail after his death” (Nietzsche 46). Oedipus is the example used to explain this element of tragedy because of his story that takes a turn for the worst but eventually comes back full circle after his death. Amy Barnett puts Oedipus’s situation beautifully by stating “the reaction to Oedipus gouging his eyes out is terrible, but the sublime is complete because he discovers his true identity”. (Final Exam 2010). The fear and pity through the sublime shows how Oedipus had a terrible fate but was resolved because he was not fully to blame for his actions and he was eventually accepted by Zeus at the end of Oedipus at Colonus. He is the character that epitomizes the mixture of beauty and danger that becomes the sublime but it is through his actions as to which tugs at the audiences appeal.

The sublime instills the mixture of opposite emotions but it also acts like a substitution for the repression of the spectacle. The repression of the spectacle is done by limiting the action or over dramatic theatrics. The majority of the tragic plays that was read had the repression of the spectacle. An example of this would be when Samson has killed everyone that is in the Philistine temple. We as an audience do not see Samson regain his strength and destroy everything in his path but rather we are told through the messenger. Another example is when Clytaemnestra murders Agamemnon and Cassandra, once again we as an audience do not see the actual murder but rather the aftermath of the bodies already on the floor dead. The repression of the spectacle allows the audience to focus on the imitation of the action through the lines of the play rather than the actual fiasco of murder. The repression of the spectacle allows the purpose or meaning of the play to be front and center. Honestly, the spectacle itself serves only as an “art of the stage machinist” (Aristotle VI 6g) which takes away meaning from the play itself. So the repression of spectacle is vital to the aesthetics of tragedy because it takes away the bells and whistles which is replaced with the meaning of the plot. 

The repression of the spectacle is brought on by the action of the tragic flaw or the tragic hero. The tragic flaw is a trait in a character usually the hero or protagonist that leads to his downfall. The downfall being the repression of the spectacle that takes place offstage. The tragic hero is a character that is changed whether it by fate or coincidence that leads to their demise. These two terms ultimately correspond with one another because the tragic hero usually presents the tragic flaw. The mixture of these two are played out in Antigone because Antigone herself portrays the tragic flaw of having too much hubris which leads to her downfall of being sentenced to death. A more popular example of the tragic flaw is Hamlet himself because of his indecisiveness of what is wrong and right and whether or not he should seek vengeance.  It is evident that the tragic flaw/hero concept is applied in each play because they are used to shift the play into the spiraling downfall.

            All of these ideas and concepts seem to play off one another in building a tragedy. It is through these aesthetics that show many different pieces of the puzzle that offer the appeal that tragedy has. Through the idea of plot, to fear and pity as the sublime, the use of the repression of the spectacle, and the tragic hero/flaw all mesh together to make tragedy the greatest genre of all time. These aesthetics work in a way that bring horrible events and consequences that make for a good story. It is through these aesthetics that appealed to me as a student because they are what make the play into a tragedy. It is with all these applied ideas and concepts that connect the human quality which makes tragedy so infamous. They each dive into the reality and sometimes disturbing humanistic nature that becomes tragedy. I honestly did not know that so many different ideas went into tragedy but that is what makes it so great. At first it just seems depressing and everyone dies but when you add in all of these ideas and principles, it sure does make a recipe for a good story that attaches to the heart of the audience because it presents problems and consequences. It shows that no character is perfect and each has their own good and bad, it is just a matter of deciding what qualities that the character should use.