final exam assignment

LITR 4533 TRAGEDY  Final Exam Samples 2014 (final exam assignment) Essay 2: Special Topics Topic 4: Spectacle & the Sublime)

Hector Guzman

Spectacle and the Sublime

Spectacle and the sublime are essential aspects of tragedy.  Without them tragedy could not be the greatest genre in literature.  Spectacle in my mind consisted of and was restricted to horrendous events like incest, murders, suicides, or mutilations that occur in tragedy.  However, I have come to learn that spectacle in the theatre can also involve all of the aspects of scenery, costumes, and special effects in a production. Also, spectacle can be suppressed or not seen by the audience.

The suppression of spectacle in tragedy is a convention that according to Dr. White’s notes is not always suppressed and therefore is not a rule.  Nevertheless, we do see spectacle being suppressed repeatedly in classical Greek plays.  For example we see the suppression of spectacle in Agamemnon three times.  First when Iphigenia is killed as a sacrifice and the chorus describes the brutality of the entire ritual.  We see the suppression of spectacle again as Agamemnon gets killed backstage, then once more as Cassandra is also killed backstage.  As we continue to observe other plays of tragedy we notice spectacle being suppressed as well.  The Libation Bearers also suppresses spectacle when Orestes kills Clytaemnestra and Aegisthus out of the audience’s sight.  O’Neill’s Desire Under the Elms also suppresses spectacle with the killing of Abbey’s and Eben’s baby.  However, the commonality of spectacle being suppressed in tragedy is not without reason or purpose.

According to Aristotle’s Poetics, “Spectacle has an emotional attraction of its own, but of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry.”  Many producers in Hollywood have taken spectacle and have featured it in horror movies.  Movies like Chain Saw Massacres have non-significant plots and the entire movie has scene after scene of mutilations causing the power of spectacle to be the main attraction.  The problem with this type of spectacle is that it desensitizes the audience, thereby losing the shock effect after a few scenes.  Action movies are also composed the same way with maybe a better plot and the mutilations are replaced with special effects in car chases and explosions.  According to Aristotle, “The power of tragedy is felt regardless of representation and actors.”  Thus, suggesting that the story is much bigger than the performance of the actors or how it is represented thru special effects.

The suppression of spectacle in tragedy does not mean that you will not have any shocking moments.  On the contrary, the suppression of spectacle allows the audience to engage in the experience.  Most tragedies use the chorus or a messenger to report the spectacle.  However, it is done with very descriptive analogies that propel the audience to use their imagination without limits.  Susan Newman is also in agreement by stating in her essay, “The spectacle is described by the chorus or characters in such a spectacular way that it often exceeds realistic on-stage capabilities.”   I experienced that as the chorus in Agamemnon described the killing sacrifice of Iphigenia.  I was overwhelmed with the perception of the suffering she must have been going through.  Not only the physical suffering but the emotional suffering of being betrayed and killed by her father Agamemnon.  My limitless imagination allowed me to relive that scene with the utmost and unharnessed experience that I was capable of.  According to Dr. White’s notes that type of emotional experience is captured by the playwright by using the first two principal sources of elevated speech.  First, is creating the power of forming great conceptions or visualization. Then second, producing vehement and inspired passion or creating something that is deeply felt with inspired passion.  In contrast, if an inadequate representation were to have taken place on stage, it could have lost its impact on my emotions. 

 Euripides, Aeschylus and Sophocles were masters at beseeching the audience to use their imagination to reach the sublime state with their writing.  The sublime according to Edmund Burke, “is the strongest emotion that the mind is capable of feeling.”   Additionally, according to Aristotle’s Poetics, “A perfect tragedy should] imitate actions which excite pity and fear [catharsis], this being the distinctive mark of tragic imitation.”  Tragedy uses the sublime to allow the audience to sympathize with the tragic heroes as we see their suffering (effect) however, we are also in disgust for what they have done (cause).  Leaving us with the feeling of having our emotions in a tug of war contest between disgust (pain) and sympathy (pity) with no side dominating. 

Tragedy uses the sublime and spectacle or repressed spectacle to capture the audience’s emotions.  They can be intertwined with each other throughout several scenes or completely separated.  Allison Evans makes a good point by stating, “However they are combined or separated, the two have a unique way of influencing the audience to feel a certain way in a work of art and due to this ability to evoke emotion in an audience are irreplaceable in the genre of tragedy.”  Furthermore, I believe that suppressing spectacle in tragedy will enhance the sublime.  Thereby, allowing the audience to use their unbridled imagination to connect with the perceived emotions of the tragic character. Thus, providing an unforgettable experience that catapults tragedy onto the greatest genres in literature.