final exam assignment

LITR 4533 TRAGEDY  Final Exam Samples 2014 (final exam assignment) Essay 2: Special Topics (Topic 9. Teaching Tragedy)

Katherine Vellella

Why Teach Tragedy?

            When I think back to my exposure to tragedy in high school, all I recall is reading many plays about death and writing essays analyzing a character’s tragic flaw. Tragedy is not limited to the tragic flaw, and yet that is what high school students learn the most about. Also, students tend to dislike this genre because it is depressing, outdated, and irrelevant to their lives. However, despite students’ aversion, tragedy is relevant, relatable, and pertinent to understanding human emotions and actions.

            In tragedy, readers are exposed to a multitude of emotions. Aristotle says that, “Tragedy is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude…in the form of action, not of narrative, through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions” (Aristotle’s Poetics, VI[a]). In The Euminides fear is felt for Orestes as he runs from the Furies. Pity can be felt as Orestes fate is decided by Athena and the jurors. Then these emotions are purged when Orestes is pardoned. Tragedies invoke emotions in the readers causing them to feel with the characters and be caught up in the action and drama. These emotions are not foreign to students.

            Unfortunately tragedy is not something that just occurs in plays, it happens in real life too. Turn on the news and it is full of murder and wrong-doings, we are surrounded by it. Reading tragedy and studying it with students prepares them for the real world. Yes, tragedy is depressing and it depresses students, but it teaches us how to deal with these emotions and experiences. Hamlet is a blood bath, and contains suicide. As students read Hamlet they may feel sad for Hamlet and the loss of his father. Then when Hamlet dies, students may grieve or feel betrayed. Learning of death and how to cope with it in a classroom setting is safer for students; it prepares students for the inevitable heartache that comes from the death of their own loved ones.

            Students can read tragedy and learn that it is relatable. In the story of Antigone, Ismene and Antigone have a dispute over whether or not they should bury Polynices’s body. Many students can relate to having a disagreement with a sibling. Also in Antigone is the scene where Antigone is captured by Creon and Ismene is brought in. Ismene admits she is just as guilty as Antigone and should be punished too. Except Ismene had no part, she just loves her sister and cannot bear to be without her. Again students can relate to such devotion to a friend or sibling and not wanting that person to be punished. It makes a difference when a teacher can point out such relatable moments to draw students in to the text and show despite the age of the text, it can be applied to their life.

            Another important reason for teaching tragedy is that it gives students insight into human emotions and actions. Greek tragedies and modern tragedies present difficult situations like incest, murder, false rape and more. Reading about and discussing these topics in school gives a safe atmosphere to discuss such difficult matters. The play Phaedra by Racine involves a false rape situation where Phaedra accuses her son, Hippolytus. Because of her wrongful accusation Hippolytus has an untimely death. Students can learn what led Phaedra to accuse her son, and the consequence of her actions. This play can provide an opportunity to discuss why it is wrong to falsely accuse, what is rape, and other topics that may make a difference in a student’s life.

            Other plays can also make a difference. Two plays we read in class dealt with the problem of incest. In Oedipus the King Oedipus sleeps with his mother who is also his wife, Jocasta. In the play Desire Under the Elms written by Eugene O’Neill, Eben sleeps with his stepmother Abbie. Both of these plays present a difficult family situation, something that cannot be easily understood or resolved. Teaching and discussing these plays allows room to interpret how some families then, are not much different than now.

            Through teaching tragedy I can expose my students to the unhappiness that manifests in life. As Jennifer Clary wrote, “The study of literature wouldn’t be boring if it were applied to real life circumstances” (Sample Final Essays 2008). This is true, in tragedy we learn about problematic situations and learn how the characters handled the situations. There is nothing boring about experiencing a range of emotions that ultimately lead to a resolution – happy or not. Greek tragedies and modern tragedies become relatable as teachers break down the barriers of out-datedness. And finally, from tragedy teachers can discuss otherwise unapproachable topics with their students.