LITR 4370 TRAGEDY Midterm2 Samples 2015 (midterm2 assignment) Model Answers to Part 2. Continue Learning about Tragedy Essay

Part 2. Learning about Tragedy 2: Revise, continue, improve, & Extend Essay begun in Midterm1 on learning experience with tragedy, extending to include Sophocles's Family of Oedipus plays. (Revise / improve midterm1 draft & add at least 5-7 paragraphs for 9-10 paragraph total.) 

Kaitlin Jaschek

Tragedy is Real, Relatable, and Enjoyable

            To be honest, when I first signed up for the class I didn’t know what Tragedy would be about or what to expect.  Of course, the first thing that came to mind was Romeo and Juliet, because that was the only tragic piece of literature I remembered from high school; other than that I was unfamiliar with Tragedy.  My preconceived thoughts about the class was it would be a lot of un-relatable old texts and difficult to understand reading due to the language, because that is how I remembered classic literature.  Also, I recall not understanding what the purpose of reading this type of literature or poetry was—how did it relate to my life?  There was no room for interpretation, but a right and wrong answer, and I always struggled to comprehend what the right answer was.     

            I am thrilled to announce that through this experience thus far I have come to learn, understand, and enjoy Tragedy.  In addition, I have been able to make connections, destroying my preconceived and recalled memories of literature; now, seeing tragedy as real and relatable.  Tragedy, in common speech, usually describes an unfortunate event or end to a life story, especially when the event is undeserved, an example, “a tragic accident” (Mr. White’s Website).  However, in literary criticism, the concept is much more complicated, it raises questions about justice and morality for individuals and the world (Mr. White’s Website). 

I have learned that Tragedy is relatable life because it displays the imperfections of humans, the character is not always good or always bad they are a mixture, and at times they are in predicaments that lead to hard decisions and/or consequences.  An example of this is in Agamemnon, he is a “noble” character, the king, yet is put in a situation where he must choose whether to kill his daughter for the sake of his kingdom.  It’s tragic because he obviously doesn’t want to kill his daughter, but also has a responsibility as king to his country; therefore, chooses to sacrifice his daughter.  This decision excites pity and fear for what is to come to Agamemnon due to killing his daughter.  His wife, Clytemnestra, does end up getting revenge because of the hate in her heart for the man who killed her daughter.  Although we normally as humans, not in royalty, don’t have that extreme of decisions to make, we do however come across difficult choices: to forgive someone who killed a family member while drinking and driving, to have a baby when both the mother and child will perish, to pull the plug or hold off with hope, or to blame God for the evils we’ve experienced.  These tragedies look different, but the human emotions are real: pain, grief, bitterness, and revenge.  In my opinion, tragedy shows it is normal to feel pain or grieve and gives us permissions for such. Yet, also offers an outside perspective of what can happen if we continue to be bitter or seek revenge due to the tragedies in our lives.  “Character determines men’s qualities, but it is by their actions that they are happy or the reverse” (Aristotle’s Poetics VI 6D).  Once Clytemnestra took action and got her revenge on Agamemnon, you see that her actions led her to the reverse of being happy or satisfied; instead, she was fearful and concerned, having nightmares of her own death.  This theme of revenge carries out throughout the Oresteia trilogy until the last act in Euminides when the Furies decided to not get revenge, realizing that doing something nice, forgiving, was much more rewarding than revenge ever offered.  I believe this teaches readers such a great lesson—where there was bitterness and revenge there was death, but where there was forgiveness there was satisfaction.

I’ve learned not only is Tragedy real, Tragedy is also relatable because we can see ourselves in the characters.  Like I mentioned earlier, Tragedy imitates real life more than other genres, because it represents characters as mixtures of good and evil- like you and me (Mr. White’s Website). Apollo and Dionysus, are a good picture or representation of the conflicts within humans, “these two very different tendencies walk side by side, inciting one another to ever more powerful births” (Birth of Tragedy, 14).  Tragedy does not allow us to “escape” our problems or feel assured that everything always turns out for the best; instead, it shows us that sometimes evil does prevail or bad things happen, but it helps us determine how we will navigate or respond to such circumstances. 

Tragedy and Comedy brings us together, because both of them make us feel immensely human (Chelsea Stansell).  Tragedy compared or mixed comedy is completely relatable to us as humans; because although we experience tragedies, we also experience joy and laughter.  According to Aristotle’s Poetics, the characters of Comedy are of a lower type than the royalty of classical Tragedy.  This lower type in comedy or humor, allows one to make a spectacle of oneself, giving a lighter feeling to the heaviness of tragedy.  For example, the Oresteia trilogy begins with a comedic monologue delivered by a “lower type” watchman, an everyday worker, who is waiting for a sign that the Trojan War has been completed.  “In the same manner, the interactions between the clowns in the graveyard in Shakespeare’s Hamlet offer a comedic reprieve from the intense tragic themes of the play” (Scott Agruso).  

 In addition, I found through tragedy that we are confronted with real issues such as fate or free will, emotions of love and hate within families, and sometimes both intertwined.  Tragedy involves families who simultaneously love and hate each other as their fates are bound together (Mr. White’s Website).  Oedipus as a character is often discussed in terms of fate vs. free will, raising the issue within the audience to question between the two.  The entire Oedipus Trilogy shows the power of fate, yet was there any free will- the question lingers.  In the play Oedipus at Colonus, “I do as my fate commands” Oedipus states, revealing his change of attitude towards his life and the power of fate, since this wasn’t always the case with him.  In the earlier trilogy he was determined to change fate, to change what the prophesy spoke over him, by searching for truth.  Yet we find that everything comes true and in the final trilogy, Oedipus at Colonus, ultimately Oedipus is buried where he was told he would be.  This leaves the audience in a battle between fate and free will, myself included.  For me, it reminds me of the debatable topic between free will and fate even today in the modern world, Christianity in particular.  Also, this trilogy shows so much emotion, love and hate, among family.  It creates a relatable family to the modern audience.  We do not get to choose our families, fate, yet we love them so deeply and can hate them at the same time.  Thus, creating further connections between my life and tragedy, while also confronting me with hard topics to contemplate.      

I have found that makes tragedy one of the best genres, its ability to touch on such heavy, hard, and controversial topics.  Tragedy has the ability to mix within its audience love and repulsion or love and hate at the same time.  For example, through the Oedipus trilogy one is faced with the uncomfortable topics of family and incest.  “The scene in Oedipus the King where Oedipus is hugging his young daughters and wondering what will happen to them is very touching, but at the same time repulsive because he is brother and father” (Hector Guzman, Summer 2014).  In addition, the scene in Hamlet with his mother Gertrude in the bedroom when he is on top of her is another example of these strong hate and love emotions at their best (Video from Class).  Tragedy confronts problems, depicts our struggles to solve problems, and explores the consequences of both our problems and our attempts to solve them (Tragedy the Greatest Literary Genre).

Furthermore, I have found there is enjoyment and pleasure throughout tragedy.  Tragedy represses spectacle, or at least manages it so that its sensational appeals don't overwhelm the subtler (Mr. White’s Website).  Spectacle, I have learned, is an old fashion term that today would be the same as the term “special effects”.  The spectacle in the theatre can involve all of the aspects of scenery, costumes, and special effects in a production (Mr. White’s Website).  It consists of all the visual elements that create the world and atmosphere for an audience’s eye.  Aristotle writes, "The plot . . . is the first principle, and, as it were, the soul of a tragedy: character holds the second place" [6e].  In other words, Aristotle is saying it is the stories plot and characters that carry the most importance in Tragedy, not the “special features” or scenery.  This is rather interesting for several reasons.  One reason is because when one thinks of Tragedy they normally think of gore, blood, and death.  Another reason is because in today’s society we rely so much on graphics and scenery.  Lastly, because when one reads a book and then goes to see the movie more than likely the person is disappointed with the movie compared to the book.  The purpose of pointing these things out are relevant.  The goal is to question preconceived notions of modern days need for spectacle, including my own. 

We truly enjoy using our imagination, although we are not forced to with modern technology.  When one thinks of Tragedy and those gory or bloody scenes come to mind are likely images produced by the audiences’ imagination, due to the lack of spectacle actually displayed in these tragic plays.  In Oresteia and Oedipus, murders, suicides, and self-mutilations occur off-stage (Mr. White’s Website).  The lack of spectacle allows the audience to imagine the scene to whatever depth and length they prefer.  “I had read many of the plays (Oresteia trilogy, Oedipus, Hamlet) that we have read in this class previously… 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 Clytemnestra 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” (Scott Agruso).  By repressing spectacle and its “gross” or animal aspects, tragedy involves audience in something higher, nobler (Mr. White’s Website).  I have found that is offers higher involvement in thinking and imagining, which produces an enjoyment.  I believe this is why movies never compare to books when we have read and imagined certain events to look a certain way, even characters to look a certain way.  Just as Scott stated, his memory of these plays were far more graphic than the play ever showed or said, it was his imagination that allowed him to see it in such a way.  The lack of spectacle in these Greek tragedies have brought true pleasure and enjoyment without the gore for me that some see when they imagine a scene such as Scott, bringing him a different enjoyment from the same play.