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LITR 4370
TRAGEDY Model Assignments Midterm2 Samples 2017 (midterm2 assignment) Model Answers to Part 2. Begin Research Report |
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Part 3. Begin Research Report: Write at least
3-4 substantial paragraphs with two sources toward completion of
your Research Report on selected special topic
(to be completed on
Final Exam)
(Index)
Teaching the Tragic Flaw
I initially approached this essay with
the intention of criticizing the practice of being overly reliant on the use of
the tragic flaw when teaching tragedy. One of the great difficulties students
and teachers often have with tragedy is the tendency to concentrate and focus on
the tragic flaw, while leaving much of the other conventions of the genre mostly
unexplained. As I was organizing my thoughts on this, I began to see it from
another perspective. The concept of the tragic flaw, “whose misfortune is
brought about not by vice or depravity, but by some error or frailty,” is first
explained thusly in Aristotle’s Poetics
(13b). The complexity of the tragic flaw is that the hero’s flaw isn’t based on
them being an evil person, but a flaw that causes them to commit a mistake while
often trying to do what they think is right. While focusing on the tragic flaw
doesn’t have encompass the full range of the genre, it nevertheless serves as an
important tool for introducing readers to the genre.
Having experienced tragedies taught through various
high school and university courses, Dr. White’s Tragedy class is one of the few
that actually explore more of the characteristics of the genre. Before entering
the class, I would’ve summed up tragedy as a genre by saying that a great hero
or nobleman is brought down by his tragic flaw, or weakness, leading to his
death, ruin, or the ruin of his family.
By all other descriptions, Hamlet is a well-respected character and
considered a good man. His indecisiveness, leading to the death of everyone in
the royal family of Denmark, is his tragic flaw, but it stems from his desire to
be sure that what he is doing is right (Shakespeare, Hamlet). Similarly,
the downfall of the family of Oedipus is caused by his determination to find out
the killer of his father was and lift the curse on Thebes, despite warnings from
Tiresias the soothsayer (Sophocles, Oedipus Rex).
Oedipus is not driven to find the killer to enhance the greatness of his
name, he is pursuing it so vigorously in order to relieve the curse on Thebes,
so that his people can thrive. Defining these characters by their easily
recognizable tragic flaws “satisfies a common human impulse to isolate or
localize blame to the faults of individuals instead of larger social systems or
institutions” (Tragic Flaw course site page).
The character arc of the tragic hero is usually very important to the
plot, and according to Aristotle’s
Poetics, “character is the second most important element of tragedy after
the plot” (Tragic Flaw course site).
Studying the tragic flaw encompasses covering these two most important
aspects of tragedy, but fails to really address the comments and questions the
authors are making about society and morality.
The teaching of the tragic flaw is
often done as almost a key to the texts that unlocks the text. In the depth that
it is explored in high schools and lower level university classes, this enables
the instructor to pass along one of the main ideas of these texts in a way that
can be understood by students in a short amount of time. Part of this is due to
the fast paced nature of high school lesson schedules and, as Michael McDonald
states “at the high school level, most students don’t have the knowledge to
reach into history or various other literatures to understand what tragedy is
attempting to present to its audience” (Model Answers 2015). I feel this is a
key motivation for the teaching of the nature of tragedy in high school classes
because understanding Nietzsche’s Birth of Tragedy, as explained by
Michaela Fox, “require(s) a level of thought way outside of traditional thinking
processes” (Model Answers 2015). Most high school students are not ready to
delve into the duality of Apolline/Dionysiac interplay that invests tragedy with
a deeper meaning. Very view teenagers have the life experience, or exposure to
other works of tragedy to draw parallels and really understand concepts
addressed by the genre. Focusing on the tragic flaw allows teachers to expose
the students to tragedies and helps them to have some small understanding of
them, which can help them in the future when they begin to encounter them at
higher levels.
Another reason why the tragic flaw is
leaned so heavily upon in lower level education is because it can be used to
take very complex ideas about the nature of humans and allow them to be put in
more easily understood terms. It is also an easy way for a teacher to receive
feedback to the level of understanding that individual students are reaching
with the work. While a student may be able to understand the complexities of
Oedipus being punished for his actions, despite committing them unknowingly,
they may not have refined the ability to explain this in an essay. In an
environment like the modern school system, where teachers are evaluated based on
how their students do on tests, the tragic flaw in a work is something that can
easily be determined if the student is understanding or not.
The tragic flaw is an integral part of
works from the tragedy genre. Its ties to the character, and often importance to
the plot, help students make early inroads into learning about tragedy. It can
be an extremely valuable way for instructors to introduce students to the genre,
but should also be expanded upon by delving into how it relates to the grander
themes and societal/human nature commentary incorporated by the author.
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