TRAGEDY CONTEXT

Question 1

how does Aristotle define the stages of tragedy

Answer 1

-he defines the stages of tragedy as where a tragic hero has a fatal flaw (harmarfia) which they become aware of too late (anagnorsis) after which point their downfall is sealed.

Question 2

what did Aristotle define irredeemable downfalls as result of?

Answer 2

-hubris (excessive pride and self confidence)

-fate or will of the gods

-a combination of the three

Question 3

what happens to the tragic hero after their downfall in Aristotles theory of tragedy?

Answer 3

-they need not die but they must undergo a change of several in fortune (known as peripeteia)

Question 4

definition of tragedy

Answer 4

A play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending, especially one concerning the downfall of the main character.

Question 5

what does a tragedy originally focus on

Answer 5

A tragedy traditionally focuses on a tragic hero or heroine. The character is an essentially noble person whose downfall leading to death, is brought about by some combination of a flaw in their character, and fate.

Question 6

Anagnorisis

Answer 6

A moment in a play when a character makes a critical discovery.

Question 7

Catharsis

Answer 7

The process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions

Question 8

Hamartia

Answer 8

A fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine

Question 9

Hubris

Answer 9

Excessive pride or self-confidence

Question 10

Nemesis

Answer 10

The inescapable agent of someone’s or something’s downfall

Question 11

Peripeteia

Answer 11

A reversal of circumstances or turning point – a reversal of fortune.

Question 12

examples of greek plays defined as tragedies

Answer 12

-Agamemnon, Aeschylus
-Electra, Euripiedes

Question 13

examples of shakespearean plays defined as tragedies

Answer 13

-hamlet
-macbeth
-lear

Question 14

examples of Jacobean plays defined as tragedies

Answer 14

-The Duchess of Malfi, John Webster
-The Spanish Tragedy, Thomas Kyd
-The Revenger’s Tragedy, Thomas Middleton

Question 15

examples of 20th century tragedies

Answer 15

-A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams
-The Seagull, Anton Chekov (see note later)

Question 16

what where Aristotles three unities in classical drama

Answer 16

-The unity of time (demanded that the action of the play should take place within twenty-four hours)

-The unity of place (required a single setting throughout the play)

-The unity of action (less clearly defined, stated that the play should centre on the main characters, with no sub-plots, and the action should have a satisfying ending)

Question 17

how does Williams respond to Aristotles 3 unions

Answer 17

-Williams does not strictly adhere to them, but rather manipulates them for his own purposes

-Blanche can be seen as the facilitator of action within the play, as it begins and ends with her arrival and departure for a mental institution.

Question 18

features of tragedy

Answer 18

A common convention of a tragedy is a character’s fate already being set in place for them, and the playwright continuously hinting at this fate throughout the play, leading up to the downfall of the character

Question 19

how does streetcar show tragedy

Answer 19

his understanding of tragic conventions by already suggesting that now that Blanche has arrived at Elysian Fields, her fate has already been decided for her and her past life is behind her, something she will never be able to change again.

Question 20

how does streetcar not conform to classical ideations of tragedy?

Answer 20

1. Defining the play as a tragedy reduces the play A Streetcar Named Desire to think of it only in terms of a single flaw.
2. Blanche moves from self-awareness and knowledge to delusion, so the play is not tragic in a classic sense.
3. The play helps us redefine what we mean by tragedy.
4. In this play there is not one single tragic hero: Stanley is as much the tragic hero of the play as Blanche.
5. A Streetcar Named Desire shows us that ordinary people are just as much the subject of tragedy as the nobility.

Question 21

what is domestic tragedy

Answer 21

In English drama, a domestic tragedy is a tragedy in which the tragic protagonists are ordinary middle-class or lower-class individuals

Question 22

what is Divine retribution in tragedy

Answer 22

Supernatural punishment of a person, a group of people

Question 23

impact of ww2 on men

Answer 23

resulted in more savage, violent masculinity due to harrowing experiences of violence in war