Tragedy Through The Ages 👅 Flashcards
Aristotle
MEGALOPSYCHIA- ‘greatness of soul’, high birth, not totally good, not totally bad .
His fall depends on some ‘error’ rather than ‘vice or depravity’- HAMARTIA
Often the result of HUBRIS- excess pride that results in divine punishment
Towards the end, a state of ANAGNORSIS- recognition of his tragic error of judgement
Middle Ages
Tragedy almost possible in overtly CHRISTIAN societies- believed God’s providence will ensure the wicked are punished
Men who seek earthly power are deluded- more of a morality play than tragedy?
Renaissance
Sceptical and political slant; corruption will be inevitably revealed and power doesn’t last
Greater range of tragic protagonists in terms of status and gender
Going beyond the protagonist; considering society and whether the universe is ruled by divine justice at all
The Romantics
Tragic protagonist as a sensitive individual, striving for self-expression in a world that does not recognise the validity of personal vision and feeling= the failure to engage with the real world
The only freedom can be found in imagination
A.C. Bradley
The tragic flaw- a flaw, not like Aristotle’s which is one of action, but one of character.
The character embodies one of life’s inevitable conflicts: greatness with conflict in evil
The protagonist is noble but not necessarily good- their conflicted moral philosophies bring about their downfall
20th century tragedy
Focus on the ‘common man’ (Arthur Miller)
The individual coming into conflict with society- very often a political/ economic conflict in American tragedies
Protagonist devoted to fulfilment of his/ her own personal ideal/ following of beliefs- the cost to themselves is their downfall
