Consider the three definitions of tragedy which we discussed at the
beginning of our study of Shakespeare's The Tempest.
Classical Tragedy: According to Aristotle's Poetics,
tragedy involves a protagonist of high estate ("better than
we") who falls from prosperity to misery through a series of
reversals and discoveries as a result of a "tragic flaw,"
generally an error caused by human frailty. Aside from this initial moral
weakness or error, the protagonist is basically a good person: for
Aristotle, the downfall of an evil protagonist is not tragic (Macbeth would not
qualify). In Aristotelian tragedy, the action (or fable) generally
involves revolution (unanticipated reversals of what is expected to
occur) and discovery (in which the protagonists and audience learn
something that had been hidden). The third part of the fable, disasters,
includes all destructive actions, deaths, etc. Tragedy evokes pity and
fear in the audience, leading finally to catharsis (the purgation of
these passions).
Medieval tragedy: A narrative (not a play)
concerning how a person falls from high to low estate as the Goddess Fortune
spins her wheel. In the middle ages, there was no "tragic"
theater per se; medieval theater in England was primarily liturgical
drama, which developed in the later middle ages (15th century) as a way of
teaching scripture to the illiterate (mystery plays) or of reminding them to be
prepared for death and God's Judgment (morality plays). Medieval
"tragedy" was found not in the theater but in collections of stories
illustrating the falls of great men (e.g. Boccacio's Falls of Illustrious
Men, Chaucer's Monk's Tale from the Canterbury Tales, and
Lydgate's Falls of Princes). These narratives owe their conception
of Fortune in part to the Latin tragedies of Seneca in which Fortune and her wheel play a prominent role.
Renaissance tragedy derives less from medieval tragedy (which randomly
occurs as Fortune spins her wheel) than from the Aristotelian notion of the tragic flaw a moral weakness or human error that causes the protagonist's downfall.
Unlike classical tragedy, however, it tends to include subplots and comic
relief. From Seneca,
early Renaissance tragedy borrowed the "violent and bloody plots,
resounding rhetorical speeches, the frequent use of ghosts . . . and sometimes
the five-act structure" (Norton Anthology of English Literature,
6th ed., vol. I, p. 410). In his greatest tragedies (e.g. Hamlet, Othello,
King Lear and Macbeth), Shakespeare transcends the conventions of
Renaissance tragedy, imbuing his plays with a timeless universality
Next, consider the "problem" of the four
Shakespeare plays many critics now classify as Romances.
Here is a useful link:
Finally, craft your own argument as to the proper classification of The
Tempest. Be sure to include specific text evidence from not only the
play but also the sources provided.
300 word minimum; include text evidence and cite. Post your initial
response by Thursday at 11 am. Post at least one substantial response to a
class member by class time on Friday.
