Oedipus the King and Death of a Salesman as Tragedies - Essay Example

A drama or literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with unfavorable circumstances. The genre made up of such works. The art or theory of writing or producing these works. A closer look at the word in the context of its implications concerning one’s everyday realities would revolve around a concept that explores the dynamics of those events or ‘expeditions’ that inevitably end in the grave loss with a strong element of distress. Heavy? Well, according to Aristotle and his concept of tragedy, there’s more, as this is what he and writers like Arthur Miller built their work on.

In literature, tragedy has occupied a special place since ancient times. It has more often than not, been portrayed as a drama of a serious and dignified character that typically describes the development of a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force (such as destiny, circumstance, or society) and reaches a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion. To get into specifics in terms of history and for the purpose of creating a definite background for this paper - tragedy of a high order had been created in three periods and locales, each with a characteristic emphasis and style: Attica, in Greece, in the 5th century BC; Elizabethan and Jacobean England (1558–1625); and 17th-century France.

The idea of tragedy can also be found to be embodied in other literary forms, especially the novel. While Aristotle may have believed that the word tragedy literally means "goat song," probably referring to the practice of giving a goat as a sacrifice or a prize at the religious festivals in honor of the god Dionysos; tragedy has come to signify a dramatic presentation of high seriousness and noble character which examines the major questions of human existence, irrespective of its origin.