City Comedy and Revenge Tragedy - Term Paper Example

The differences between tragedy (the tragic mode) and comedy (the comic mode) lie principally in mood, but there are also differences in the kind of action presented, the issues involved and their importance, and the final outcome or resolution and its effect on the audience. Comedies, on the other hand, end happily. And whereas the tragic hero falls from an originally fortunate position, the comic hero rises above obstacles which lay on his way; he is triumphant in the end. In the Aristotelian definition of tragedy, the protagonist or the tragic hero is a member of royalty, or occupies a noble position, who has admirable personal qualities. He is essentially good, nut he, or his ancestors, have broken a moral law – a law of the gods or the state. Shakespeare’s versatility is expressed through his great works which both involved tragedies and comedies. These included his finest comedies such as Much Ado about Nothing, Twelfth Night and As You like It; his great Roman historical plays such as Julius Caesar and Anthony and Cleopatra; and the tragedies Hamlet, Macbeth and Othello. In his tragedies, specifically Othello, end in the protagonist being overcome by forces which he opposed or tried to oppose. The protagonist or the tragic hero is a member of the royalty, or occupies a noble position, who has admirable personal qualities. The tragic hero is essentially good, but he, or his ancestors, has broken a moral law – a law of the gods or the state. In this Shakespeare play, we see the tragic hero struggling to avoid the consequences of transgression, but readers will know that his eventual defeat is inevitable, that he cannot avoid the punishment that will come as a consequence of what he has done. The tragic hero has a fatal defect, a “tragic flaw” which also leads to his downfall. Shakespeare’s Macbeth is excessively ambitious. The “flaw” in his character impels the tragic hero into actions which bring about his destruction. Although tragedy leaves readers with a sense of loss because the hero in Shakespeare’s plays have shown the readers how noble and good they are and yet have been destroyed or defeated, readers feel a certain kind of satisfaction because they have demonstrated the value of human nature and have shown readers how noble and great a man can be. Readers feel proud of such a man as the tragic hero, readers also feel humbled by the thought that they may not be able to be as heroic as the he was. Despite commercial consideration and censorship, the achievements of early seventeenth-century drama in England still manage to astound modern observers. During the first years of the writing of William Shakespeare, a group of other accomplished playwrights reached a new level of maturity and finesse. In the early writings of Shakespeare, his plays most often treated historical or comical themes, but in the first part of the 17th century, he conducted a number of experiments in genres that undermined and extended the traditional confines of popular Elizabethan forms, producing works that refashioned comedy, tragedy and romance. The first signs of Shakespeares growing mastery over his craft was a series of "problem" plays that introduced his idea of "tragic flaws" which was very evident in the story of OTHELLO   In his "tragic flaws", specifically in Othello, Shakespeare extended the boundaries of comedy by resolving his works in unexpected ways that undermined the neat moralistic formulas the genre had traditionally served. The characters in Othello are forbidden foibles and shortcomings even when they do not deserve to be forgiven, or the heroes of these dramas achieve success despite significant moral failings and personality flaws (enter the characteristics of the people in Hamlet) Shakespeare triumphed in his continued vein of experimentation through his other dramatic plays and tragedies. The concept of “tragic flaw” can be traced on Shakespeare’s other famous works namely Othello, King Lear and Hamlet. These great plays can be compared and contrasted for they are written by the Shakespeare and at the same time they are made into great plays and movies. In Othello for instance, the author explored the psychological consequences of racism. The central character, Othello, is a Moor (a black African) who is married to a much younger and white, Desdemona. When driven mad by the adulterous accusations brought against her by her treacherous friend, Iago, Othello murders her, and then realizes afterward that he must live with the consequences of his judgment. Thus Othello is a fatally flawed tragic figure, but his flaw is curiously inexplicable given his status the very model of propriety and good judgment prior to his rash act of murder. His willingness to believe the false accusations of Iago, in other words, has been able to play upon Othello’s own fears that a black man’s marriage to a white woman is unnatural. Othello is a flawed character who has unjustly banished his Desdemona from his presence, but who is subsequently driven insane by the even greater injustice and monumental ingratitude of his conscience. In his mad ravings he contemplates the nature of justice and the order of the universe, observations that are made more chillingly forceful because a seeming madman utters them. In the final of these late tragedies, Othello, Shakespeare explored the consequences of incivility, and he brought major insights to bear on the dark emotions that produce enormous crimes. In Othello, the same tragic hero of Shakespeare surfaces. This is a tragedy that exposed the truths behind the life of the royal family. This uncovered the lies that hid behind the wealth and prestige that their lineage has brought upon. This story proved that we cannot have everything. This was also something that was evident in this play or movie. Othello carries the blood of a Moor in his veins however for some reason he believes that his lineage is a possible hindrance to the continuity and stability of his marriage to Desdemona. Antigone by Sophocles "Gladly will I meet death in my sacred duty to the dead. Longer time have I to spend with them than with those who live upon the earth. Seek not to argue with me; nothing so terrible can come to me but that an honored death remains." This story of Antigone has fascinated audiences and readers for centuries, and the first thing to point out about him is that she is enigmatic. The protagonist actually tells other characters that there is more to him than meets the eye—notably, her brother, Polynices —but her fascination involves much more than this. When Antigone speaks, she sounds as if there’s something important she’s not saying, maybe something even she is not aware of. Antigone is very much willing to sacrifice her life just to giver her brother a decent and humane burial. This protagonist is extremely philosophical and contemplative. Antigone is particularly drawn to difficult questions or questions that cannot be answered with any certainty. She is equally plagued with questions about the afterlife, about the wisdom of suicide, about what happens to bodies after they die—the list is extensive. The idea of the “tragic flaw” is a complicated concept in this tragedy. It is true that this protagonist possesses definable characteristics that, by shaping his behavior, contribute to her tragic fate. But to argue that her tragedy is inevitable because she possesses these characteristics is difficult to prove. Antigone is described as one of Sophocles’s tragic hero though she was a member of the royal family; she was not able to live according to the social expectations of the readers for her to be someone who is morally righteous and intellectually capable in resolving personal and social conflicts. The next line shows how Antigone loves her family that if her family is at stake, she is willing to give up her life for them. “But I will bury him; and if I must die, I say that this crime is holy: I shall lie down with him in death and shall be as dear to him as he to me.” (Prologue, Line 55). Her martyrdom did not bear her fruit. Having violated the law of the King is a huge mistake for her. With her determination and loyalty, she is able to bury her brother however she is sentenced to die through natural means-starvation. She is locked up in a cave to without and food not water to nourish her. Being inflicted with too much pain due to starvation and subjected to loneliness through isolation, Antigone decided to end her own life by committing suicide. With this event, Antigone disobeyed the human law (King’s law) and the Divine Law by killing herself. Aside from this, the story of the tragic heroine invoked catharsis to the readers. Feelings of pity and despair overwhelm the readers for a hero who deeply loved her brother and who faced the punishments that would come her way due to her insubordination. People also felt that the ending would have been better if she did not commit suicide to cease her own suffering. Acting on pure impulse and emotions ended up with a beautiful woman’s death and double suffering for her family who lost a daughter and a son. Gilgamesh In Gilgamesh we see the tragic hero struggling to avoid the consequences of his transgression, but we know that his eventual defeat is inevitable that he cannot avoid the punishment that awaits him. The tragic hero has a fatal defect, a tragic flaw. In Gilgamesh, the tragic flaw is his sexual desire and uncontrollable urge for having sex with women with or without using force. The flaw in Gilgamesh’ character impels the tragic hero into actions which bring about his destruction. Although Gilgamesh leaves us with a sense of loss because the hero has shown us how noble and good he is yet has been destroyed or defeated, we feel a certain kind of satisfaction because he has demonstrated a value of human nature and has shown us how noble and great man he can be. We feel proud that such a man as the tragic hero Gilgamesh and we feel humbled by the thought that we may not be able to be as heroic as he was. Dramatic irony, discovery and reversal have different effects on the audience in tragedies such as Gilgamesh. The ignorance of the tragic character about certain facts makes us pity him because we are aware of the gap between his fault and his fate. Audience may also experience fear because they realize that the tragic hero is a human being in many ways and his misfortune could possibly happen to them. It exalts man as an individual for the protagonist seems heroic as he struggles against great obstacles. To understand why Gilgamesh is such a great hero is to understand some things that lie at the heart of the vision of fate which Gilgamesh illuminates for us. To compare Moses and Gilgamesh as heroic characters is to come to an understanding of some of the fundamental differences between two famous and imaginatively moving fatalistic visions very different from our own understanding of the world. Gilgamesh, who, in response to the death of Enkidu is placed in a similar situation and for similar reasons—he thought he knew all there was to know about life. But Gilgamesh learns from that experience and changes. His behavior towards others undergoes a significant transformation, and he comes back to Uruk at the end of the story a changed personality. Gilgamesh becomes a mature leader only because he is capable of learning to move beyond the assertions of his ego, to acquire humility and an acceptance of his communitys values. Baker, Oliver. In Shakespeares Warwickshire and the Unknown Years. London: S. Marshall, 1937. Griswold, Wendy. Renaissance Revivals: City Comedy and Revenge Tragedy in the London. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986 Sophocles. Othello. Trans. Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama. Ed. X. J. Kennedy. 5th ed. New York: Harper, 1991. 999-1039. Read More