Intro To Shakespearean Tragedy Barth

The Many Tragedies of Our Old Buddy Bill:
Characteristics of Shakespearean Tragedies
“He was not of an age, but for all time!”

- Ben Jonson
ON A LINED PIECE OF PAPER
 Record the questions below (answer these questions as
you click through this presentation- bring your
completed Questions/Answers to class on Wednesday
2/8)
1. What is 1 example of a tragic hero?
2. What type of men are commonly tragic heroes?
3. What is catharsis?
4. What is Hamartia
5. What is External Conflict?
6. What is 1 difference between a soliloquy and
an aside?
7. What is a foil?
The Tragic Hero
Usually there is only one tragic
hero.
Examples:
Hamlet
Macbeth
Othello
King Lear
Exceptions- The Love Tragedies

(i.e. Romeo and Juliet)
The tragic heroes in Shakespeare
are commonly men in power
 Tragic heroes are never Example: People in
just peasants. You and I power, like princes,
are peasants. We are
might feel the pains of
normal everyday people.
We do not inspire pity “despised loved” just
and fear like great like you and I. The
heroes/heroines do. Plus difference would be that
their failure must be when we feel that pain
much greater, we have no it cant affect a nation or
where to fall while their
a kingdom. The tragic
fall is much greater.
heroes pain and failure
is felt by everyone.
It wouldn’t be tragedy if there wasn’t a
death or two or three or…..
Plot
1. The tragic story
leads up to, and
includes, the death
of the hero.
2. The suffering and
calamities that
befalls the hero are
unusual and
exceptionally
disastrous.
The calamity of the hero and
catharsis.
 The hero undergoes a sudden
reversal of fortune.
 This reversal arouses the
emotions of pity and fear in
the audience, which is called
catharsis. The reversal may
frighten and awe, making the
audience or readers feel that
he/she is the “plaything” of a
higher power that may smile
on the hero one moment, and
the strike the prideful hero
down in the next.
Hamartia: The Tragic Flaw
 Hamartia (Greek)- In
tragedy, the quality within
the tragic hero/heroine
which leads to his/her
downfall. The fall often
takes the form of an
obsession.
Examples:
Macbeth’s obsession with
power.
Othello’s jealousy.
King Lear gullibility and lack
of judgment.
It wouldn’t be a Shakespearean Tragedy
with out someone going insane.
Shakespeare often
introduces abnormal
conditions of mind such
as: madness,
hallucinations or manic
depression.
Shakespearean Tragedies always
have some supernatural element
Shakespeare introduces the
supernatural: ghosts and
witches who have
supernatural knowledge.
The supernatural elements
cannot be explained away
as an illusion in the mind of
one of the characters. It
does contribute to the
action, but it is always
placed in the closest relation
with the character.
Conflicts
External Conflict Internal Conflict
The struggle between The struggle between

the main character and the main character and
an outside force in a his/herself throughout a
literary work such as literary work. It is
nature or other usually a torment within
characters. the soul of the tragic
hero.
The ultimate power in
Shakespearean Tragedies
 The ultimate power in
the tragic world is a
moral order – the
conflict between good
and evil. The entire
world order is
disrupted as a result
of the tragedy.
The Cycle of Tragedy
A cycle of tragedy must be completed:
Good
Evil
Chaos
Final Conflict
Hero’s Realization
Death
Re-assertion of good and restoration of order

Other specific elements in a
Shakespearean Tragedy
Dramatic Irony
When the reader (or
audience) knows
something about
current or future
circumstances that the
character or characters
do not know.
Soliloquy
A monologue spoken by an actor at a
point in the play when the character
believes himself to be alone. The
technique frequently reveals a
character's innermost thoughts,
including his feelings, state of mind,
motives or intentions. The soliloquy
often provides necessary but
otherwise inaccessible information to
the audience. The dramatic
convention is that whatever a
character says in a soliloquy to the
audience must be true, or at least
true in the eyes of the character
speaking (i.e., the character may tell
lies to mislead other characters in the
play, but whatever he states in a
soliloquy is a true reflection of what
the speaker believes or feels).
Aside
In drama, a few words or a short
passage spoken by one character
to the audience while the other
actors on stage pretend their
characters cannot hear the
speaker's words. It is a theatrical
convention that the aside is not
audible to other characters on
stage. Contrast with soliloquy.
The aside is usually indicated by
stage directions.
Foils
A character that serves
by contrast to highlight
or emphasize opposing
traits in another
character. For instance,
in the film Clerks, the
character Silent Bob is a
foil for his partner, Jay,
who is loquacious and
foul-mouthed.
Comic Relief
A humorous scene, incident,
character, or bit of dialogue
occurring after some serious or
tragic moment. Comic relief is
deliberately designed to relieve
emotional intensity and
simultaneously heighten and
highlight the seriousness or
tragedy of the action. Macbeth
contains Shakespeare's most
famous example of comic relief in
the form of a drunken porter.

Intro To Shakespearean Tragedy Barth

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Intro To Shakespearean Tragedy Barth

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The Many Tragedies of Our Old Buddy Bill:

Characteristics of Shakespearean Tragedies

“He was not of an age, but for all time!”

Exceptions- The Love Tragedies

The struggle between The struggle between

Re-assertion of good and restoration of order

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