Elements of Tragedy

Elements of Tragedy

by Elizabeth Rauscher

​Shakespeare Tragedy Plays

​5 Acts

​Act 1: Exposition (establish the setting and conflict)

​Act 2: Rising Action (tension mounts)

​Act 3: Climax (Conflict is at its high point, hero at a crossroad)

​Act 4: Falling Action (the conflict is heightened and heading towards resolution)

​Act 5: Resolution or Catastrophe!

Multiple Choice

In which Act in a Shakespeare play would we find the exposition? 

• Act 1

• Act 2

• Act 3

• Act 4

• Act 5

Multiple Choice

In which Act in a Shakespeare play would we find hero at a crossroad?  

• Act 1

• Act 2

• Act 3

• Act 4

• Act 5

Play Terms

Aside: a remark or passage by a character in a play that is intended to be heard by the audience but unheard by the other characters in the play.

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​Example: In The Office when the employees talk directly to camera in the staff room we, as the audience, are supposed to be the only people that hear their comments.

​Play Terms

​Soliloquy: When a character gives a speech believing themselves to be alone, usually expressing the character's inner most feelings.

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​This is what you probably do in front of the mirror when you give yourself a pep talk.

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​When a character gives a speech knowing people are listening, that is called a monologue.

Aristotle's Poetics

​The definition of a tragedy comes from Aristotle’s Poetics, a lecture on drama written sometime before 322 B.C.E.

​

​He defined tragedy as a serious play typically dealing with the problems of a central protagonist, leading to an unhappy ending caused by a tragic flaw in the character.

​The Tragic Hero

• ​The tragic hero is a noble, elevated person who falls from grace, power, and/or goodness.

• ​They must be essentially good, lifelike, and consistent.

• They are often fixated on a single element, plan, concern or issue that leads to their fall.

​Harmatia

​Hamartia is the protagonist’s tragic flaw, one that precipitates their fall from a position of good fortune to bad fortune.

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​This tragic flaw is often hubris or excessive pride. The tragic hero, while essentially good, is too prideful and unwilling to admit weakness.

​Peripeteia

​The reversal of the hero’s fortune, peripeteia is the moment when the tragic hero begins his fall. According to Aristotle, it should be surprising and completely unexpected.

​Anagnorisis

​Anagnorisis, which means “recognition” in Greek, is the recognition by the tragic hero of some truth about his or her identity or actions that accompanies the reversal of the situation in the plot.

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​“A man cannot become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall.” —Aristotle

​Catharsis

​Catharsis is the purging of emotion felt by the audience at the end of the play, when the audience learns something about human nature and feels a sense of profound emotional release.

Multiple Choice

A character's tragic flaw

• Anagnorisis

• Peripeteia

• Hamartia

• Catharsis

Multiple Choice

The character's realization that they are the cause of their own misfortune. 

• Anagnorisis

• Peripeteia

• Hamartia

• Catharsis

Multiple Choice

Once the tragedy has occurred, the emotional release after the audience learns something about human nature. 

• Anagnorisis

• Peripeteia

• Hamartia

• Catharsis

Multiple Choice

The sudden change in fortune for or tragic hero.

• Anagnorisis

• Peripeteia

• Hamartia

• Catharsis