MFL. Italian AS. Italian. Financial Studies. The Essence of Shakespearean Tragedy. [In the late 1960's Dr.
Wickes taught a Shakespeare class at Harvey Mudd College attended by more "Scripsies" (humanities majors from the liberal arts college across the street) than "Mudders" (us science and engineering types). A few of us cut class one day for some reason I can't recall, and in so doing we missed a quiz. At the next session Dr. Wickes asked the class what he should do with the slackers who missed the quiz. Someone in the back of the room called out, "Make them write a paper on The Essence of Shakespearean Tragedy. "A Shakespearean tragedy is a five act play ending in the death of most of the major characters. " The essence of Shakespeare's tragedies is the expression of one of the great paradoxes of life. From this viewpoint we must look at the literary techniques in the plays not as definitive elements of tragedy but as expressions of it. Let us consider several characteristics common to Shakespeare's four great tragedies.
Tragedy and Tragic Hero 2. Othello. Metatheatricality. Meta-Theatre and Shakespeare: Research With Professor Kevin Dettmar. Tragedy and Metatheatre: Essays on Dramatic Form. Tragedy and Metatheatre: Essays On Dramatic Form.
By Lionel Abel. New York: Holmes & Meier, 2003; pp. vi + 250. $40.00 cloth, $18.00 paper. The term "metatheatre" now so casually bandied about, and sometimes with little acknowledgement of its origins, was first coined by Lionel Abel in 1963. In Metatheatre: A New View of Dramatic Form, he argued that increased self-consciousness on the part of the playwright and his creations along with the dissipation of "implacable values" inspired by a humanistic view in the early modern period made it impossible for Shakespeare and Calderón (and all subsequent Occidental authors) to write tragedies. But rather than bemoan plays like Hamlet and Life is a Dream as failed tragedies, Abel grouped them into the new-minted form of metatheatre.
It behooves me, therefore, to briefly consider Abel's legacy in light of current scholarship, reflecting back across the intervening four decades. Tragedy terms. Tragedy Quotations. Ian Johnston, "Dramatic Structure: Comedy and Tragedy" [The following has been excerpted from Ian Johnston's introductory lecture to his English 366: Studies in Shakespeare course at Malaspina University College in British Columbia; it is the best introductory discussion I have ever read on the subject of dramatic comedy and tragedy, and it is especially useful as an introduction to the major themes of King Lear.
The full version of this lecture can be accessed here.] Dramatic Structure: Comedy and Tragedy Shakespeare's plays are all about one great general theme: disorder. This may sound like a profound statement, but, as we shall see in a moment, it applies equally well to almost all drama. Still, the point is worth stressing, for reasons we shall attend to in a moment, because the major entry into every play we read is going to be an attempt to answer some key questions associated with that notion of disorder: What is the order in this society?
All dramatic stories always involve conflict. Tragedy Booklet. Shakespeare's Othello - Tragedy of Passion. Lecture on Othello - Play Construction and the Suffering and Murder of Desdemona From Shakespearean Tragedy by A.
C. Summary & Analysis. Shakespearean tragedy. List of tragedies by William Shakespeare in chronological order[edit] [edit]
Outline of Aristotle's Theory of Tragedy. The Cambridge Companion to Shakespearean Tragedy - Google Books. Student Essay on Shakespeare Essay: It Is Not a Tragedy Unless You Have a Long Way to Fall. Summary: The theme of fear within Macbeth and King Lear ties the plays together and links them into the same category.
Fear within Macbeth is another motivation that drives so many of the characters actions. For Macbeth, his fear of the prophecies is his driving action. Macbeth fears the prophecies that he will be king because it calls for him to act. Shakespeare Essay: It's Not a Tragedy Unless You Have a Long Way to The story of life is a rollercoaster. Design Transition Work. Jwsdesign.