What is a Tragedy?

Tragedy:

 The tragedy is a serious work of fiction, especially a Drama. It presents the downfall of its Protagonist. A person “better than ourselves, ”  who through some error in judgment, weakness of character.

A serious drama in which a central character, the protagonist — usually an important, heroic person — meets with disaster either through some personal fault or through unavoidable circumstances.

 Tragedy originated in ancient Greece in the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.

In modern times, it achieved excellence with William Shakespeare in such works as Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, and Othello. Twentieth-century tragedies include Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, and Murder in the Cathedral, by T. S. Eliot.

Definition of Tragedy:

                             Aristotle defines tragedy in his different views. According to the Aristotle,

“Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its katharsis of such emotions. . . . Every Tragedy, therefore, must have six parts, which parts determine its quality—namely, Plot, Characters, Diction, Thought, Spectacle, Melody.”

“Tragedy is the “imitation of an action” (mimesis) according to “the law of probability or necessity.”

“Plot is the “first principle,” the most important feature of tragedy”.

According to Aristotle’s definition, the following are the requirements of tragedy:

1.     The tragedy is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude.

2.     The tragedy is written in a language which is embellished with each kind of artistic ornament; the several kinds begin found in separate parts of the play.

3.     The tragedy is written in the form of action, not of a narrative. The narrative is employed in the epic. But tragedy has to be represented on the stage, and must, therefore, be dramatic in form.

4.     By arousing the feelings of pity and fear, tragedy affects the catharsis of these emotions.

So, Tragedy is an imitation of an action. Now, action implies agents or doers and so tragedy requires characters.