Fear, heartache, and misery are emotions common to all people, regardless of your walk of life. Everyone has had that sinking feeling where you realize that everything has changed and not for the better. We all can identify with tragedy, and yet at the same time, we're relieved when the tragedy is not happening to us. Watching or reading Hamlet, you find yourself being grateful that your life isn't as awful as his. You sympathize with Hamlet, but at the same time, you're somewhat smug because it's not happening to you. Tragedy is based on human suffering. I find it kind of disturbing that one of the most popular genres of plays and novels is so despicable. We're reading about other people's misfortune for enjoyment and pleasure. Is it just me or does that seem slightly skewed? There is no documented origin of tragedy which causes me to believe that this disturbing phenomena has been going on as long as time itself. I'm sure cavemen got a good chuckle when the other guy got eaten by the saber-tooth cat. Hey, he probably thought, more for me!
Wikipedia says "The most fundamental change has been the rejection of Aristotle's dictum that true tragedy can only depict those with power and high status." I will explore that idea later with Arthur Miller's "The Tragic Fallacy", but for now, I may as well mention it. The definition of tragedy keeps evolving and changing to fit the times, so according to Wikipedia, there is no one definition of tragedy.
We view tragedies every day on the news, every day in English class it seems, and in history when we're talking about past injustices we've done to one another. Tragedy is everywhere, proven by the common saying "If it bleeds, it reads." Part of me thinks it's awfully sad that we are so fascinated with suffering, but then again... if everyone's doing it, why not?
Wikipedia says "The most fundamental change has been the rejection of Aristotle's dictum that true tragedy can only depict those with power and high status." I will explore that idea later with Arthur Miller's "The Tragic Fallacy", but for now, I may as well mention it. The definition of tragedy keeps evolving and changing to fit the times, so according to Wikipedia, there is no one definition of tragedy.
We view tragedies every day on the news, every day in English class it seems, and in history when we're talking about past injustices we've done to one another. Tragedy is everywhere, proven by the common saying "If it bleeds, it reads." Part of me thinks it's awfully sad that we are so fascinated with suffering, but then again... if everyone's doing it, why not?