tragic plays
Theater of catastrophe
Tragic plays are dramas depicting the downfall of a central character, typically through some combination of fate, flawed judgment, and circumstance.
The form originated in ancient Greece with works by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, later reaching English heights in Shakespeare.
Classical tragedy often involves noble protagonists whose virtues contain the seeds of their destruction: Hamlet, Oedipus Rex, King Lear.
The genre aims to evoke pity and fear in audiences, what Aristotle called catharsis.
- AntigoneTheban princess who honored forbidden burial
- hubrisRuinous excessive confidence
- fatal flawRuinous character defect
- catharsisPurification through emotional expression
- sorrowDeep emotional distress
fate · star-crossed lovers · dramatic irony · Hamlet · Euripides · chorus line · Macbeth · Medea · prologue · denouement · five acts · pathos · exposition · noble death · King Lear · soliloquy · revenge · hamartia
- literary genresfiction, poetry collections, realism, family drama, classic novels
- SenecaSeneca, epistles, stoicism, Medea, Phaedra
- Asian theaterkabuki, noh, Beijing opera, bunraku, Peking opera
tragic playscomedies
Humorous dramatic works
farces · comedic drama · happy endings · slapstick · romantic comedies