The start of theater takes off with the Greeks in the fifth century B. C. The Greeks were one of the first civilizations to truly perform and produce plays. They created many of the earliest tragedies/comedies some of which that still exist today . The Greeks developed basic theatrical techniques as well as formed the … Read more
Throughout history, a handful of authors have established character tropes and story elements that have filtered down throughout literature. To this day, the writings of Chaucer, Homer, Faulkner, and others remain influential and are often reflected in modern works. However, no writer can claim more influence on media than William Shakespeare. His dramatic and comedic … Read more
With millions of plays available just at one’s fingertips, modern society has the unique opportunity of being able to read any form of text that could date back thousands of years. Many times, because of the different dialects and time periods, the style of writing can confuse modern audiences and the main message authors wanted … Read more
Upon reading Greek tragedies, many similar themes and tropes would often reappear as a way to tell the audience that the story which they are reading is a tragedy. One of these tropes was the seeking justice. Whether if the justice for another person or their own gratification, justice was a major influence in these … Read more
Aristotle once said, “A man doesn’t become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall. ” Sophocles’s Antigone was written in 440 B. C. which was the time when plays were written based on ancient Greece culture. The idea of a tragic hero was established in Ancient Greece, tragic heroes are … Read more
Since the inception of Sophocles’ Antigone, there has been an argument regarding the true tragic hero of the play. It is a commonly held certainty that Antigone must be the tragic character merely because she and the drama share the same name. This is, of course, a very reasonable supposition. Surely Sophocles must have intended … Read more
The play Antigone is a tragedy play that most of the characters were killed at the end. The central theme of this play is “civil disobedience” and is about the controversies between gender, power, age, religion, beliefs, and laws. The script begins with Antigone asking Ismene to bury their brother because Creon, their uncle passed … Read more
Defining a Tragedy Greek philosopher Aristotle proposes components of an ideal tragedy in his work, Tragedy and the Emotions of Pity and Fear. According to Aristotle, there are six components of a great tragedy: plot, character, thought, verbal expression, song, and visual adornment. He dissects these components in great detail and provides standards for all … Read more
For a story to be a tragedy it has to follow the principles set by Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, or those of Arthur Miller who is a twentieth century playwright. A tragedy, in Aristotle’s view, usually concerns the fall of an individual whose character is good but not perfect and his misfortunes are brought about … Read more
Oedipus the King: A tragedy of fate By definition a tragedy satisfies the moral sense, it brings forth pity or fear and it tells a story of misfortune by reversal of situation, all of which are fulfilled by Sophocles’ Oedipus the King. This being said, I will argue that this play is actually a tragedy … Read more
