Elements of Greek and British Tragedy

Greek

Aristotle and the Unities

*Unity of time

*Unity of place

*Unity of action

Time:

- Greek depicted a story that spanned one day

- Has beginning middle and end

Place:

- stage represents action in ONE place

Action:

- action that strayed from play was not included; no play within a play

-each scene should contribute directly to progression of play

-no chance or coincidence

Aristotle's Plot

*Violence is not portrayed on stage

Character

-Tragic hero brings about his own downfall, he has little control of his own plight

-In ancient Greece, tragedy is influenced by fate, god, etc

-hero may or may not die

- suffering is bad as dying

-hero must understand his doom (simple versus complex)

Aristotle's Influence => Shakespearean

* an explicit link to Aristotle influence in Shakespeare arguably does not exist

* Shakespeare did not know Greek and ancient text were just being rediscovered

* Shakespeare didn't have access to information

Shakespearean Tragedy

*Hero dies

*relatives die because of a excess of a trait (Ex: pride jealousy, greed)

* Hero contributes directly to the disaster from which he dies (while, Aristotle => Fate)

Shakespearean Tragedy Cont.

*less to do with how small man is in the world and how little he has to do with his own fate

* Catastrophe - is the result of a deed or action, and action is result of mans character

Shakespearean Character

*tragic hero

* Some argue that its a mistake to call the hero's flaw a "tragic flaw" because he is predisposed to the trait which could also a characters virtue => which in different circumstances leads to downfall

* Character CHOOSES not to do anything about his flaw

Shakespearean Plot

*allows chance

*hero may encounter circumstances that when combined w/ chance occurrences lead to circumstances that are beyond the hero's control

Opinions of Shakespeare

-argued whether it was correct during Shakespeare's time because it did reflect Aristotle's work

-Shakespeare did not have access to the information or documents

Shakespearean Tragedy

-British tragedy

-Renaissance tragedy

-Shakespearean tragedy

Elements of Aristotelian Tragedy

Elements: Plot, Character, Thought, Diction, Melody, Spectacle

Characteristics of Tragedy

- Aristotle defines tragedy according to 7 characteristics

>>Mimetic: copies life

> mime; mimics

>> It is serious

>> It tells a full story of appropriate length

> has beginning, middle, and end

>>It contains rhythm + harmony

> it flows

> story line goes together

>>rhythm and harmony occur in different combinations in different points of the tragedy

>> performed rather than narrated

>> it arouses feelings of pity and fear, then purges these feeling through catharsis

> Catharsis: emotional/spiritual cleansing

6 Components - Most important to least important

1. Plot

2. Character

3. Thought

4. Diction

5. Melody

6. Spectacle

Plot

- outcome must rely on tightly constructed cause and effect

-tragedy should NOT depend primarily or personality of protagonist

-most important according to Aristotle

- tragedies are "plot driven"

I. Beginning, Middle, and End

-Beginning must start the cause and effect chain and not depend on anything out side the realm of play

- Middle (climax) should be caused by earlier incidents and affect events yet to come

-End (resolution) should be caused by earlier events and not lead to any further incidents

II. Completeness and Unity of action

- self contained

- acts should not succeed one another w/out probable or necessary sequence

- coincidence should be avoided

- Info should be dramatized not reported

III. Magnitude

-tragedy should have a certain level of impact on audience

- it should be appropriately long and complex

- serious w/ universal significance

> Universal Significance: no matter who watches it, it is significant to any audience from anywhere and means something to them

IV. Simple or Complex

-if plot is simple:

>should focus on hero's downfall

-if plot is complex:

>should have both a reversal of intention and recognition

a. Reversal of Intention: what protagonist intended is not what happened

b. Recognition: protagonist will understand what lead to his downfall

Character

-should support plot

-protagonist should be of high social standing so that his fall is apparent

> if someone is already poor and doesn't have much, what is there really for him to lose..?

-fall should be the result of a flow in personality, not of vice

> you have to like the character to have pity and fear aroused

I. Hamartia

-Often translated as "tragic flaw"

> but it is argued whether it is closer to "mistake"

-Protagonist mistakenly brings own downfall

-Downfall ~ result of lack of knowledge, not because he/she is sinful or morally weak

II. Character Qualities

-good or fine

-true to type

-true to life

-consistency

-necessary or probable

-true to life yet more beautiful

Thought

-speeches should reveal character

> what character says has to reveal their thoughts because it is shown on a stage and the audience cant hear their thoughts

-a general attitude is expressed

-the themes of a play

Diction

-the "expression of the meaning of words"

-appropriate for the plot and characters

- Metaphors used

>"...it is the mark of genius, for to make good make metaphors implies an eye for resemblances."

Song or Melody

-Musical element of chorus

-still a piece of tragedy that reflects its origins

-should be carefully integrated almost like another actor/character

-choral odes should contribute to the plot

Spectacle

-the play itself, not special effects, should arouse pity and fear

-spectacle "create[s] a sense, not of the terrible but only of the monstrous

-least important

Homework- Sentence Build

I apologize. I have been trying to get pages for assignments, homework, notes, etc. Unfortunately this has been difficult so for now we will make do.

The Sentence Build Homework is an on-going assignment that is added to each night. The first night you were instructed to create a simple sentence with one subject and one verb. For instance: The dog barked. The next step was to add a subject: The dog and bird barked. Next, you were to add a verb: The dog and bird barked and tweeted. The next night we added an adjective to each subject: The brown dog and the blue bird barked and tweeted. Tonight, you must add one adverb to each verb: The brown dog and the blue bird barked loudly and tweeted softly. These are just examples. DO NOT use these because A: that's cheating but B: if you turned in those sentences, she would not approve. She expects creativity. If this assignment continues with further instructions, I will edit this post with updates.

Evolution of Tragedy

Tragedy is not a narrative, but a drama. This means that it is a play or script and not a story.

Tragedy originated from the Greek word, Tragodia meaning "goat song"
Tragedy began as a religious ritual where a group of men would come together in a circular dancing place (called orchestra) and they would sing a choral or group lyric. This song was specifically called a Dithyramb because it payed tribute to Dionosys, a Greek god. Dionosys was the God of wine, agriculture and fertility. He was son to Zeus and a mortal woman, but when his mother died he was raised by Nymphs, spirits of nature. He was the patron of the stage and he enjoyed intoxication and believed in drugs, etc.
The men that participated in these religious rituals were dressed as Satyrs (half men, half goats) because they were said to be friends of Dionosys, the God they were worshiping.
The choral song they sang eventually widened into a story of heroes and myths.
An actor was introduced to these rituals to answer questions posed by the group. Later on a playwright, Aesechylus added a second actor so there could then be conflict between the two. (Aeschylus also wrote Prometheus Bound and Mary Shelly's husband wrote Prometheus unbound which ties in the story Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelly, which we will read later this year) Following Aesechylus, the playwright, Sophocles, author of Antigone, added a THIRD actor to these rituals, creating them into more of a play.
The actors would then wear masks and sang or spoke poetically. (also like plays)
The ceremonies included three parts: the Strophe, Antistrophe and the Epode. These resemble modern day acts and scenes from a play.
Tragedy was recognized as an official state cult for the first time in Athens during the year 534 BC.
This religious festival, or now closer to play would take place in late March or early April in honor of Dionosys, being the God of nature as well.
This event ended in a contest of three playwrights, over three consecutive days, competing to judge which play was best. These theaters they were held in could hold 12,000 people.
Tragedy depicts the downfall of a noble hero or heroine through some combination of excessive pride, fate, and/or will of Gods.
"Oedipus the King", written by Aristotle, outlines the qualities of a tragedy today.
We will soon be getting into Aristotelian Tragedy.

Types of sentences 9/12/11

Simple Sentence:
a sentence with ONE independent clause
For example: I ran to the store
the can also have compound subjects, and/or compound verbs
For instance: I ran and jumped. OR Grant and I ran and jumped.

Compound sentence:
a sentence with TWO independent clauses and a coordinating conjunction (coordinating conjunctions include For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So and can be remembered by the acronym: FANBOYS)
For example: Grant ran and I jumped.

Complex sentence:
a sentence with ONE independent clause and at least one dependent clause.
For example: Although Grant and I ran and jumped, we did not visit the store.

9/11/11

Final drafts are due on Monday! I received a question asking if we had to include both plagiarism and cheating. The answer is no. You can stick to one point.

*Take a moment today to remember the brave and beloved lives lost in the attack that occurred this day, ten years ago*

9/8/11

Today in class we peer edited eachothers' drafts. Second revised drafts due tomorrow.