Shakespeare

Wrote four kinds of playsComedies—Midsummer Night’s

DreamHistories—Richard IIRomances—Winter’s TaleTragedies—Macbeth

Tragedies

Four big-time tragedies: Hamlet (not the Dr. Seuss version which included Green Eggs), Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth

Macbeth was the last of his tragedies. Many consider it his best.

King Lear, however, is most often considered his best play of any category.

Romeo and Juliet, also a tragedy, is considered of lesser quality than the big four.

Classical Tragedy

requirements of a tragedy as set out in Aristotle’s Poetics

tragedy is when bad things happen to good people

protagonist is high-bornprotagonist has a fatal flawthe tragedy of the play flows from this

fatal flaw

Classical Tragedy cont.

at some time (usually at the end) the protagonist has a moment of realization where he or she discovers what has happened and why they are responsible

the action (according to Aristotle) should take place in a day or less. In later times, this meant a constriction or concentration of time.

the tragedy will have an antagonist (or, if male, an uncletagonist)—the bad guy