Aim+Tragedy

 Aim Mariah Nunes   Tragedy is defined as a, “ branch of drama that treats in a serious and dignified style the sorrowful or terrible events encountered or caused by a heroic individual” (Conversl and Sewall). Often, in “serious” literature, authors write tragedies. Their “dignified style” aims to show the audience a “sorrowful” series of events, outside the norm of happy endings. Aside from showing these “terrible” events for the sake of doing so, the aim of tragedy could include making readers feel despair, sending a message that not every situation ends positively, or making a statement that the protagonist or “heroic individual” does not always win. Showing the events the protagonist “encountered or caused” allows readers to view and understand the series of events that led to their downfall. When authors show this chronological chain of incidences, the aim could be to allow the audience to make inferences as the story progresses. They can assume what will happen next only to find the wretched and unfortunate ending.

 Authors of the book The Reader’s Companion to World Literature report, “Aristotle begins his account of tragedy by pointing out that differences in aim give rise to tragedy and comedy; comedy aims at representing men as worse, tragedy as better, than in actual life” (Homstein, Percy, Edel, Frenz and Brown). While Aristotle compares tragedy to its antithesis, comedy, he displays a specific aim that tragedy shows men “as better” than they are in “actual life”. “Better” could include stronger, mightier, higher in status, less vulnerable, etc. It would be logical for the main character to be “better” because the devastating outcome of sorrow and grief would be more shocking and bewildering to the audience. It would seem impossible for such a “better” person to be defeated, yet that is just the outcome in tragedies.  Works Cited   Conversl, Leonard W., and Richard B. Sewall. "Tragedy." //Britannica// //Online Encyclopedia//. Web. 8 Nov. 2011.

Hornstein, Lillian Herlands, G. D. Percy, Leon Edel, Horst Frenz, and Sterling Allen Brown. //The Reader’s Companion to World Literature//. New York: New American Library, 2002. //Google Books//. Web. 8 Nov. 2011. 