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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page paper analyzing the concept of tragedy as defined by Aristotle (and illustrated in Sophocles' Oedipus the King) and Arthur Miller's definition of the form (as described in his essay 'The Tragedy of the Common Man' and illustrated in Death of a Salesman). Bibliography lists one source.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_Tragedy.doc
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
what the great dramatists and poets throughout history had in mind as they developed the tragic form. Throughout history, the tragedy has not remained static, but has grown and changed
with the changing temperament of the times; the tragedy of the twentieth century is much different from those of Athens Golden Age. This paper will contrast Arthur Millers conception of
the tragedy with the classic form described by Aristotle, using as examples Millers Death of a Salesman and Sophocles Oedipus the King. By Aristotles time, it had become accepted
that tragedy should deal with enormous issues -- good versus evil, the gods versus man, man versus fate. Aristotle first noted that a tragedy needed irony, and it needed a
tragic flaw or error; for him, the most effective plot is that in which mans purposes are frustrated by his own ignorance or obstinacy, so that he does not see
the error of his ways until it is too late. Most importantly, for Aristotle a tragedy had to deal with a great man (or less frequently, a woman). Dramatists in
his day did not write plays about common people, because nothing they did or did not do could be considered truly tragic; common people did not affect the fate of
nations, and they did not attract the attention of the gods. In the past few centuries, on the other hand, we have ample examples of plays written about common people,
and, like Death of a Salesman, these often rank among the most moving of theatrical experiences because we can so intimately relate to them. Miller approached a new definition of
tragedy in his 1949 New York Times essay "Tragedy and the Common Man." In this essay he argues that a characters fitness for tragic characterization is determined not by his
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