Literary Tragedy

Paper Summary:

This paper shows that the definition of tragedy depends on the meaning perceived by an audience, rather than on a structured stimulus independent of response. The paper focuses on certain psychological principles of tragedy capable of demonstrating the essential kinship between works of tragic literature from ancient Greece to modern times. Various different literary works are discussed, illustrating the varying definitions or criteria for tragedy.

From the Paper:

"The compulsion to label any disaster a tragedy as well as perfectly complete textbook definitions of tragedy ignores the intricacies confronted by serious critics and philosophers trying to understand and explain the full meaning of the word tragedy and the varieties of experience that it attempts to describe. While the quantity of writing on tragedy indicates the subject's complexity and the ongoing interest in finding a modern working definition of tragedy, it has also resulted in it appearing more complex then the dramatic tragic work of literature itself. Such persisting inquiries from ancient times to the present have either built theories of tragedy on discrete philosophical premises, selected different plays as exemplary, or reflected particular cultural values."

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• Book Review # 139700 : "The Vision of Tragedy"- A Review"

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