A Like Tragedies In Literature

Tragedy is a huge part not only in life but in literature. Tragedy in reality can be anything; death, natural disaster, suicide, and so on. Tragedy in literature is portrayed in a plays or religious ceremonies. Most of these tragedies are related to the disaster of heroes, legends, and religious myths. A tragedy in literature may have some similarities as tragedies in real life, but will need key aspects to be considered a tragedy. Tragedy is portrayed very differently in literature compared to reality because of differences in reactions and the people involved. Unlike tragedies in real life, tragedies in literature are not always deaths or some type of disaster. In literature, personal choices and fate are always involved in a tragedy. A
tragedy has to include personal choice or decision made by the victim to bring misfortune upon themselves to be considered a tragic event. For example, when Romeo and Juliet commit double suicide in Romeo and Juliet, their suicides are categorized as a tragedy because their personal decisions lead them to commit that act. Also, in literature, a tragedy is not always death or some kind of natural disaster ,“The hero need not die at the end, but he / she must undergo a change in fortune. In addition, the tragic hero may achieve some revelation or recognition (anagnorisis--"knowing again" or "knowing back" or "knowing throughout" ) about human fate, destiny, and the will of the gods. Aristotle quite nicely terms this sort of recognition "a change from ignorance to awareness of a bond of love or hate."( Meyer 1) As long the victim’s fate or fortune is changed by a personal choice, the event is a tragedy. If the tragedy is not a death, the victim should become aware of what caused the tragedy. Although tragedies in literature do not need death, some tragedies do end in death. Many books have suicides or natural disasters like car accidents that end in death. For instance, in the book Perks of Being a Wallflower, the main character Charlie's best friend commits suicide, in the end Charlie learns to move past the tragedy and live his life. Deaths are considered tragedies in literature, but these deaths always have a personal choice or trait that makes a tragedy. In reality, all deaths are considered a tragedy, moral decision or not. For example, “if a man was shot in a movie theater in reality, that would be a tragedy, but in literature that would not be because there was no personal choice involved.”(Web 1) That person did not want nor expect to die at that time. Unlike tragedies in literature, the victim can be someone of high power or a person that lives on the streets. The people around that person are affected in some way shape or form. A tragedy like a hurricane, tornado, or tsunami is not a tragedy in literature unless created by a force like a god, although in reality anything that causes some type of damage is a tragedy.
Like tragedies in reality, the tragedies in literature almost always cause pain and suffering upon the other innocent people affected by the victim’s death.
For example, in Romeo and Juliet, Juliet kills herself, which affects Romeo so greatly that he ends up committing suicide as well. The tragics hero’s personal decisions create problems for the people close to them. "What makes a tragedy so tragic is not that the noble individual falls into ruin, but that his fall causes so much suffering in others." (Charmezel Dudt. 1) Alot of times morals are used in tragedies to leave lessons to the people affected. Lessons are used so that people do not make the same mistake as the victim, so that a similar tragedy will not occur. “The most important part of this concept of tragedy as a positive, not pessimistic, drama which leaves wholesome effect, not mere disturbance, in the minds of the spectators.” (Ley, Graham 2) When the end result of a tragedy involves a moral or a lesson, the tragedy may affect people in a good
way.
The way characters react to tragedy in literature, is not the way people in reality would.
In literature, if a tragedy occurs, usually another one will follow. For example,“Lead me away, I pray you; a rash, foolish man; who have slain thee, ah my son, unwittingly, and thee, too, my wife-unhappy that I am! I know not which way I should bend my gaze, or where I should seek support; for all is amiss with that which is in my hands,-and yonder, again, a crushing fate hath leapt upon my head.” (R.C. Jebb 1) In the play Antigone one suicide leads to two more suicides. The only way the characters in Antigone are able to change their destinies are through self-harm and suicide. The overflow of tragedies may bring the characters more pain and different kinds of emotions leading to more tragedies. A lot of times these tragedies may be used to reflect a moral or a lesson in literature. “Although sometimes a moral lesson can be found in a real tragedy ("I learned my lesson, I'll never do that again!), it is much more likely that the moral can be discovered in the text.” (Lambert 1) Tragedies in reality normally do not include morals in the end, but some may. For instance, if a man's window is broken by a hurricane and he steps on a glass and bleeds to death, the moral is that he was not prepared for the storm and should have took the precautions needed to be safe in the
storm.
People in reality react very differently to tragedy then the characters in literature. When reacting to tragedy in reality, most people are shocked to hear what happened and do not believe it at first. It is a natural to feel grief, as it associates with a loss. Some emotions related to this may be sadness, regret, and frustration. Usually, when a tragedy occurs, the normal response is disbelief. The person may feel disoriented and will have a feeling that they do not know what to do next. Unlike literature, this individual will probably not harm themself as an effect of this tragedy, but they will be at a low. During a tragedy, it is also common to go through a state of depression and bargaining. In the end the individual just has to accept the fact that a nothing can change the tragedy and the person has to move on with their normal routine.
When tragedies occur in literature, especially Greek, a tragic hero is expected. A tragic hero is is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction. In literature, a tragic hero is always the victim of the tragedy. The tragic hero is usually well liked and is somebody of great social importance, like a leader or someone in that realm. The trait is called a tragic flaw or a fatal flaw in some plays and literature. This trait that is admired in the tragic hero is usually what may cause the hero’s downfall. For instance, “In the same way, we may admire the passion in Romeo and Juliet's young romance, but that same inability to live apart results in their messy double-suicide.” (Web. edu) The trait that is admired in Romeo and Juliet is their love and passion for each other, but that lovable trait is what creates their tragic ending. Another story that has a trait that leads to the victim’s tragedy is Hamlet. In Hamlet, the tragic flaw determines his downfall in the play. “His tragic flaw is his indecisiveness that is due to grave thinking on the topic of whether vengeance is wrong or right.”(Literary Devices) Also in Oedipus Rex, “the cause of his downfall was his inadvertent wrongdoings...Ironically, he ended up doing what he was scared of the most”(Literary Devices) “Tragic flaw is used for moral purposes in order to encourage the audience to improve their characters and remove the flaws which could bring their downfall in life.”(Literary Devices) Most of the time, the death of the tragic hero is because of a flaw or misuse of a trait that is well liked in the hero.
There are many books that have tragedies. “And what a horrid way to die, nailed to a cross while stinking legionnaires jibe and scoff.”(Richard Gwyn) In the bible, Jesus’s life ends in tragedy. Although it may be thought of as a sacrifice, his life still ends in a horrible way because of his personal decision to sacrifice himself to save others. His selflessness leads him to his death. Another book that includes a tragedy is
Although tragedies are devastating and cause suffering for all those affected by it in literature and reality, they are thought of very differently in literature compared to reality. Victims can be anyone in a tragedy in real life, where as in a tragedy in literature the victim is usually a person of a higher power. Also personal decisions are involved in tragedies in literature, but in reality these decision are not always included. Clearly, tragedies are very different in literature compared to reality.