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What is Tragedy?
A tragedy is a serious play representing the disastrous downfall of a central character. The tragic effect usually depends on our awareness of admirable qualities in the protagonist which are wasted terribly in the fated disaster.
The most painfully tragic plays are the Shakespearean tragedies: Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, and Julius Caesar (1599). Shakespeare's tragedies are characterized by the variety and freedom from convention.
Here we have basic characteristics of a tragic hero, as explained by Aristotle:
Hamartia – a tragic flaw that causes the downfall of a hero.
Hubris – excessive pride and disrespect for the natural order of things.
Peripeteia – The reversal of fate that the hero experiences.
Anagnorisis – a moment in time when hero makes an important discovery in the story.
Nemesis – a punishment that the protagonist cannot avoid, usually occurring as a result of his hubris.
Catharsis – feelings of pity and fear felt by the audience, for the inevitable downfall of the protagonist.
Inspiration
Shakespeare took his material from three of Plutarch's lives, those of Markus Brutus, Julius Caesar, and Markus Antonius. It was about 100 years after the death of the first Roman dictator Julius Caesar that the great historian Plutarch (46–120 CE) wrote a biography. Of his examination Plutarch said, "It is not histories I am writing, but lives; and in the most glorious deeds there is not always an indication of virtue of vice, indeed a small thing like a phrase or a jest often makes a greater revelation of a character than battles where thousands die" (Life of Alexander/Life of Julius Caesar, Parallel Lives). His most influential work traces the biographies and moral characters of famous Greeks and Romans. Moreover, Shakespeare took many details of the appearance and personality of his characters.
Mention-worthy, Shakespeare was not the first dramatist to bring the Roman tale to the stage. The first production of Julius Caesar, not by Shakespeare, was a production by the Inner Temple of Queen Elizabeth I in 1561 at Whitehall. William Alexander, Earl of Stirling wrote a play about Julius Caesar in between 1604-1607, but it differs from Shakespeare’s in that its five acts begin with a long speech and end with a Chorus.
Politics in Ancient Rome
The Roman republic was founded in 509 BCE with the overthrow of the Etruscan king, Tarquinii and the rebels’ ought to make the people free of tyranny. The republican government, which lasted for almost 500 years, included three principal institutions: the Senate (300 members of the aristocracy who held life-long posts), the tribunes of the people (two powerful officials who represented the poor citizens, or plebeians), and the consuls (two men elected by the Senate and approved by the plebeians). By around 300 B.C., real political power in Rome was centered in the Senate, which at the time included only members of patrician and wealthy plebeian families. At the broader level of political culture, it is believed that the citizens of the Roman republic accepted that they were subject to a monarch, but they drew a distinction between the just ruler and the tyrant. As a result, during the republic’s final decades, there was also a dictator, the position that Julius Caesar held at the time of his assassination.
Why Shakespeare wrote Julius Caesar?
The Roman republic was founded in 509 BCE with the overthrow of the Etruscan king, Tarquinii and the rebels’ ought to make the people free of tyranny. The republican government, which lasted for almost 500 years, included three principal institutions: the Senate (300 members of the aristocracy who held life-long posts), the tribunes of the people (two powerful officials who represented the poor citizens, or plebeians), and the consuls (two men elected by the Senate and approved by the plebeians). By around 300 B.C., real political power in Rome was centered in the Senate, which at the time included only members of patrician and wealthy plebeian families. At the broader level of political culture, it is believed that the citizens of the Roman republic accepted that they were subject to a monarch, but they drew a distinction between the just ruler and the tyrant. As a result, during the republic’s final decades, there was also a dictator, the position that Julius Caesar held at the time of his assassination.
Why Shakespeare wrote Julius Caesar?
First, Shakespeare’s representations of rebellion in classical Rome resonated with political turmoil in England in which he lived.
Second, when he first staged his Julius Caesar (1599), he did not introduce his audience to new stories. Rather, he reworked characters and events with which most of his audience would have been familiar.
Third, for many people in Renaissance England, the ancient Roman republic did not seem remote or exotic. Instead, it served as an important precedent in politics and history, one which had bearing on events and people in Britain. So, early modern writers frequently compared the English Parliament to the Roman republic’s Senate and popular tribunes.
1 comments:
Really useful one, compact yet packed with important points.Thank You very much for the effort to make the hard one looks so simple. Further, you can access this site to read Othello’s Tragic Flaw
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