Fear And Pity: The Key Elements Of A Tragedy

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Recommended: Differences Between Comedy And Tragedy

A Fine Line
An audience will have no trouble ascertaining whether they are viewing a comedy or a tragedy when viewing a well written drama. Some audience members might be surprised as to how fine the line is between these two genres. According to Roberts and Zweig, when sharing Aristotle’s definition of tragedy, it would contain these key elements, a reversal of situation, a recognition by the protagonist and finally the scene of suffering (1304-1305). These elements were to produce the key components of tragedy through, “fear and Pity” an audience member would experience powerful emotions that would provide a cathartic experience (1303). In contrast a comedy, according to Roberts and Zweig, has a climax where the height of catastrophe is taking place and then the denouement which highlights how the “order is reestablished” (1533). Roberts and Zweig explain how the more chaotic the climax is the funnier the comedy (1533). These same chaotic, misunderstandings and bad behavior can be found in a tragedy. The difference is in a tragedy when the climax is reached the decisions made by the protagonist do not lead to a resolution, rather the result is almost always fatal. The misconceptions that occur throughout the play are met with fear and pity instead of humor and hope. A good writer could perhaps turn his work from a comedy into a tragedy by allowing his characters to make different …show more content…

Although the play The Bear is a comedy due to the elements representing low comedy and farce, it could have been a tragedy if the reversal and recognition had come too late leading

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