Tragedy, a dramatic art form, extending back thousands of years, employs human suffering to invoke catharsis and vicarious pleasure in the audience. While deriving pleasure from viewing the suffering of others appears paradoxical, tragedies are one of the most popular forms of entertainment today. Although the elements and defining characteristics of tragedy have changed drastically throughout the years, in essence they remain the same. A tragic hero unexpectedly experiences an unprecedented calamity, often provoking pity and empathy from the audience, leading to their downfall. Shakespeare’s King Lear, one of the most noted and acclaimed examples of Shakespearean tragedy, details the story of Lear, an aged and maddening king, who decides to bequeath his land to his three daughters while still attempting to retain …show more content…
authority over his kingdom. Similarly, A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley depicts a modern tragedy that parallels the events of King Lear. Both works include the idea that the suffering extends far beyond the protagonist, but the final fate and the audience’s reaction to the hero differs. One recognized characteristic of Shakespearean tragedy is that the suffering and calamity extend beyond the protagonist, making the whole atmosphere one of pain and despair. King Lear and A Thousand Acres use this idea of ubiquitous misery to create universal suffering amongst the characters. In King Lear, after Lear escapes to the wilderness, Regan and Goneril take control of the kingdom, cruelly doling out punishment to all who are aligned with the former king. They, along with Cornwall, in a perverse display of power, decide to blind Gloucester, cruelly declaring, “Let him smell his way to Dover” (Shakespeare 3.7.113-114). As a result of Lear’s actions and departure from his home, Regan and Goneril have the opportunity to blind Gloucester, extending the suffering beyond that of Lear’s. However, the calamity extends further than this one man; because of Lear, the whole kingdom is in a state of war and turmoil. Albany and Cornwall decide to wage war against one another in an effort to gain the other’s land, eventually dragging France into the affair. Delivering news that the war will soon reach Cordelia, the Messenger reports that “the British powers are marching hitherward,” confirming that the actions of this debased king now extend to even foreign powers (Shakespeare 4.4.24). The consequences of Lear’s actions extend beyond him, beyond even the walls of his kingdom, reaching neighboring countries, bringing war upon the peoples of both England and France. And by the end of the play, the inexorable universe punishes Lear for his hubris by killing Cordelia, his daughter and an innocent victim of circumstance, concluding the tragedy and leaving the audience in despair (Foster). Likewise, in A Thousand Acres, Ginny’s hopelessness and misery extend far beyond her, affecting every member of her family and community: Ty’s hog operation turns to shambles, Harold disgraces Jess, Rose sinks deeper into rage as her cancer returns, Pammy and Linda lose their father, and Pete “[drives]...into the quarry and drown[s]” (Smiley 286). Everyone in the community suffers, dividing the town and driving wedges between former friends. Just as Ginny feels that the “Eye was always looking,” the entire family feels exposed to the judgements of the callous community (Smiley 286). The suffering is not contained to the farm, but is universal, paralleling the tragedies in King Lear. While King Lear and A Thousand Acres share similar tragic elements, they differ in the final fate of each character. In Shakespearean tragedies, the tragic hero always dies by the conclusion, debased, but still collectively mourned by society. King Lear follows this tradition with Lear dying in the final scene of the last act. His last actions are unnoteworthy and his death unexpected. Edgar laconically notes in one of last lines of the play, “He is gone indeed,” surprising the audience with the statement’s simplicity (Shakespeare 5.3.383). The king is dead but, because of the war’s extensive death toll, he receives no more than a footnote and a passing thought once the turmoil is over. And, although a hallmark of Shakespeare’s tragedies, Lear’s descent from power and death in squalor still resound with the audience and leave them wondering what happens to the kingdom after the play ends. In contrast, heroes in modern tragedies are often still alive at the end of the plot. Ginny does not die at the end of A Thousand Acres but instead becomes a waitress in a random, ramshackle town, watching passively as her life passes “in a blur,” while forgetting that she is “still alive” (Smiley 336). Her passions die and her joy fades, but Ginny lives, following the pattern of modern tragedies. In direct opposition to Shakespearean tragedies, the audience in modern tragedies often feels empathy for the protagonist, who may pass away without recognition or ceremony. In King Lear, Lear dies at the end of the play, in concordance with the tradition of Shakespearean tragedies. Conversely, Ginny remains alive at the end of the novel, even though she is humbled, lost, and faded. Her story is all too believable: a farm girl is abused by her father, manipulated and accused, and eventually fades into a life of ignominy, waitressing at a nondescript restaurant in a town that could be anywhere. She becomes a nobody, lost to her family, to whom she did not “write back” for months after she left, justifying her self-imposed isolation and reluctance to respond by saying, “there was nothing to tell” (Smiley 335). Her downfall and descent into a banal and dreary life evokes pity and sympathy from the audience because her story is not one of a king, so far above the common man that no one can touch or understand him, but one of a waitress, a common sight and figure in today’s society. Her story could be anyone’s. As one Shakespearean critic and Miscellany News columnist wrote, “How untouchable and unassuageablc… the sufferings of a king [are]” (Vassar Miscellany). Because of his elevated status and unrelatable problems, the audience struggles to gain the same rapport with Lear as they possess with Ginny. The audience can relate to Ginny’s struggles with ease but is left dumbfounded when attempting to sympathize with Lear. King Lear and A Thousand Acres, two famous works from different eras, utilize elements of tragedy to convey their messages and enthrall their audiences.
Although both works extend the suffering beyond the protagonist, Smiley and Shakespeare chose to explore differing elements of tragedy as well, including the final fate of the hero and the audience’s reaction to the hero’s tragic arc. Everyone in both works suffers; from Lear to Albany to Ginny to Pete, no one escapes the universal element of tragedy. And while King Lear dies at the end of the play, Ginny survives, her new life causing the audience to further sympathize with her more relatable struggles, despite her lack of moral awareness. However, because of King Lear’s imposing status and unrelatable problems, the audience is hard pressed to empathize with this tragic hero, despite his moral realization allowing the audience to feel pity for him. Tragedies, popular yet heart-wrenching, through various means, use tragic elements to invoke catharsis and allow the audience to vicariously experience the turmoil of the characters while still allowing them to go home at the end of the day at
peace.
Social pressures change as time passes, therefore it is interesting to see how these three texts whom differ by almost four hundred years perceive society and the effect this has on the protagonists; Shakespeare’s King Lear which was first performed in 1606 during the Jacobean era, presents a patriarchal society. Whilst, Arthur Miller uses the characters in ‘Death of a salesman’ to show the failure of the ‘American dream’ during the “golden era” of America in the late 40’s. The ‘American Dream’ was a set of ideals which suggested that anyone in the US could be successful through hard work, and had the potential to live a happy life. The sense of the deterioration in the equality of opportunities links to the fall in power and hierarchy in King Lear. Arudanthi Roy, however, uses her contemporary Indian novel to illustrate, using a proleptic and coalesce structure, the lives of the protagonists living in a post – colonial society. In each of these three texts there are characters who fit the stereotypes that society has instilled in them, but then there are those characters who noticeably differ from the norm; According to 19th century novelist Alfred de Musset “how glorious it is – and how painful – to be an exception.” Hence this statement can be seen as applicable to these characters, because in all three texts these characters do end up losing a lot.
Both Shakespeare’s King Lear and Dante’s Inferno explore the reasons for, and results of, human suffering. Each work postulates that human suffering comes as a result of choices that are made: A statement that is not only applicable to the characters in each of the works, but also to the readers. The Inferno and King Lear speak universal truths about the human condition: that suffering is inevitable and unavoidable. While both King Lear and the Inferno concentrate on admonitions and lamentations of human suffering, one of the key differences between the works is that Inferno conveys an aspect of hope that is not nearly as prevalent in King Lear.
The tradition of the tragedy, the renowned form of drama based on human suffering that invokes an accompanying catharsis, has principally become a discontinued art. Plays that evoke the sense of tragedy-the creations of Sophocles, Euripides, and William Shakespeare-have not been recreated often, nor recently due to its complex nature. The complexity of the tragedy is due to the plot being the soul of the play, while the character is only secondary. While the soul of the play is the plot, according to Aristotle, the tragic hero is still immensely important because of the need to have a medium of suffering, who tries to reverse his situation once he discovers an important fact, and the sudden downturn in the hero’s fortunes. Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is the modern tragedy of a common man named Willy Loman, who, like Oedipus from Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, exhibits some qualities of a tragic hero. However, the character Willy Loman should not be considered a full-on tragic hero because, he although bears a comparable tragic flaw in his willingness to sacrifice everything to maintain his own personal dignity, he is unlike a true tragic hero, like Oedipus, because he was in full control of his fate where Oedipus was not.
The Shakespearean play King Lear is one of great merit, with an excellent story. The play depicts the kingdom of Lear. Because the king is nearing the end of the reign, he divides his land amongst his daughters. However, once his daughters have received what they want, they begin to distance themselves from their father. There were other small sub-stories tucked away within the main plot of the story, most containing small amounts of corruption. The turning point of the story is when Lear makes the discovery that his daughters are beginning to betray him. The once prideful and stoic king falls apart emotionally, and the kingdom undergoes a dramatic split as the King’s once loyal colleagues let loose their corruption and evil as they turn into
Beginning with the Greeks, tragedy has been an essential form of entertainment. Although it has changed slightly over time due to different religious and social values, it is still written and performed to this day. Perhaps the most well known tragedy of all time is Shakespeare's Hamlet. Hamlet is perhaps the epitome of all tragedy. Not only does the tragic hero Hamlet meet his demise, but all the main characters in the play at some point due to some flaw in their character, or some fatal decision, also meet the same fate. It is because of their character flaw and/or their fatal decision at some time during the play that their death can be justified.
Shakespeare, William, Barbara A. Mowat, and Paul Werstine. The Tragedy of King Lear. New York: Washington Square, 1993. Print.
When Jane Smiley wrote A Thousand Acres, she consciously made the story parallel to Shakespeare's King Lear for several reasons. The novel's characters and basic storyline are almost direct parallels to King Lear, but Smiley's dissatisfaction with the traditional interpretation of King Lear is showcased in her modern day version (Berne 236).
King Lear as a Tragedy Caused by Arrogance, Rash Decisions and Poor Judgement of Character
In Shakespearean drama, a dynamic and explosive fusion of jealousy, pride, anger and ambition is characteristic for heroes’ behaviour. The tragedy was caused by the excessive flaw in character - self-respect and dignity combined with the feelings of hate and revenge. A disaster usually occurred to lead to destruction of the protagonist. Due to divine justice, punishment is inevitable and therefore no happy ending is possible. Therefore, time is the hero’s main enemy, mercilessly working against him. The mystery of tragedy is that once the protagonist has learnt a lesson of how to renew the order in himself, death is the only outcome /no memento mori, however/.
Shakespeare’s works are some of the finest examples of Tragedy and Comedy from the English cannon of literature. The reason that his works are so poignant and reflective is his use of both emotions in order to progress the other. In his interpretation of Troilus and Cressida the traditional story of tragic love and loss are peppered with irony and satire in order to address topical issues of Gender roles, Government action/inaction, and hero worship through juxtaposition and humor.
King Lear by William Shakespeare and A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley are both fantastic tragedies that follow a similar story arc. Although King Lear was written in 1606, and A Thousand Acres was written in 1999, they contain the same essential elements of a tragedy. Jane Smiley modeled her novel after King Lear, focusing less on Lear’s story, and more on the daughters’ stories. Both story-lines are extremely similar: a father chooses to divide his land amongst his daughters, and everything following that becomes a disaster. King Lear and A Thousand Acres utilize the elements of unexpected suffering, suffering that extends beyond the protagonist, and society/status to mold their stories into classic tragedies.
Through comedy and tragedy Shakespeare reveals the vast expanses and profound depths of the character of life. For him they are not separate worlds of drama and romance, but poles of a continuum. The distinction between tragedy and comedy is called in question when we turn to Shakespeare. Though the characters differ in stature and power, and the events vary in weight and significance, the movements of life in all Shakespeare's plays are governed by the same universal principles which move events in our own lives. Through myriad images Shakespeare portrays not only the character of man and society but the character of life itself.
As a Shakespearean tragedy represents a conflict which terminates in a catastrophe, any such tragedy may roughly be divided into three parts. The first of these sets forth or expounds the situation, or state of affairs, out of which the conflict arises; and it may, therefore, be called the Exposition. The second deals with the definite beginning, the growth and the vicissitudes of the conflict. It forms accordingly the bulk of the play, comprising the Second, Third and Fourth Acts, and usually a part of the First and a part of the Fifth. The final section of the tragedy shows the issue of the conflict in a catastrophe. (52)
Aristotle says that a real tragedy is an imitation of an action that is serious or grave involving someone of elevated status. The same person, however, brought demise to one’s own self and to the surrounding characters. When Lear gives up his kingdom to his daughters, he has completely ceased any continuation of the family’s lineage to the throne. Also lost along with ...
The play of King Lear is a tragedy like many of Shakespeare’s plays, and many of them deal with the tragic hero that end up meeting their demise thanks to their tragic flaw. The tragic hero of this play is King Lear, and he is a man that is a ruler of the kingdom of Britain in the 8th century B.C. He is a very old man surrounded by grave responsibilities, which are taking care of the land and taking care of the citizens of the kingdom. Lear the tragic hero must feel suffering and contrast those good times to the suffering, except his suffering leads to chaos and ultimately his death. The definition of a tragedy from our class notes is, “an honorable protagonist with a tragic flaw, which is also known as a fatal flaw. This eventually leads to his/her demise” (Class Notes). The definition of a tragic hero if laid out in black and white and King Lear meets all these requirements and his nobleness initiated his tragic flaw. King Lear is a tragic hero because he is a man that is very arrogant and does not see the world for what it really is. We can show how Lear is a tragic hero by using some of the elements of Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero that are nobleness, arrogance (tragic flaw), and reversal of fortune.