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Chronicle of a Death Foretold is a novella written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez taking place in twentieth century Colombia. Marquez recalls the events of a murder twenty years in the past. The victim, who is named Santiago Nasar in the novella, faces prosecution from his twin friends because the twins’ sister states Santiago took her virginity. As honor was greatly valued in the Colombian society at the time, their worldview led to the requirement for their family’s honor to be restored by killing Santiago. The result is an impending murder that almost everyone, except for a small group including Santiago himself, knew about. The result is Santiago’s death as he never knew what was coming.

Aristotle’s concept of a tragedy consists of plot, characters, diction, thought, spectacle, and melody. First, the plot for the tragedy must have a start, middle and finish that are “united” so the story may flow. Next, the characters in an ideal tragedy must have a moral purpose that contains some realism. Last, to have spectacle, the tragedy must arouse emotion to the audience. There are more descriptions to what a true tragedy is; however Chronicle of a Death Foretold, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, best fit these three descriptors. Thus, Chronicle of a Death Foretold could be considered as a tragedy. If the novella fits some specifications for a novella yet does not function as a Greek tragedy, perhaps it is something else. Therefore, Chronicle of a Death Foretold could be classified as a “modern tragedy” as it fits the literary styles of Greek tragedies, such as Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, yet drifts away into the realm of more modern writing.

First, Aristotle's first component of a proper Greek tragedy is plot. The plot for tragedy has to ...

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...ndeed spectacle which allows the novella to furthermore be classified as a tragedy.

Overall, Chronicle of a Death Foretold contains the main elements needed to classify the novella as a tragedy. It is clear there is a plot which can be divided into a start, middle and end which is one specification for Greek tragedy. Next, the novella does contain characters that give moral lessons to the audience and they do appear realistic as it is a non-fictional account. Finally, Chronicle of a Death Foretold contains spectacle which brings emotions to the audience allowing the audience to feel for the characters. All of these components are parts of what Aristotle describes as a tragedy. However, Aristotle’s definition only applies to Greek tragedies, such as Oedipus Rex. These elements provide support for classifying Chronicle of a Death Foretold as a modern tragedy.