It All Begins Tonight
(Poetics Applied to West Side Story)
Jean Racine said it best, “A tragedy need not have blood and death; it 's enough that it all be filled with that majestic sadness that is the pleasure of tragedy.” In other words, tragedy is merely a compilation of several elements which play on our deepest and most intimate emotions. Aristotle was among the first philosophers to recognize and critique the tragedy. Within “Poetics”, Aristotle discusses the very logistics of the dramatic tragedy. While some tragedies can seem to be a maelstrom of emotion, Aristotle clearly defines them in a simple, colloquial fashion. “Poetics” can be applied to any number of texts, including film. Dramatic film has become a platform on which to create and express tragedy in new ways. In …show more content…
Tony and Maria find love very quickly. Put simply, their love is something pure amongst the endless conflict around them. The love between the two was fascinating, and as the New York Times puts it, “There is something particularly poignant about Tony and Maria 's adoration because it is so much purer than the treachery and violence that swirl around it, because it is simple and honest, and also because it gives two young people a glimpse of how ecstatic and cleansing life could be in a decent neighborhood.” (Atkinson) As the film goes on, it becomes clear that Tony is a man who loves to much. This flaw will cause nearly every conflict in his life, because “tragedy must involve the reversal of fortunes of a powerful person from good to bad, due to the hamartia of the protagonist.” (Kangai) When Riff dies, it causes him to kill the only other person Maria loves: her brother, Bernardo. When he believes Maria is dead, his love fills him with sorrow, and as he laments her supposed death, he goes searching for his own demise. When he finds Maria, it is too late, because his death has found
(Poetics Applied to West Side Story)
Jean Racine said it best, “A tragedy need not have blood and death; it 's enough that it all be filled with that majestic sadness that is the pleasure of tragedy.” In other words, tragedy is merely a compilation of several elements which play on our deepest and most intimate emotions. Aristotle was among the first philosophers to recognize and critique the tragedy. Within “Poetics”, Aristotle discusses the very logistics of the dramatic tragedy. While some tragedies can seem to be a maelstrom of emotion, Aristotle clearly defines them in a simple, colloquial fashion. “Poetics” can be applied to any number of texts, including film. Dramatic film has become a platform on which to create and express tragedy in new ways. In …show more content…
Tony and Maria find love very quickly. Put simply, their love is something pure amongst the endless conflict around them. The love between the two was fascinating, and as the New York Times puts it, “There is something particularly poignant about Tony and Maria 's adoration because it is so much purer than the treachery and violence that swirl around it, because it is simple and honest, and also because it gives two young people a glimpse of how ecstatic and cleansing life could be in a decent neighborhood.” (Atkinson) As the film goes on, it becomes clear that Tony is a man who loves to much. This flaw will cause nearly every conflict in his life, because “tragedy must involve the reversal of fortunes of a powerful person from good to bad, due to the hamartia of the protagonist.” (Kangai) When Riff dies, it causes him to kill the only other person Maria loves: her brother, Bernardo. When he believes Maria is dead, his love fills him with sorrow, and as he laments her supposed death, he goes searching for his own demise. When he finds Maria, it is too late, because his death has found