Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning “action”, which is derived from ‘to do’. The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on stage before and audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a collective form of reception. The structure of dramatic texts, unlike other forms of literature, is directly influenced by this collaborative production and collective reception. Tragedy like Julius Caesar (1599) by Shakespeare and the classical Athenian tragedy Oedipus the king (c. 429 BC) by Sophocles is among the supreme masterpieces of the art of drama.
Tragedy
A tragedy is a drama in which the principal characters are involved in desperate circumstances …show more content…
But Shakespeare gave a new dimension to the art of tragedy. Shakespearean Tragedy is fundamentally serious, involving the downfall of a heroic figure. A Shakespearean tragedy is pre-eminently the story of one person, the ‘hero’ or most of the two, the ‘hero and the heroine’ the themes are lofty: passion (Romeo and Juliet), revenge (Hamlet), ambition (Macbeth) and jealousy (Othello).
The great tragedies of this period are associated with a period of gloom and sorrow in the poet's life; but of its cause we have no knowledge. It may have been this unknown sorrow which turned his thoughts back to Stratford and caused, apparently, dissatisfaction with his work and profession; but the latter is generally attributed to other causes. Actors and playwrights were in his day generally looked upon with suspicion or contempt; and Shakespeare, even in the midst of success, seems to have looked forward to the time when he could retire to Stratford to live the life of a farmer and country gentleman. Moreover, it is also said that the drama rose in England because of the desire of a people to see something from the daily life reflected on the stage. As there were no papers or magazines in those days, and people came to the theaters not only to be amused but to get knowledge and informed. Like children, they wanted to see a story in action; and like men, they wanted to know what it meant. Shakespeare fulfilled their every desire. He gave them their story, and his intelligence was great enough to show in every play not only their own life and passions but something
Tragedy
A tragedy is a drama in which the principal characters are involved in desperate circumstances …show more content…
But Shakespeare gave a new dimension to the art of tragedy. Shakespearean Tragedy is fundamentally serious, involving the downfall of a heroic figure. A Shakespearean tragedy is pre-eminently the story of one person, the ‘hero’ or most of the two, the ‘hero and the heroine’ the themes are lofty: passion (Romeo and Juliet), revenge (Hamlet), ambition (Macbeth) and jealousy (Othello).
The great tragedies of this period are associated with a period of gloom and sorrow in the poet's life; but of its cause we have no knowledge. It may have been this unknown sorrow which turned his thoughts back to Stratford and caused, apparently, dissatisfaction with his work and profession; but the latter is generally attributed to other causes. Actors and playwrights were in his day generally looked upon with suspicion or contempt; and Shakespeare, even in the midst of success, seems to have looked forward to the time when he could retire to Stratford to live the life of a farmer and country gentleman. Moreover, it is also said that the drama rose in England because of the desire of a people to see something from the daily life reflected on the stage. As there were no papers or magazines in those days, and people came to the theaters not only to be amused but to get knowledge and informed. Like children, they wanted to see a story in action; and like men, they wanted to know what it meant. Shakespeare fulfilled their every desire. He gave them their story, and his intelligence was great enough to show in every play not only their own life and passions but something