The Spanish Tragedy

in Athens, Sophocles’ prolific writings were a tasteful improvement of his predecessor, Aeschylus and a stepping stone for his successor, Euripides. Sophocles is known to be born in 495 BC in the city of Colonus (Sophocles and Sophocles and His Tragedies). His father was a manufacturer of…

The idea of a narrative is to tell a story, the events occurring on the day of September 11, 2001 will provide an opportunity to relay my feelings, moving beyond the initial pure and basic anger at those responsible for such a desperate act. The image shows two emergency responders in the cloud of debris left by the collapse of the Trade Centers and what drew me to this picture is what they must have been talking about. The questions and issues I initially considered included: the loss of life;…

Within the play “Antigone” both Creon and Antigone are displayed as strong-willed, principled, and complex individuals. Through the play we explore the consequences endured by the two opposing characters based on their actions; each displayed with a different set of beliefs and morals, against one another causing both a traumatic ending. Antigone and Creon are similar in some cases, they both stand confidently in what they believe in, even if it makes them allies. Antigone honors the beliefs of…

Greek drama shows many instances of female sexuality and the negative connotation associated with it. Through props and tone expressed in lines 190- 585 of Hippolytus, Euripides explicitly addresses the role of woman as an “anti-model” through Greek society’s strict expectations of female sexuality. When female sexuality is controlled, the ultimate goal of patriarchy will succeed in Greek society. First and foremost, Froma Zeitlin introduces the idea of an “anti-model” in Playing the Other…

On the last page of Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, the quote “Therefore we must call no man happy while he waits to see his last day, not until he has passed the border of life and death without suffering pain”(Sophocles 108), embodies the moral of the tragic play. Even though Oedipus tries to take control of his free will, he only makes his fate come true. No man is happy until he is at peace, and he is only at peaces when he is dead after that man has suffered in his life. In the play, Oedipus…

For centuries, tragedy has been used to make the protagonist relatable to the audience. Despite the hero usually being someone who is high-bred, modern day films and novels still continue to use the aspect of tragedy to reach the conventional man. However, man is imperfect and no matter how noble they are, every man experiences fear. Arthur Miller’s use of modern tragedy allows the common man to be a suitable tragic hero because the simple man combats fear of displacement in their everyday life…

Macbeth is a classic Shakespearean play which outlines the rise and eventual fall of a general in Scotland due to his own actions and intentions. The play looks at Macbeth and his path through the royal hierarchy. Ultimately, the path chosen is not the wisest and leads to his drastic demise. A tragic hero is a common element within Shakespearean plays which is a highly esteemed/prosperous main character who falls into misfortune on account of his mistake(s) according to Aristotle. Macbeth…

their downfall. In play the Crucible written by Arthur Miller, an allegory of the communist witch hunts, tragic hero is born. John Proctor is the tragic hero in the Crucible, he is viewed as a large figure, yet a certain desire he has leads to a tragedy in the play and his downfall. John Proctor stands on principle in Salem by portraying himself as an important figure, which exemplifies him as the tragic hero of the play.…

Budelmann, Felix. "The Mediated Ending of Sophocles ' Oedipus Tyrannus." Materiali E Discussioni per L 'analisi Dei Testi Classici 57 (2006): 43-61. Web. 11 July 2016. Budelman’s scholarly article published in MD provides a detailed analysis of the final scene of Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus. The article is broken into four sections: 1. Introduction; 2. Narrative Structure: Expectations and Continuity; 3. Character: Oedipus copes; and 4. Mediation and Complexity. Budelman’s introduction…

An Aristotelian Outlook on Two Very Different Tales Aristotle defines a tragedy as “the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself; in appropriate and pleasurable language;... in a dramatic rather than narrative form; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish a catharsis of these emotions” (Meyer 2). Or to put in simpler terms, completing a serious action that has the depth within itself to arouse fear in an effort to cleanse any…