This document discusses the essence of tragedy through conflict. It provides examples of conflicts in tragedies by Shakespeare such as Hamlet's conflict with grief, Othello's conflict with jealousy, King Lear's conflict with wrath in old age, and Macbeth's conflict with fear. It also discusses conflicts in Thomas Hardy's novels which deal with issues of sex and relationships. Modern tragedies by writers like Galsworthy and Prem Chand reflect social conflicts between classes. The essence of tragedy is said to be the depiction of human conflict with forces beyond one's control, whether internal passions or external social conditions, which result in suffering.