1. Tragedy is a serious play or drama that typically deals with the downfall of a central character. This downfall is often the result of a tragic flaw or moral weakness in the character's personality. 2. Ancient Greek tragedies focused on stories of gods, kings, and heroes and featured themes of fate, divine justice, and moral failure leading to destruction. They had religious elements and avoided mixing comedy with tragedy. 3. Famous examples of tragic dramas include Oedipus Rex, Othello, and Macbeth. These plays depict characters of high status falling from power or prosperity due to flaws like arrogance, jealousy, or ambition.

1. TRAGIC
DRAMA
TAMSA PANDYA
RESERCH SCHOLAR
MKBU

2. A serious play or drama typically dealing with
the problems of a central character, leading to
an unhappy or disastrous ending brought on, as in
ancient drama, by fate and a tragic flaw in this
character, or, in modern drama, usually
by moral weakness, psychological maladjustment, or
social pressures
Definition

3.  A dramatic composition, often in verse, dealing with a serious or somber theme,
typically that of a great person destined through a flaw of character or conflict
with some overpowering force, as fate or society , to downfall or destruction
 The art and theory of writing and producing tragedies
 ‘Any literary composition, as a novel, dealing with a somber theme carried to a
tragic conclusion’
 The tragic is an element of drama, of literature generally or of life
GENERAL MEANING

4. Did you know?
• The word "tragedy" comes from the
Greek "tragōidiā," meaning "goat song”
• Derived from the poetic and religious
traditions of Ancient Greece.
• Roots : The Dithyrambs, The chants and
dances honoring the Greek god Dionysus,
later known to the Romans as Bacchus.

5.  Stories already well known to the audience: Not expected to invent new characters
or plots but the use of old stories of gods and kings and heroes.
 A strong religious element: The great drama of festivals in Athens wear held in honor of
the wine God even when people no longer believed in the old god's as actually persons day felt
that the World wars controlled by a moral low and the man who broke that loop would be punished
by divine justice and fat this feeling or believe lies behind all the great classical tragedies
 A dislike of horror and violence on the stage: The subject of tragedy where often
shocking and terrible but the evil deeds were done of the stage the audience learn of them from the
chorus of our home messengers.
 Few actors : Earliest play had only two actors and chorus. In the great days of tragedy
however they will four five or even 6 chief actors no please head anything like the numbers of
actors found for example in Shakespeare's play Hamlet Macbeth King Lear
CHIEF POINTS BY R.J.REES

6.  Characters above the level of ordinary man: All the chief features in a tragedy
were King queens, princes ,princesses all heroes . the idea of domestic tragedy in
which the people on the stage are just like overseas would have been quite strange to
Greek tragedy and the Greeks may have invented democracy but it does not appear
their treasure is
 No mixture of tragedy and comedy : Greek tragedy head unity of action that that is to
say it had one story and only one it would have been unthinkable for mixture. The
Geeks like the phone as much any other people have ever and many of them no doubt
filter little tied after watching a tragic trilogy that is to say set of three tragedies for
several hours will comes usual their photo and the performance which a play quite
separate from tragic trilogy and often crudely comic
CONTINUE….

7.  In his Poetics, the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle defined tragedy as a morally
ambiguous genre in which a noble hero goes from good fortune to bad. For Aristotle,
the tragic hero can’t be totally evil or purely good, but instead, must be a
“character between these two extremes…
 “Hamartia,” that is, by a fatal flaw….
 “Catharsis” purifying sort of emotional release….
 “Tragic action” nearly always focuses on one central character, like Hamlet, King
Lear, or Othello, but Shakespeare’s tragedies also focus on how broader political
consequences follow as a result of a “great man’s” death (the fall of Denmark
in Hamlet, for instance, or the Ottoman/European political conflict at the heart
of Othello).
Aristotle’s view on tragedy

8. “Hamartia,”
Hamartia is a literary term that
refers to a tragic flaw or error that
leads to a character's downfall. In
the novel Frankenstein, Victor
Frankenstein's arrogant conviction
that he can usurp the roles of God
and nature in creating life directly
leads to ruinous consequences for
him, making it an example of
hamartia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=d7pioagkX5k

10. “Catharsis”
“The process of expressing strong feeling, for example
through plays or other artistic activities, as a way of
getting rid of anger, reducing suffering”
 नाटक आदि कलाओं से अदिव्यक्ति द्वारा प्रबल िावनाओं का
शमन; दवरेचन, िावशांदि.( Silas in Da Vinci Code)
1) Purification or purgation of the emotions (such as pity and
fear) primarily through art.
2) Purification or purgation that brings about spiritual renewal
or release from tension.
3) Elimination of a complex by bringing it to consciousness and
affording it expression.

11. Examples of Tragic Drama
Oedipus Rex Othello Macbeth

12. 1. Oedipus, in Greek mythology, the
king of Thebes who unwittingly
killed his father and married his
mother. Homer related that
Oedipus's wife and mother hanged
herself when the truth of their
relationship became known, though
Oedipus apparently continued to
rule at Thebes until his death
Oedipus Rex

13. 1. Three witches tell the Scottish
general Macbeth that he will be
King of Scotland. Encouraged
by his wife, Macbeth kills the
king, becomes the new king,
and kills more people out of
paranoia. Civil war erupts to
overthrow Macbeth, resulting
in more death.
Macbeth

14. 1. Iago is furious about being
overlooked for promotion and
plots to take revenge against his
General; Othello, the Moor of
Venice. Iago manipulates
Othello into believing his wife
Desdemona is unfaithful, stirring
Othello's jealousy. Othello
allows jealousy to consume him,
murders Desdemona, and then
kills himself.
Othello

15. THE MURDER SCENE

16. OTHER RENOWNED TRAGEDIES
HEMLET
DR. FAUSTUS
KING LEAR
JULIUS CAESAR

17. ● Tragedy is Emotional-
Tragedies are based on
profound emotions that, in their
universal appeal, transcend time
and place
Characteristics of Tragedy
● Tragedy Deals with Suffering –
Through suffering the tragic
protagonist usually acquires a sense
of awareness. During the time of the
struggle, the protagonist often
becomes alienated and isolated
from society.

18.  Tragedy Supports Inevitability-
What is going to happen will
happen; there is no way to forestall
destiny
CONTINUE……
● With Tragedy comes Pathos-
Tragedy has the power to arouse
feelings of pity and compassion in
an audience

19. Characteristics of Tragic Protagonists
1.
The character should be born
into some form of nobility or
wisdom (remember that in
ancient times, nobility was the
royal family; in a modern
context, nobility could mean
being social accepted or of a
high reputation in the
community.)
2.
The character has a
personality trait that
leads to his/her
downfall The character
is doomed to make an
error in judgment.
(hamartia/hubris)
3.
The character
should be neither
good nor bad, but
the audience should
be able to identify
with the character.
●

20. CONTINUE…..
4.
The character
is responsible
for his/her
fate.
5.
The character will
fall from great
heights or esteem
when s/he realizes
s/he has made an
irreversible mistake.
6.
The character will
face a tragic
death with
honor.

21. There are four distinct kinds of tragedy, and the poet should aim at
bringing out all the important parts of the kind he chooses
1. First, there is the complex tragedy, made up
of peripeteia and anagnorisis
2. Second, the tragedy of suffering
3. Third, the tragedy of character; and
4. Fourth, the tragedy of spectacle.
Types of Tragedies

22. "A man cannot become a hero until
he sees the root of his downfall."
~ Aristotle