According to the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, there are elements that must be considered in any works of literature for it to be considered tragic. These factors are referred to as the elements of tragedy. The first element to consider is the plot of the story (Golden, 2017). According to the philosopher, the plot is the soul of the drama as it has to tell a sad and emotionally appealing narrative to the audience. The scheme should be able to draw emotions of pity and empathy on the part of the audience by drawing on the events they are more familiar with. By building on a highly emotional appealing, yet relatable plot, the audience is better placed to resonate with the story, thereby establishing a stronger emotional connection to not only the story, but also with the characters. The second characteristic of a tragic story is the characters used (Golden, 2017). The characters must be able to clearly show what kind of choices people make in their pursuit of deciding between what is morally right, and that which is not. This aspect of characterization is essential in challenging the audience always to think through the choices they make daily as these have a more significant impact on the people around them.
The characters in a tragic novel are, in most cases, caught in a moral dilemma, having to choose between conflicting interests, both of which have benefits and consequences. The aspect the characters draw on is challenging the audience to think critically and morally whenever they have to make a choice. From the characters comes the thought process, which is yet another character of the tragedy (Golden, 2017). Thought, or theme, is any major issue the author tackles. Unlike any other genre, tragedy must be able to address the critical problems that recur throughout the story. The theme is essential in the sense that it challenges the audiences to think in the given line and apply the lessons taught in their daily lives. In tragedy, the significant themes mostly revolve around the choices people make in the society, and their consequences, primarily long term. The long-term repercussions challenge the audience to think through the choices they make to ensure that in as much as they may have short term benefits, they could have consequences that might last longer.
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The two significant types of comedy are satiric and romantic. Satiric comedy governs the movement of the story in one direction. It dramatizes the discrepancy between the reality and the ideal events while at the same time condemning the pretentions masking the reality's viciousness and hollowness. This type of comedy explores the pretentions and hypocrisy individuals in the community put on, saying one thing while they mean a completely different thing (Meany, 2016). The emotions portrayed and the words said do not mean what they may sound like but are instead meant to put on an appealing face. Characters in satiric comedy are vicious, cunning, and would use any means necessary to achieve their desires, including deceiving those close to them. Romantic comedy, on the other hand, displays the conflict between the ideal shape of things as the heroes would wish them to be and the hard realities with which they are confronted (Meany, 2016). In most cases, the romantic comedy features characters who fall in love with each other and wish to be together, but the prevailing circumstances in the community forbid their love. Therefore, these characters must fight against all the odds, give up on the things that matter to them, like their titles, for the sake of their love.
Romantic comedy illustrates the steps people are willing to take to protect what they believe in, no matter the cost. The major theme in a romantic comedy is mostly forbidden love and the resilience of the lovers to be together. Typically, these figures must fight to prevail in spite of the difficulties their reality has put in their way. The plot of romantic comedy is mostly a medley of clever scheming, marked with calculated coincidences (Meany, 2016). The coincidence tests the faith and strength of the love, as well as the moral principles of the characters. The coincidences are presented in such a manner as ethical dilemmas in which the characters have to choose between their love and their duty for their families and the community at large. The main difference between satirical comedy and romantic comedy is that romantic comedy tests the morality and faith of characters while satirical comedy builds on the hypocrisy of human beings, and the lengths people are willing to go for their selfish needs. Sarcastic characters are led by greed and individualism, while romantic characters act out of love and concern for the people, they are intimate with.
Melodrama and farce add humor to situations presented in both tragedy and comedy. While farce is humor derived from a situation (plot), melodrama is derived from the character. An element of farce related to tragedy is mistaken identity (Hayes, 2016). In this scenario, the characters, mostly the protagonists, are of either a mistaken or threatened identity, or both. Mistaken identity implies that the protagonist is raised in a different environment than the one they were born in, because they may have been unwanted children. A threatened status suggests that the protagonist has to live in exile, taking a false identity for their security purposes. This character may be a target for political assassination back in their community, forcing them to run away (Hayes, 2016). In melodrama, the hero is portrayed as being moral, handsome, and manly. Such a character, either in comedy or tragedy, is the epitome of manhood. They are strong and brave and do not bow down to pressures or threats; instead, they fight for what they believe in and are ready to pay the ultimate price for it. The heroine, on the other hand, is also moral, romantic, and innocent.
In most cases, she gets torn between fighting for her love and respecting the authority that her family is. While the hero, who is the lover, in this case, is brave enough to defy his family and power to fight for the heroine, the heroine is caught up in a moral dilemma, unable to choose between her family and desires. She is the perfect portrayal of female fragility and inability to make independent sound decisions. In tragedy, melodrama is presented through the use of a villain, the villain's accomplice, a faithful servant, and the hero (Hanich, Menninghaus & Wilder, 2017) . Each of these characters is essential in the development of the story. The villain is the evil leader who seeks to eliminate the hero. The villain's accomplice is mostly idiotic and follows the villain blindly. The accomplice is used as comic relief to break away from the tense tragedy. The faithful servant spies for the hero from the villain's court. He gathers useful information about the villain's planned moves and enables the hero to plan his tactics accordingly. The faithful servant is a significant factor in the success of the hero, for he acts as the intel.
In most tragedies, like in Oedipus, the protagonist lives in both threatened and mistaken identity. His identity is first threatened after his parents, King Laius and Queen Jocasta, give him away with orders to be killed to avert a given prophecy. This element of farce is meant to protect the current king, who has been prophesied that his son will come to kill him at the fullness of time (Finglass, 2018). Instead of killing him, the shepherd gives the baby to the king and queen of Corinth, who raise him as their prince. Having moved from one royal household to the other, Oedipus is further confused about his identity and mistakenly thinks the prophecy implies that he will come to kill the King of Corinth, Polybus, of whom he has grown fond of. The mistaken identity prompts Oedipus to run away from Corinth to prevent the prophecy from happening.
By running to Thebes, the second element of farce is presented in the tragedy; reversal of expectations (Lynn, 2017). Oedipus runs away so as not to kill his father, but on his way from Corinth, he encounters a man and his servants with whom he quarrels. The encounter is gruesome, and Oedipus kills the man and his servants. Unknowingly, he has just killed his father. The prophecy gets fulfilled but in reverse order. King Laius had given his son away so that he would not kill him, but by so doing, he reverses the order of events since his son grows into manhood in a faraway land, and eventually slays him on his way to Thebes without knowing (Finglass, 2018). By defeating the monster Sphinx, Oedipus is given the kingdom of Thebes to rule, and Queen Jocasta in marriage as his reward, thus he sits on the throne of his father, having slain his father, married to his mother. This fulfills the prophecy, in a reversed kind of manner. The velocity and speed with which events occur is another intriguing aspect of the farce in the tragedy (Lynn, 2017). Events escalate quickly, such as the short time it takes Oedipus to kill his father on his way from Delphi, his defeating the monster on the outskirts of Thebes, and his ascent to power as the King of Thebes.
References
Finglass, P. J. (Ed.). (2018). Sophocles: Oedipus the King (Vol. 57). Cambridge University Press.
Golden, L. (2017). Aristotle and the Arc of Tragedy . Radius book group.
Hayes, E. B. (2016). Rabelais's Radical Farce: Late Medieval Comic Theater and Its Function in Rabelais . Routledge.
Hanich, J., Menninghaus, W., & Wilder, S. (2017). Beyond sadness: The multi-emotional trajectory of melodrama. Cinema Journal , 56 (4), 76-101.
Lynn, J. (2017). Rage, Comedy, and Creativity in Theater. Play and Creativity in Psychotherapy (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology) .
Meany, M. (2016). Comedy, creativity, agency: The hybrid individual. In the Creative System in Action (pp. 169-184). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
