Bradley's Excerpt: Tragedies in Shakespeare's Life and Their Significance
Bradley's excerpt goes into more detail about the tragedies and their significance in Shakespeare's life. Furthermore, Shakespeare's perspective on tragedy is very well illustrated in-depth in the extract. The different types of catastrophes, i.e. accidents, how they interfere with each other's occurrence, their diversity of occurrence existence, and how they are related to each other are explained. The excerpt also goes into more detail on how Shakespeare approaches both tragic and dramatic tales in the different types of poetry that he wrote (Briton 349-351). For instance, in the story of Antony and Cleopatra, the heroine serves as a center of discussion in the same way as the hero does.
The Instructions to the Layers by Hamlet
Focusing on the instructions given to the layers by Hamlet, the poem is made up of discussions and conversations among different characters in the story. A conversation between the low-class men and the Royals in the high-class group is portrayed by Shakespeare in this poem. For instance, the palace tragedies are portrayed in this story by Shakespeare. There are various themes that come out in this play, for example, the love theme in this play is depicted where the king is poisoned and killed by the partnership of queen and some other men because of the love that existed between them. Through this, Shakespeare gives us information on the real-life situation that happens in many palaces. In this poem, Hamlet is portrayed as being the main actor as he does address the players from time to time.
Arthur Miller's Essay: Tragedy and Its Perception
The essay by Arthur Miller, the discussion concerning tragedy and how rare they occur in today's world are held and explained in more details. The perception by most people about tragedy as a thing that only happens to the royal families is explained in this essay. Arthur tries to explain that tragedy occurs to anyone regardless of their social class (Martin 34-40). Aristotle perception concerning the issue of tragedy is also clearly displayed in this essay by Miller. Because tragedy is a situation that needs various points of view, perceptions from different poets about tragedy are given in this essay as well. This paper will explain in details about tragedy and its different views by different Authors.
Elements Found in the History of Drama Handout
From the historical background of the drama, there are various significant issues that are displayed to being very interrelated in one or more ways. For example, tragedy formation in the drama is because of the Thespis. Moreover, due to Aeschylus, it is possible to create a tragedy in a song chorus. Chorus has a very important role in the scenes in the drama as it helps to put more emphasis on various characters acting or in the play. A moral understanding of various issues displayed in the drama is created by the chorus of that particular story. A large number of actors in play results into some form of limitations to all the other people participating in the drama. Poets from all over the world, have greatly contributed to the drama origin. For instance, Sophocles came up with the idea of scenes in the drama which was compared with Aeschylus idea about the chorus. Sophocles also contributed to the world of drama in the following ways; he spearheaded the idea of putting the male-gender characters into a higher status than the usual one (Bullough 197). He also developed a clear speech for introducing characters into dramatic action. In Greek, the field of comedy was put into three main divisions, i.e. new, old and middle comedy. The comedies that were made up of issues concerning politics were placed in the division of the old comedy. This distinguished this comedy from other types of comedy. Huge rooms were constructed to be used as places for watching plays which the state invented. Orchestra represented places where twelve men danced and sang the choruses. The desire by Brecht was to know if he was mainly undertaking a play but not scenes in reality. This made him use various methods to compare other poets so that he could capture his audience attention.
Tragic Drama According to A.C. Bradley's Theory of Shakespeare
Essences of Shakespearean Tragedy
According to Dollimore (20), the importance of play regarding the field of drama in today's world is the basic meaning or rather the definition of the essence of Shakespeare tragedy. In this play, many actors are displayed compared to the Greek poet's plays. However Shakespearean plays typically concentrate on one character or utmost two, i.e. the hero and the heroine like in the case of Romeo and Juliet. Unlike in many tragedy plays, where the hero fate is always death, Shakespearean tragedy plays, and the person ultimately gets a higher status among people in a given society. Situations that are very rare to occur in a society like accidents, insanity and magical events, for instance, the guilt that McBeth had are also seen being displayed in the Shakespearean tragedy plays.
Shakespeare's Use of Supernatural, Abnormal Mental Conditions, and Chance
In the majority of Shakespeare's plays, he regularly uses abnormal, supernatural and chance in the effort of trying to explain and make the reader of the play know about the various mysteries that people in the society today face. The supernatural events in the play help to make the play more dramatic and also helps the reader to understand and know about the different unnatural things that happen in the society. For instance the witchcraft and cases of a ghost. On the other hand, the abnormalities used in the Shakespeare's play, they are very important to the characters in the play, since they assist them in showing and explaining their personalities for a better understanding by the reader. For instance, insanity helps the reader to get to understand how McBeth was terrified while taking the life of Duncan. Finally, chance in Shakespeare's plays is used to show unlucky things that happened to the characters in the play.
Fundamental Tragic Traits
The significant characteristic that is portrayed in the Shakespeare's play, it the basic meaning of the fundamental tragic traits. Shakespeare uses cases such as conflicts in his play to show some misunderstanding between different characters. For instance, there existed a conflict between the parents of Romeo and Juliet because of the love they shared with one another. The second trait explained by Shakespeare is that of tragedy and heroes. Heroes are supposed not to be the just ordinary individual they should be extraordinary and highly respected in the society just like Romeo and Juliet. In Shakespeare's play, the other traits that are thought to cause tragedy, are evils. People who are evil use their evilness to their benefit by killing people with their evil powers. In Shakespeare's plays, these evil people end up being destroyed by their evil spirits. Finally, fate is also a trait of tragedy, for example, the unfortunate accidents can be viewed as a fate of a given individual.
Impression of Waste
In a play, this implies that heroes and the heroines have beliefs that some factors that are present in their lives will result in their failure. For instance, due to the conflict that existed between the two families of Romeo and Juliet, they felt like this would fail in their relationship. This made them hide their relationship from their families due to the fear of crisis between the two families. This represents the use of 'impression of waste' as portrayed in the excerpt. The other case of "impression of waste" is seen where usually the rich and the royal people are thought to have a good life with no problems. Shakespeare makes us understand that that is not the case, as he informs us that the rich and royal people only own material things and are faced with a lot of stress than other people in the lower class.
Does Shakespeare Observe Poetic Justice in His Play? Why?
The equal and fair distribution of the ambitions and the fulfillment of characters is what poetic justice basically means. The weird ending of the majority of Shakespeare's plays makes it very clear for us to see that he does not observe poetic justice in his plays. For instance, in the play about Romeo and Juliet, it is expected that Romeo would end up alive at the end of the play but to our surprise, he dies at the end of the play while the heroine Juliet ultimately remains in despair and anguish. In some circumstances, Shakespeare is seen as a poetic justice critic especially when dealing with cases concerning morality. For instance, the misfortunes that happened to Lear are affirmed by poetic justice.
The "Ultimate Power" that Rules the World Tragedy
The superior endless power possessed by the player characters is what makes them be of a higher social class than others is what is defined by as "ultimate power". Arguing on cases of death of more than two characters in a play qualifies the "ultimate power" to be called a fate. Ultimate power can be used to distinguish between wrong and right thus making it not to be indifferent with evil and good. The ultimate power can be said to suggest good influence on morals of people and therefore it can be discussed with regards to good and bad. Since the ultimate power does not view itself as being indifferent, its molarity can, therefore, be displayed. Finally, the ultimate power can be said to possess feelings. For instance, the love feeling shared by Romeo and Juliet.
Character Destiny
The characteristics of the behavior of a character in play are very significant in determining a character's fate. This is what character destiny simply implies in the world of plays. For example, the love between Romeo and Juliet had the destiny to be ultimately tragic where Romeo met his death in a very awkward manner. The second incidence of character destiny is about Lear's daughters that showed a complete difference in their family. Moreover, the case of Othello who had the destiny of being among the respected individuals in the society. In the above-explained situations, Shakespeare informs us on how one's destiny can be determined by his character.
Theory of Drama According to Hamlet
Hamlet gives five main points in the dramatic action that he is involved in. The first point made by Hamlet is about the changes that the players should make for them to be capable of handling challenges in the world as they emerge. The second point made by Hamlet is the excellent and fantastic ways that he uses to introduce and welcome players into the drama hall, this portrays that he enjoys the drama as an art. Thirdly, a play within a play situation is seen where Hamlet appears to be acting while he is talking to the audience at the same time. Moreover, a point about revenge of the king’s death, which was committed by the queen, is made by Hamlet as another point. Finally, Hamlet made a point about the use of stylistic devices in writing of literature such as symbolism and irony.
Miller's Theory and Use in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"
Three Strongest Points
The first point is, from today's world psychiatric, it is evident that the common man passes via so many tragedy cases. Secondly, so many emotional issues challenge both the common man and the royals. Finally, if the royal people were the only ones affected by the tragedy, tragic should then occur with the same intensity as the people (Martin 34-39).
Watching Tragedy
Emotional feelings are stimulated when we watch tragic plays as asserted by Hamlet. The pictures we create in our mind as being in the same situation arouses the painful feeling.
Goals that the Tragic Heroes/Heroines Struggle
The heroes and heroines, as asserted by Black Bottom, will always fight to justify themselves for not being the main cause of the tragedy.
How Does Miller Define "Tragic Flaw"
Miller defines the term "Tragic Flaw" as being the unwillingness of a character to remain passive when faced with a dignity challenge which ultimately results in the fall of either the heroes or the heroine.
Tragedy Molarity Lesson According to Miller
Tragedy molarity lesson according to Miller is the actual moral lesson or rather the knowledge that people learn from a particular tragedy play. For example, Romeo and Juliet's tragedy have a moral lesson that parents should not restrict their children from having a relationship with the ones they love (Shakespeare 18). They should give their guidance to their children and allow them to decide what is best for them.
Source of Audience Exaltation
The main source that makes the audience feel exaltation during a play performance is when there is some comedy within the play that the audience understands. This brings a lot of happiness to the audience and makes them enjoy watching the play being performed.
Forces Ripe for Attack and Examination in Tragedy
The major factors that are likely to bring about any form of tragedy are a ripe force for attack and examination to come up with a better solution that can prevent the occurrence of a tragedy. For instance, the conflict between the houses of Romeo and Juliet was a ripe force for attack and examination.
Tragedy and Comedy: Which Suggests the Perfect Ability of a Man?
Comedy suggests the perfect ability of a man because it shows the man's ability to put ideas together to elicit laughter and a joke to his audience. On the other hand, tragedy only results in deaths and sorrows in people's life.
Works Cited
Britton, John. "AC Bradley and those children of Lady Macbeth." Shakespeare Quarterly 12.3 (1961): 349-351.
Bullough, Geoffrey, ed. Narrative and Dramatic Sources of Shakespeare: Major tragedies. Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth. Volume VII. Vol. 7. Columbia University Press, 1973.
Dollimore, Jonathan. Radical tragedy: religion, ideology and power in the drama of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.
Martin, Robert. "Arthur Miller and the Meaning of Tragedy." Modern Drama 13.1 (1970): 34-39.
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Macmillan and Company, 1893.
