William Shakespeare is the author of well-known literary tragedies.
From the Latin tragoedĭa , the term tragedy is associated with a literary and artistic genre of the same name. This is the type of dramatic work with fatal actions that generate fear and compassion .
The characters in a tragedy inevitably face the gods or different situations in life, in events that lead them towards fatality. The main character of the tragedy usually ends up dead or morally destroyed. However, there are so-called sublimation tragedies , where the character manages to become a hero by defying all adversity.
The literary tragedy
It must also be emphasized that literary tragedy arose in Greece from the works carried out by authors of the stature of Fornicus or Thesis. However, writers of great fame and relevance in history such as, for example, Aeschylus, also contributed to its development and consolidation. This playwright is known for works such as “The Seven Against Thebes” (467 BC) or “Orestiad” (458 BC), which is his best-known work and is made up of three works: “Agamemnon”, “The Coephoras”. ” and “The Eumenides.”
However, in addition to the authors presented, we cannot miss the opportunity to mention others who, in one way or another, also become fundamental pieces within the genre of tragedy throughout the centuries. This would be the case of the Spaniards Calderón de la Barca and Lope de Vega, the Frenchman Voltaire, the German Goethe or the Englishman William Shakespeare.
Specifically, the last writer mentioned, the most important in the English language and one of the most relevant in the History of Universal Literature, is known for already mythical tragedies such as “Romeo and Juliet”, “Hamlet”, “Macbeth” and “Othello.”
In everyday language, a tragedy is a catastrophe.
Aristotle's classification
According to Aristotle , a tragedy (in this case it would be the genre known as Greek tragedy ) is composed of three parts: prologue , episode and exodus . The prologue precedes the entrance of the chorus (which, in turn, is divided into parodo and stasimus ) and provides the temporary location of the story .
The episodes show dialogue between the characters or between the chorus and the characters. This is the most important part of the story, as it expresses the main character's thoughts.
The exodus is the final part of the tragedy, where the hero recognizes his mistake and receives divine punishment .
Tragedy in colloquial language
On the other hand, it should be noted that any real-life event that can awaken tragic emotions is known as a tragedy. Colloquial language associates tragedy with situations of great drama and pain .
A tragedy can be a natural disaster (floods, drought, etc.), a crime of passion or an attack with numerous victims, for example.
An expression that we frequently use today also emerged from the literary sense. It is about the one that says “make a tragedy.” With this adverbial phrase, what we are trying to do is make clear the fact that a person is giving a series of tragic and serious overtones to a situation that does not have it at all.