Shakespearean Tragedy –
Key Elements
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Story concerned primarily with ONE person
Leads up to and includes the DEATH of the
hero
Is a tale of suffering and calamity resulting in
death
Suffering and calamity are unexpected and
exceptional
May feature COMEDY/COMIC RELIEF
Key Elements cont’d.
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Features total reversal of fortune, coming
unexpectedly upon a man who stands in high
degree/elevated status
Shakespearean tragedy is ALWAYS concerned
with persons of ‘high degree’; when he falls, it
produces a sense of contrast, of the powerlessness of Man and the capriciousness of Fate or
Fortune
Key elements cont’d.
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Calamities of tragedy for Shakespeare proceed
mainly from ACTIONS – the actions of Men
Hero always contributes in some measure to his
own downfall
Actions are the predominant factor; deeds
characterize the doer
Always is DRAMATIC (characteristic of
Shakespeare)
Key Elements cont’d.
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Occasionally, characters reflect abnormal
conditions (insanity, hallucinations)
Often includes Supernatural element in the
problems the characters must face
Allows some influence by Coincidence or
Serendipity (but used sparingly)
May feature conflict within the hero or with
another character
Key Elements cont’d.
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Hero’s internal struggle may result in showing
his greatest power
Central characters are exceptional beings; their
suffering is unusual; their nature is exceptional
Tragic characters are made of the stuff we find
within ourselves and within people who
surround the central character
Key Elements cont’d.
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Fundamental tragic trait – an incapacity to resist
the forces which draw the character in a specific
direction
Inspires specific emotions within the audience
(sympathy, pity, admiration, terror, awe)
Hero’s tragic trait is also his greatest trait
Is never depressing – hero’s struggle or failure
shows the audience human possibility
Key Elements cont’d.
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Tragedies reflect a secular world (no religious
influences)
No trace of Fatalism in Shakespeare
Shakespearean tragedy never asks reader/
audience to decide if the hero is RIGHT vs.
WRONG
Cause of the conflict? Always EVIL in its fullest
sense (which results in the TRAGEDY)
Structure of Shakespeare’s Tragedy
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Exposition – the situation out of which the
conflict arises is described
2nd, 3rd, 4th Acts – Explains definite beginning,
growth and vicissitudes of the conflict
5th/Final Act – Shows issue of the conflict in a
catastrophe
May feature a ‘plot-within-a-plot’ or a ‘playwithin-a-play’
Structure cont’d.
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Features rising and falling action
Alternation of plot – oscillating
movement/actions (moves back and forth)
One side is definitely seen as advancing to a
certain point in the conflict (KEY = a turning
point in the story)