z)
garde"theatreof dramatistslike
x ,a n d ,i n t h ey o u n g egr e n e r a t i o n ,
t o n a m eo n l y s o m e o f i t s m o s t
viding line to draw, for the two
de" relieson fantasyand dream
suchtraditional axioms
lisregards
acteror the need for a plot. Yet
Lood;it is more lyrical,and far less
entattitudetoward language:the
"poetic"
ciously
s p e e c hi t; a s p i r e s
'ichwebol'verbalassociations.
; toward a radical devaluationof
:reteand objectifiedimagesof the
rtantpart in this conception,but
radicts,the wordsspoken by the
rntentof a powerfully poetic play
re factthat they are spokento an
literary" movement of our time,
"literary"
with its rejection of
vith its relianceon descriptionof
, h i s m[. . . . ]
d.
ryagnieMadeleineRenaud-leanLouis
Chapter 43
GeorgeSteiner(b. 1929)
F r a n c i sG e o r g e S t e i n e r i s a c r i t i c o f c o m p a r a t i v el i t e r a t u r ew h o h a s e x a m i n e d
t h ec o n n e c t i o n
b e t w e e nl i t e r a t u r e l,a n g u a g ea, n d c u l t u r e .L i k e m a n y i n t h i s p e r i o d ,h e
takesup tragedyin his book The Deathof Tragedy,
and findsthe modernworld unsuited
fortragedy'sstricture
Hse.c o n s i d e r s t h e t w i n p i l l a r sW
o fe s t e r n c i v i l i z a t i o n , t h e J u d a i c
a n dt h e H e l l e n i cf,i n d i n gt h e f o r m e rt h e b a s i so f r a t i o n a l i s ma n d h e n c eu n t r a g i c a, n dt h e
l a t t e rs u i t e dt o t r a g e d yb e c a u s ei t a c c e p t st h e u n k n o w a b l eT. r a g e d yi s c o n c e r n e w
d ith
f a t ea n d h u m a n i t y ' si n a b i l i t yt o d e f e a t h e f o r c e sb e y o n di t s c o n t r o l .F a t ec o n s u m etsh e
w i l l , a n d t h e s ea r e t h e g r o u n d so n w h i c h t r a g e d ye x i s t s .B u t i n t h e m o d e r na g e f a t e ' s
s i g n i f i c a n chea sd i m i n i s h e dr ,e n d e r i n tgr a g e d yi n e f f e c t u a A
l . m o n gS t e i n e r ' sm a n yw o r k s
are Languageand Silence(1967), After Babel (I975), Antigones(1984), and What
is ComparativeLiterature?(I995).
The Death of Tragedy(1961)
All men are awareof tragedy in life. But tragedy as a form of drama is not universal.
Oriental art knows violence,grief, and the stroke of natural or contrived disaster;the
theatre is full of ferocity and ceremonial death. But that representationof
Japanese
personalsuffering and heroism which we call tragic drama is distinctive of the western
tradition.It hasbecomeso much a part of our senseof the possibilitiesof human conduct,
the Oresteia,Hamlet, and Phidre are so ingrained in our habits of spirit, that we forget
what a strangeand complex idea it is to re-enactprivate anguishon a public stage.This
ideaand the vision of man which it implies are Greek.And nearlytill the moment of their
decline,the tragic forms are Hellenic.
E x c e r p t s f i o m G e o r g e S t e i n e r , T h e D e a t h o l ? r a g e d 1 , ( N e w Y o r k : O x f o r d U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , l g 6 l , l g1800.)(,'31 9 6 1 , 1 9 8 0
by GeorgeSteiner.Reprintedby permissionof Faberand FaberLtd and Knopf, a division of Random lJouse, Inc.
334
GeorgeSteiner(b' 1929)
-liagedy
is alielrto the ludaic senseof the world. The book of Job is alwayscited as an
and
of
instanceof tragic vision. But that black fable standson the outer edge Iudaism,
oftragedy:
those
the claimsofjustice against
evenherean orthodox hand has asserted
for hehadfourteenthousand
thelatterendof Jobmorethanthebeginning:
SotheLordblessed
a thousand she-asses'
sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and
i
,\
for
God has made good the havocwrought upon His servant;he has compensatedJob
demand
This
justice,
tragedy'
not
is
there
his agonies.But wherethereis compensation,
just, evenin His fury'
for jristiceis the pride and burden of the luclaictradition. Jehovahis
proceedingsof God
or
the
Often the balanceof retribution or rewardseemsfearfullyawry,
that the ways
appearunendurablyslow.But over the sum of time, there can be no doubt
spirit is
of God to man are just. Not only are they just, they are rational.The Judaic
estateis accessible
vehementin its conviction that the order of the universeand of man's
'fhe
fully apprehend
may
we
nor
absurd.
wanton
neither
are
Lord
waysof the
to reason.
is characterMarxism
of
obedience'
clear-sightedness
them if we give to our inquiries the
the entire
repudiated
Marx
and
justice
reason,
and
istically Jewishin its insistenceon
"Necessity"he declared,"is blind only in so far asit is not understood'"
conceptof tragedy.
and man's
Tragicdrama arisesout of preciselythe contrary assertion:necessityis blind
The
assertion
Gaza'
in
or
.r-r.our]t.. with it shallrob him of his eyes,whetherit be Thebes
Greek
of
the
is Greek,and the tragic senseof life built upon it is the foremostcontribution
g e n i u st o o u r l e g a c y[. . . . J
The
The ]udaic vision seesin disastera specificrnoral fault or failure of understanding.
lie outside the
Greek tragic poets assertthat the forceswhich shapeor destroyour lives
energies
daemonic
us
around
are
there
that:
than
justice.
Worse
of reasonor
go,ra..rurr.a
that we
so
will
poison
our
which
or
madness
it
to
*hi.h p."y upon the soul and turn
of
terms
the
it
in
put
to
love.
Or
we
those
inflict irreparableoutrageupon ourselvesand
although
Sicily
toward
sail
always
the tragic designd.u*.r-by Thucydides:our fleetsshall
that he will perish
.u.ryon. is more or lessawarethat they go to their ruin. Eteoclesknows
at the seventhgatebut goesfclrwardnevertheless:
:s;'
il:jtl"#il*,t";*:llri
of his stubborn
Antigone is perfectlyawareof what will happento her, and in the wells
grip of truths
in
the
disasters
fierce
their
to
heart Oedipus knows also. But they stride
between
continuity
marvellous
is
a
more intense than knowledge.To the lew there
in
which
oedipus,
of
legend
The
knowledgeand action; to the Greek an ironic abyss.
great
that
lewish poet
the Greek senseof tragic unreasonis so grimly rendered,served
Freud as an emblem of rational insight and redemption through healing'
and in oedipus
Not that Greektragedyis wholly without redemption.ln the Eumenides
made of this fact'
at colonus,the tragrc action closeson a note of grace.Much has been
exceptional;there
But we should,I think, interpret it with extremecaution. Both casesare
of the sanctity
aspects
special
commemorating
pageant
is in them an element of ritual
to us' and
lost
irrevocably
is
tragedy
Greek
in
of Athens. Moreover,the part of music
l)
rebook of Jobis alwaYscited asan
n the outer edgeof Judaism,and
justiceagainstthose of tragedY:
rning:for hehadfourteenthousand
she-asses.
ren,anda thousand
rvant;he has comPensatedlob for
justice,not tragedY.This demand
n. Jehovahis just, evenin His furY.
of God
lly awry,or the Proceedings
waYs
the
that
rerecanbe no doubt
, are rational. The Judaic sPirit is
:seand of man'sestateis accessible
rr absurd.We maYfullY aPPrehend
Marxism is character,f obedience.
r, and Marx rePudiatedthe entire
rly in so far asit is not understood."
ertion:necessityis blind and man's
: e T h e b eosr i n G a z aT. h e a s s e r t i o n
foremostcontribution of the Greek
ult or failureof understanding.The
or destroyour lives lie outside the
'e arearound us daemonicenergies
: which poison our will so that we
velove.Or to Put it in the terms of
ll alwayssail toward Sicily although
knowsthat he will perish
n. Eteocles
ods.
ableoffering.
rurdoom?
her,and in the wellsof his stubborn
fiercedisastersin the grip of truths
s a marvellouscontinuitY between
;. The legendof OediPus,in which
Jered,servedthat great Jewishpoet
ion through healing.
and in OediPus
on. In the Eumenides
:e.Much hasbeen made of this fact'
ion. Both casesareexceptional;there
ratingspecialaspectsof the sanctity
:agedyis irrevocablYlost to us, and
T h e D e a t ho f T r a g e d y( 1 9 6 1 )
335
I suspectthat the use of music may have given to the endings of these two plays a
solemndistinctness,setting the final moments at some distancefrom the terrors which
went before.
I emphasizethis becauseI believethat any realisticnotion of tragic drama must start
from the fact ofcatastrophe.Tragediesend badly.The tragic personageis broken by forces
which can neither be fully understoodnor overcomeby rational prudence.This again is
crucial.Where the causesof disasterare temporai, where the conflict can be resolved ^rrf-)l.a*-J
through technicalor social means,we may have seriousdrama, but not tragedy. Wtore6.ffcP^S
pliant divorcelawscould not alter the fate of Agamemnon;socialpsychiatryis no answer Otr-., #Tf
to Oedipus.But sanereconomicrelationsor betterplumbing ccn resolvesomeof the gru,r. 1+{"*fgP"
crisesin the dramasof Ibsen.The distinction should be borne sharply in mind. Tra"gedygY'/
is irreparable.It cannot lead to just and material compensationfor past suffering.Job
getsback double the number of she-asses;
so he should, for God has enactedupon him
a parableofjustice. Oedipus doesnot get back his eyesor his sceptreover Thebes.
Tragicdrama tells us that the spheresof reason,order, and justice are terribly limited
and that no progressin our scienceor technical resourceswill enlargetheir relevance.
Outsideand within man is I'autre, the "otherness"of the world. Call it what you will:
a hidden or malevolentGod, blind fate, the solicitationsof hell, or the brute fury of
our animalblood. It waits for us in ambushat the crossroads.
It mocks us and destroysus.
In certainrare instances,it leadsus after destructionto some incomprehensiblerepose.
None of this, I knoq is a definition of tragedy.But any neat abstractdefinition would
meannothing. When we say "tragic drama" we know what we are talking about; not
exactly,
but well enoughto recognizethe realthing. In one instance,however,a tragic poet
doescomevery near to giving an explicit summary of the tragic vision of life. Euripides'
Bacchae
standsin some specialproximity to the ancient,no longer discerniblesprings,of
tragicfeeling.At the end of the play, DionysuscondemnsCadmus,his royal house,and
theentirecity of Thebesto a savagedoom. Cadmusprotests:the sentenceis far too harsh.
It is utterlyout of proportion with the guilt of thosewho fail to recognizeor haveinsulted
the god. Dionysus evadesthe question. He repeatspetulantly that he has been greatly
affronted;then he assertsthat the doom ofThebeswaspredestined.Thereis no useasking
for rationalexplanationor mercy.Things are as they are, unrelentingand absurd.We are
punishedfar in excessof our guilt.
It is a terrible, stark insight into human life. Yet in the very excessof his sufferinglies
man'sclaim to dignity. Powerlessand broken, a blind beggarhounded out of the city, he
assumes
a new grandeur:Man is ennobledby the vengefulspite or injusticeof the gods.
It doesnot make him innocent, but it hallows him as if he had passedthrough flame.
Hencethereis in the final moments of greattragedy,whether Greekor Shakespearean
or
neoclassic,
a fusion of grief and joy; of lament over the fall of man and of rejoicing in the
resurrection
of his spirit. No other poetic form achievesthis mysteriouseffect;it makesof
Oedipus,
King Lear, and Phidre the noblestyet wrought by the mind.
From antiquity until the ageof Shakespeare
and Racine,such accomplishmentseemed
within the reachof talent. Sincethen the trasic voice in drama is blurred or still. I . . . l