Shakespeare 1: The Shakespearean Tragedy- "Structural, Dramatic and Thematic Make-up"

What encompasses the Shakespearean Tragedy?

Tragedy: Drama in which the protagonist is overcome by some superior force or circumstance; excites terror or pity.

An introduction

Certainly, the frameworks of the Shakespearean Tragedy lie in the eventual deaths (or overcoming by "some superior force or circumstance") of the protagonists and antagonists, as well as of various key characters. There is no resounding (or apparent) victory, though this does not necessarily imply that there is no conflict resolution. The thematic makeup of the play will generally deal with issues of morality and human vice and how, through the machinations of poetic justice and Chance, they lead to the downfall of the principal characters of the work, and their immediate relations.

I believe the Shakespearean Tragedy differs from the Bard's works in other genres, in that he presents Man as 'never perfect'. The protagonist in the Shakespearean tragedy, whilst perceived to be the generally 'good' character, has his deadly flaws and his death in the end is meted out 'measure for measure', as it were.

Of Pity (and Pain)

Another aspect to consider is that the Tragedy is saturnine, gloomy and, in the words of A.C Bradley in his Shakespearean Tragedy (1904) "painful".

"He (Shakespeare) was writing tragedy, and tragedy would not be tragedy if it were not...painful....Sometimes from the very furnace of affliction a conviction seems borne to us that somehow, if we could see it, this agony counts as nothing against the heroism and love which appear in it and thrill our hearts."

Bradley goes on to say that: "we are (sometimes) driven to cry out that these mighty or heavenly spirits [ie: the tragic heroes (?)] who perish are too great for the little space in which they move, and that they vanish not into nothingness but into freedom...".

This is something I feel uncomfortable with, by virtue of the fact that the two tragedies I've read (this pittance of course warranting my opinion on this matter somewhat suppositious) don't give me a sense that the protagonist of the Shakespearean Tragedy is in any way deserving of the adoration of the reading/viewing public. Painful, yes, because of several thematic and dramatic forces at work; sad, yes, because there is death (much of it thoroughly unnecessary) but certainly not something that can galvanise us into fiery "furnaces of affliction", and certainly not reflective of the "heroism and love" of the fallen in question.

I will try, over this series on the Shakespearean Tragedy to support my views, with reference to my reading of "Hamlet", "Julius Caesar", "King Lear" and the tragi-comedy "Romeo and Juliet", clearly the largest and most famous of Shakespeare's tragedies. [sic: Bradley doesn't classify Caesar nor Romeo under the Tragedy umbrella]

More soon...

Oh dear...

Bradley, A. C. Shakespearean Tragedy:
Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth. 2nd ed. London: Macmillan, 1905. Shakespeare Navigators.
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27 Feb. 2005