What do tragedies include

Some tragedies, in fact, are almost operatic in scope, such as the television show Breaking Bad , which follows chemistry teacher turned meth kingpin Walter White from the heights of power to his ultimate destruction due to his own hubris. Soap operas, of course, have a long tradition of featuring tragic plots and characters. On the big screen, you can find many examples of tragedies. In the classic Citizen Kane , ambitious newspaperman Charles Foster Kane goes from a determined youth to a ruthless tycoon and, finally, to an embittered old man who has alienated everyone in his life.

Requiem for a Dream is about the disastrous effects that drug use has on a group of four interconnected people in New York City. The postmodern musical Dancer in the Dark has a tragic heroine, Selma, who works to save money so her son can have a surgery that will prevent him from losing his sight, all while she herself is going blind. It tells the story of a mythical godlike character who rules over the world of dreams.

His tragic flaw his rigidity prevents him from righting the wrongs of the past, initiating his own destruction in the process. William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus. This revenge play tells the story of a Roman general, Titus Andronicus, who returns home to implement a meticulous, bloody vengeance on those who wronged him.

Seeking vengeance of her own, Tamora, the Queen of the Goths, sets out to avenge the death of her son at the hands of Titus. James Baldwin, The Amen Corner. His arrival reveals that she lied about Luke abandoning her and their son David years ago; in actuality, she left Luke to seek a religious vocation. This revelation fractures the family and results in David breaking off his relationship with his mother and the congregation expelling Margaret from the church.

The play opens with Jessie informing Thelma that she plans to kill herself later that night. This sets off a long, intense conversation between mother and daughter, in which they each disclose their frustrations and fears.

At the close of the play, Jessie locks herself in her bedroom and shoots herself. Debora B. Goodreads has a list of popular tragic books , including many plays. This paper delves into the Greek theory of tragedy and its subsequent effects on the genre. Definition, Usage, and Literary Examples. Tragedy Definition. The History of the Tragedy. The Elements of a Tragedy.

The Function of a Tragedy. Tragedies in Other Types of Literature. Tragedies in Popular Culture. Notable Writers of Tragedy. And so I leave thee, Faustus, till anon;. Christopher Marlowe was a contemporary of William Shakespeare and also revived classic tragedy as a literary device. Faustus, the protagonist, is vain and possesses an unlimited desire for fame. This drives him to learn magic of the dark arts, by which he summons Mephistopheles, a demon, to make a deal with the devil.

Faustus bargains his soul for twenty-four years of infinite power. Faustus finally asks for mercy as his twenty-fourth year expires, but it is too late and his soul is carried by devils to hell. All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride. As Sophocles presents in his tragic play, pride or Hubris is one of the most common and serious of classic tragic flaws.

In Antigone , pride leads to the downfall of two tragic characters: Antigone and Creon. Antigone, the title character and protagonist, suffers a tragic fall due to her pride. Antigone defies her uncle, King Creon, and buries her brother Polyneices out of love. This results in Creon sentencing Antigone to death. Creon also loses his wife Eurydice out of grief for the loss of their son Haemon.

Therefore, pride is the tragic undoing of both Antigone and King Creon, leading to death and ruin as outcomes of this tragedy. He looked at her as a man might look at a faded flower he had plucked, in which it was difficult for him to trace the beauty that had made him pick and so destroy it. Scott Fitzgerald, for example, Jay Gatsby's tragic flaw is his idealism and inability to face reality. It results in the death of Myrtle Wilson, George Wilson and Gatsby himself, as he finally gives up on his lovelorn dream.

Note that these examples don't include novels that simply end sadly or include death. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott is a very sad story, for example, but it is not a tragedy because Jo's flaws do not result in Beth's untimely death.

Instead, Beth's passing brings her family even closer together. The modern age of cinema has brought stories to life on the screen. These stories include dramas and comedies as well as tragedies. For example, in the satirical tragedy Parasite , the Kim family's tragic flaw is poverty.

It dooms them to a life of living off wealthy families, Ki-jung's untimely death and Ki-taek's undetermined but likely tragic end. Many characters in these movies just needed to wait another moment to avoid their tragic fate, while others could do nothing but watch it happen. Like books and other tragic works, these films can be classified as literary tragedies. Tragedy in real life and tragedies in literature have different definitions. Literary tragedies have a devastating ending based on a character's flaws and decisions.

Real-life tragedies are senseless, unavoidable and not deserved. Many films depict these real-life tragedies in both heartbreaking and uplifting ways. They include:. If you've seen any of these movies, you know that they focus on life, love, and loss. They are a valuable way to honor those who have passed and to ensure that their stories are told, not to illustrate the failings of a tragic hero.