Medea relates a story about the power of love, which induces sacrifice as well as jealousy and feelings of revenge aroused by betrayal. Medea, the principal character, is a woman, who is so smitten by her love for Jason that she forsakes her family, Continue Reading...
Oedipus the King: A Tragic Hero In the Bedford Introduction to Drama, Lee Jacobus writes, "Greek Tragedy focused on a person of noble birth who in some cases had risen to a great height and then fell precipitately." The modern critic, Kenneth Burke Continue Reading...
Medea as Tragic Hero The pattern of the tragic hero was first defined by Aristotle. Aristotle's work The Poetics discusses the art of Greek tragedy, and defines the rules for a tragic protagonist. If we examine these rules from Aristotle alongside t Continue Reading...
Freudian theory believes that extreme suffering removes own from the tamed state which each individual resides within civilization, "Just as satisfaction of instinct spells happiness for us, so severe suffering caused us if the external world lets u Continue Reading...
The tragic hero always elicits sympathy from the audience. According to Struck (2002): "Finally, Oedipus' downfall elicits a great sense of pity from the audience. First, by blinding himself, as opposed to committing suicide, Oedipus achieves a kin Continue Reading...
Poetry, Drama, Aristotle, Sophocles's Oedipus To Aristotle, Oedipus the King represented the embodiment of the perfect tragedy and the idealistic representation of a hero. He saw the renown figure of a hero battling mythical creatures transposed int Continue Reading...
Mourning Becomes Electra It must have come as something of a shock for the original audience of Eugene O'Neill's Mourning Becomes Electra in 1931 to take their seats, open their programs, and discover that this extremely lengthy trilogy of plays doe Continue Reading...
Aristotle's Poetics Elements of Tragedy According to Aristotle, tragedy needs to be an imitation of life according to the law of probability or necessity. Tragedy is serious, complete, and has magnitude. It must have a beginning, middle, and end an Continue Reading...
Several of Sudiata's features make him stand out as a uniquely Malian hero. He achieved his goals through the necessary assistance of shamans and sorceresses whose traditions are time-honored. Those shamanic references rest comfortably beside Musli Continue Reading...
Crucible and What I Have Learned Arthur Miller's The Crucible is a dramatic, engaging work that challenges the reader/viewer to see beneath the "black and white" dichotomy by which the world is simplistically characterized via such "venerable" inst Continue Reading...
The skene or 'tent' was the building that was directly behind the stage, and this was where the actors of the drama could enter or exit from. It would usually be decorated as a temple or a palace, and it would have at least one set of doors from whe Continue Reading...
Greeks The narrator is coy about whether or not he views Alexander as Great. He makes a lot of jokes about people want to be great and starts off the lecture with a bit about Kim Kardashian -- but it's not really a fair comparison in my estimation. Continue Reading...
He dies on the beach as he is trying to rise out of his chair and go to meet the boy. Mann's story is reflective of an artist who has come to realize that his art has been false since it has not come from a place of true emotion and passion. The st Continue Reading...
