Tragedy

Tragedy, a serious play (or, by extension, a novel) representing the disastrous

downfall of a central character, the protagonist. From the works of the Greek
tragedians Aeschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles, the philosopher Aristotle arrived at
the most influential definition of tragedy in his Poetics (c. 400 BC): “The imitation of
an action that is serious . . . with incidents arousing pity and fear” -- an action that is
serious and complete, achieving a Catharsis ('purification') through incidents arousing
pity and terror. Aristotle also observed that the protagonist is led into a fatal calamity
by a hamartia ('error') which often takes the form of Hubris (excessive pride leading)
to Nemesis (divine retribution).

The tragic effect usually depends on our awareness of admirable qualities in the
protagonist, which are wasted terribly in the fated disaster. The most painfully tragic
plays, like Shakespeare's King Lear, display a disproportion in scale between the
protagonist's initial error and the overwhelming destruction with which it is punished.
English tragedy of Shakespeare's time was not based directly on Greek examples, but
drew instead upon the more rhetorical Roman precedent of SENECAN TRAGEDY
(revenge tragedy). Shakespearean tragedy thus shows an 'irregular' construction in the
variety of its scenes and characters, whereas classical French tragedy of the 17th
century is modelled more closely on Aristotle's observations, notably in its
observance of the Unities of time, place, and action.

Until the beginning of the 18th century, tragedies were written in verse, and usually
dealt with the fortunes of royal families or other political leaders. Modern tragic
drama, however, normally combines the socially inferior protagonist of DOMESTIC
TRAGEDY with the use of prose, as in the plays of Henrik Ibsen and Arthur Miller.
Some novels, like Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886) and Malcolm
Lowry's Under the Volcano (1947) can be described as tragedies, since they describe
the downfall of a central character.

Irony

Introduction:

The term “irony” connotes four meanings:

1. Conveyance of one’s meaning by the words whose literary meaning is the

opposite;
2. A situation or speech that has a significance unperceived at the time by the
person involved;
3. A condition in which one seems to be mocked by the facts or fate;
4. Simulation of ignorance for the purpose of defeating or ridiculing the
adversary.

In the first, irony lies in an expression, in the form of hidden meaning. In the second,
it is a situation or utterance with an obscure meaning. In the third, it is a condition
with a concealed meaning. In the fourth, it is in the act of pretence of unawareness.
Besides hidden meaning, a sense of mockery and ridicule constitute the essence of
irony. Originally, irony was Socrates’ method of discussion. He simulated ignorance
as a means of defeating his adversary.

Irony in Drama and Fiction: In literature, Irony first appeared in drama. It was
employed by Sophocles in his tragedies in ancient Greece. He made his heroes make
statements which had ironic meanings. In Elizabethan Age, dramatic irony was
employed by Shakespeare in his tragedies. For example, when King Duncan arrives at
Macbeth’s castle, he says: “This castle hath of pleasant seat.” Here Duncan is mocked
by fate because he is murdered by Macbeth in that castle that very night. In Act III,
Scene 1, of Julius Caesar, Caesar says to the conspirators: “But I am constant as the
northern star.” And after a few minutes he is stabbed to death by the conspirators.
Irony is employed not only in drama but also in fiction. A great example
comes from Jonathan Swift. He lived and wrote in Neo-Classical Age (1702-40). The
English people of his days regarded themselves as superior to the people of other
times. Queen, courtiers, scholars, priests, and others – all were self-satisfied and
proud. Men of letters called themselves “Augustans.” So, Swift mocked their pride
and wrote his Gulliver’s Travels (1726). In it, he represents England as a nation of
dwarfs. Then, he sends Gulliver to the land of giants. There a giant’s little girl seizes
Gulliver like a toy. This, there is a powerful irony upon the unity of the English
people of his day.

Conclusion: In a piece of fiction, irony lies in the implied comparison between the
minor and the great, the mean and the noble, etc. it is employed in literature because
literature is mirror of life, and lie itself is full of ironies.

Soliloquy

Soliloquy is the act of talking to oneself, whether silently or aloud. In drama it

denotes the convention by which a character, alone on the stage, utters his or her
thoughts aloud. Playwrights have used this device as a convenient way to convey
information about a character's motives and state of mind, or for purposes of
exposition, and sometimes in order to guide the judgments and responses of the
audience. Christopher Marlowe's Dr. Faustus opens with a long expository soliloquy,
and concludes with another which expresses Faustus' frantic mental and emotional
condition during his belated attempts to escape damnation. The best-known of all
dramatic soliloquies is Hamlet's speech which begins "To be or not to be." A related
stage device is the aside, in which a character expresses to the audience his or her
thought or intention in a short speech which, by convention, is inaudible to the other
characters on the stage.

In other words, soliloquy is a formal device by which a dramatic character, alone on

the stage, reveals feelings, thoughts and motives in speech to the audience. In its
simplest form, as often in the Elizabethan drama before Shakespeare, it can be merely
a means of directly communicating information that has not emerged in the course of
the action or dialogue; for unskilful playwrights, therefore, it may be no more than a
substitute for fully dramatic writing.

The typical soliloquy is either a passionate speech giving vent to the immediate
pressure of feeling at a point of crisis, or a deliberative speech in which a particular
dilemma or choice of action is debated and resolved or, since one may lead naturally
to the other, a combination of both. Thus, the most effective soliloquies are introduced
at moments of urgency for the character concerned, particularly, when there is a
reason for privacy and secrecy rather than public display of passion or reasoning.
Sometimes, however, the soliloquy may be spoken directly to the audience by
characters who wish to take them into their confidence. Clowns and villains are
inclined to this mode of address: the clowns because they often stand on the periphery
of the plot and so invite the audience to join them in ridiculing situations in which
they are not directly involved, and the villains (like Shakespeare’s Richard III and
Iago) because their awareness of the audience’s presence adds to their stature as
clever rogues in charge of events.

When the audience is eavesdropping on a meditative or impassioned soliloquy, the

dramatist has the opportunity to internalize the presentation of character and to trace
the dynamics of thought and feeling even beyond the level of the character’s own
awareness. In Shakespeare’s subtlest soliloquies (those of Hamlet and Macbeth, for
instance) the audience is made to recognize ironies and ambiguities in what the
character says, but of which the character is unaware. Thus, the actor is given the
opportunity not only for a virtuoso performance of a set speech, but also for
suggesting either the involuntary direction the character’s thoughts and feelings move
in, or the painful effort to articulate what lies almost out of reach of the character’s
words. In both cases the language and style of these great soliloquies do not describe
the character’s state of mind, they act it out.