Imagine a majestic bird with mighty wings kept in a room with low ceiling where its head

keeps banging against the wall. The bird is admired far and wide due to its artistic beauty
and exceptional posture. Then a time comes when it is released in the open skies and the
world finally sees the full length of its wings soaring with the wind. This is how classical
literature made its way into the new modern sky. Modernist writers broke the barricades of
formal structures revealing a whole new world of possibilities. Hence, possibility defines
modernism.

Classical literature was governed by the wind of general consensus. There were preexisting
molds designed by a selected literary hierarchy into which the other writers consented to fit.
Besides these structures, there was an all-agreement upon the content of literature too. We
see how classical dramas like Oedipus Rex, Cyclopes, Antigone, Seven against Thebes, Trojan
women, Madness of Heracles reinforced the same theme of man’s inability in the face of
God; “from ills given by God there is no escape”, “The strength of Necessity cannot be
resisted”, “There is nothing stronger than the awful Necessity.” Such themes of divine power
and Necessity existed in almost every other classical tragedies and were even repeated over
and over again in some of them. Furthermore, the noble characters of classical dramas had
to stand in battlefields where they faced evils in the face of monsters and other-worldly
mythical creatures. We see how Oedipus fought against sphinx, which was a creature with a
head of a woman, the haunches of a lion, and the wings of a bird. In similar manner we see
Odysseus facing a Cyclops, which is a giant monster with a single, orb-shaped eye in the
middle of his forehead. What we notice from these instances is that evil is always an
external force in classical dramas. Modern drama, on the other hand, can be seen depicting
the theme of man vs society rather than man vs God. There is no depiction of a
predetermined fate latched to a human that he fights, rather it is the scrutiny of society and
societal conflicts which are the everyday troubles of a modern man. Modern man is offered
a battlefield where he face himself instead of giants from other world. Hence, modern
drama internalizes the evil. Furthermore, we see how Oedipus was a hero when he won
against sphinx. There is no such heroism in modern drama as there are no temporary
monsters to be fought. Modern man fights against the absurdity of life that is due until the
very end. Hence, a modern man is a Sisyphus who keeps rolling the stone only to watch it fall
back down again. There is no heroism in that only acceptance.

Where classical drama depicts the tragedy of a noble man, modern drama depicts the
complexities of life that a common man faces. Since life is weird jumble of both tragedy and
comedy hence the genre of tragicomedy became popular in modern drama. There existed
such blended two genres in classical drama but its nature was different. In Plautus, who is
commonly believed to have coined the term’ tragicomedy denoted a play which depicted
reversal of traditional role i.e masters and Gods playing slaves and vice versa. In Shakespeare
and other renaissance writers the nature of this term changed. Dramas that were largely
comical with certain tragic elements were called as tragicomedies like Shakespeare’s
‘Merchant of Venice’ and ‘The Tempest.’ However, under the influence of realism in 19 th
century, this hybrid form of drama underwent another shift. Modern tragicomedy mingled
ironies of life with such dark comedy that made tragedy seem even more tragic. Plays like
‘Waiting for Godot’, ‘The Dumb Writer’, ‘Caretaker’, and ‘Endgame’ suggests that laughter is
the only response a man has to this sheer absurd thing called life. All these tragicomedies
depict how life is weird blend of comedy and tragedy and there comes a point where it
becomes almost impossible to distinguish between the two.

Reason rules the realm of modern drama. The existentialist idea of bearing the burden of
blame upon one’s self is suggested in modern plays. However, in Oedipus Rex, we see how
Oedipus failed to live an authentic life under the chains of his predetermined fate. Hence,
the burden of his fall is on the shoulders of fate that was chosen for him. However, that is
not the case with Tom Wingfield of ‘The Glass Menagerie. The blame of Tom’s tragic falling is
entirely over his own reckless doings and carelessness. Tom chose the way himself and thus
is portrayed to have lived an authentic life.