DEFINITION OF TRAGEDY

Tragedy is a specific theatrical genre. Its rules were first and most famously outlined
by the Greek philosopher Aristotle in the Poetics (330 BC).
Tragedy, Aristotle says, is an imitation of life and of actions, not of people

ELEMENTS OF A TRAGEDY DRAMA/PLAY

Aristotle mentions that tragedy has six component parts: -
 PLOT
- Plot is the most important part of tragedy (more important than the
character)
- When making a plot, the playwright must select a set of events from the
larger story and organise them into a logical order & a unified action.
- In the plot of a well written tragedy, there should be a moment of reversal.
This is a moment in which the tragic hero/heroine has a drastic change of
fortune (plot twist)
- Example: good to bad fortune.

 CHARACTER
- Character is the second most important part of tragedy. Aristotle outlines 5
rules about characterisation:
 Tragic characters must be able to make good choices about their
actions.
 Tragic characters must be portrayed appropriately. For example, if
they are a king they must behave like a king (protective of his
country, decisive, confident etc.)
 Tragic characters should be like us in some way, but better. They
reflect the person as they are, but they accentuate the person’s
best qualities.
 Tragic characters should be consistent in their behaviour. If they
begin behaving in one way, they can’t suddenly start behaving in a
completely different way.
 they must have a fatal flaw. This flaw doesn’t make them a bad
person, but it is the thing that will cause their fall from good fortune
to bad fortune.
  DICTION

Diction as mentioned by Aristotle is the expression of the meaning in words.

Word choice, tone, voice, clarity - all of these elements of content are important as
more video is being. There is a huge difference between content that is read, content
spoken in a voiceover, and content delivered by someone speaking to the camera.

 SPECTACLE (SCENIC EFFECT)

- Spectacle is all aspects of the tragedy that contribute to its sensory effects
(provide emotions or feelings): costumes, scenery, the gestures of the
actors, the sound of the music and the resonance of the actors' voices

 MUSIC

Songs are another important

 Again, this element of drama is growing in importance as more video comes into
play. A video with just voiceover feel awkward

 THOUGHT
- The rational processes through which characters come to decisions
- The decisions made will affect how the story progresses

REFERENCES

Headlong. (2012). What is tragedy? — Sarah Grochala. Sarah Grochala. Retrieved June 28,

2021, from https://www.sarahgrochala.com/what-is-tragedy

Bair, A. (2018, April 3). The 6 aristotelian elements of content marketing. Revenue River:
Digital Sales and Marketing Agency. Retrieved June 28, 2021,
from https://revenueriver.co/thecuttingedge/the-6-aristotelian-elements-of-drama
 Department of English. (n.d.). Aristotle: Poetics. Department of English, University of Hawaiʻi
at Mānoa – University of Hawaii Department of English. Retrieved June 28, 2021,
from https://www.english.hawaii.edu/criticalink/aristotle/gloss/gloss6.html