UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS

DEPARTMENT OF CREATIVE ARTS

THA 219: DRAMATIC GENRE

TRAGEDY AS A DRAMATIC GENRE; AN

ANALYSIS OF ZULU SOFOLA’S

WEDLOCK OF THE GODS

LECTURER: MRS MICHELLE ADEGBOLA

 NAMES OF PARTICIPANTS

1. Julia Ini Obong 170118043

2. Ekeugbo Ucheoma 180118031

3. Njoku Chidinma Augustina 170118044

4. Chioma Makonor 170118016

5. Peter Akhabue 170118033

6. Duke Debby 170118026

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 Tragedy as a Dramatic Genre

 Tragedy in the Classical Periods

 Tragedy in the Renaissance Era

 Modern Tragedy (20th century)

 Tragedy in African Drama

 Wedlock of the gods as an African Tragedy

Tragedy as a Dramatic Genre

In the study of Drama genres, tragedy is a perhaps one of the most common and most

important genre. This is probably because of its seriousness in action, as well as how much

uses different elements to achieve its plot.

Tragedy means different things to different culture. Drama has evolved from different

civilization to the other and as it does so, Tragedy also evolves as well, meaning different

things to different culture and in different periods, according to the social changes of that

particular culture. As Drama evolves from the Greek to the Romans and then to the

renaissance period, specifically the Elizabethan and finally to the modern 20th century, its

features change overtime. The next part of this work will explore Tragedy as it evolves in

different dramatic practices of different cultures.

Tragedy in the Classical Periods

Most of what we know of ancient classical tragedy is gotten Aristotle, a Greek philosopher

who also served as a critic of the different performances that took place in Greek, particularly

in the festival of City Dionysia. Aristotle defined tragedy as the imitation of an action that is

serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself in appropriate and pleasurable

language; in a dramatic rather than narrative form: with incidents arousing pity and fear,

wherewith to accomplish a catharsis of these emotions.

According to Aristotle, Tragedy only happens to the noble and the main tragedy is the clash

between the God's and the noble. The protagonist is known as the tragic hero with a tragic

flaw known as Hubris.

The ancient Greeks had three major Tragedians: Aeshcylus, Sophocles and Euripides with the

prominent one being Sophocles, prominent for his surviving work, Oedipus Rex, which

followed all of Aristotle explanation of what Tragedy was to the ancient Greeks.

In the ancient Rome, Seneca was the leading tragedian. His tragedies were later discovered

by Italians in the 16th century and it served as an inspiration for some renaissance drama,

specifically The Spanish Tragedy pioneered by Thomas Kyd. Senecan Tragedy mostly uses

supernatural element like Ghosts or witches without the introduction of any god or God. It

also features revengeful acts. Elements of this can be seen in Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus

and Hamlet.

Tragedy in the Renaissance Era

Perhaps the leading tragedian in the Elizabethan era is William Shakespeare. Shakespeare's

tragedies had their special features and some of them follows Aristotle's concept of Tragedy.

Some of the features of Shakespearean Tragedy include:

A tragic hero: One of the most important aspects of a Shakespearean tragedy is the tragic

hero. Tragedies of this kind are essentially one-man performances. It tells the narrative of

one, or occasionally two, characters. The protagonist, who might be either male or female,

must endure suffering due to a defect in their character, an unavoidable twist of fate, or both.

The sad character in the drama must be the hero. Shakespeare tragedies, in Andrew Cecil

Bradley's words, "are fundamentally a narrative of pain and misfortune leading to death,"

according to the eminent Shakespeare scholar of the 20th century. (Typically, the hero must

ultimately confront death.) Being a dominant figure in their state, kingdom, or nation is a
crucial characteristic of the tragic hero. This person comes from a wealthy social class and

has a prominent position, sometimes a regal one. Kings, princes, or military generals are

tragic heroes because they are revered by their subjects. Consider Hamlet, the prince of

Denmark, who is smart, well-educated, attractive, gregarious, and inclined toward

philosophy. The hero is such a significant figure that when they die, there is widespread

unrest, disruption, and anarchy all across the place. When Hamlet exacts revenge on his uncle

for the death of his father, he also invites his own death at the hands of Laertes. And as a

direct result of his passing, the Fortinbras army invades Denmark to seize power.

Harmatia: Harmartia relates to the fatal fault of the tragic hero. It is yet another crucial

component of a tragedy by Shakespeare. Every hero eventually fails because of a fault in

their character which inevitably results in death. An example is the untimely death of Hamlet

as a result of his faulty judgment and inaction. This is a prime illustration of hamartia. He has

a propensity to put things off. He finds several chances to assassinate his uncle, but he is

unable to do it due to his indecisiveness and procrastination. He consistently puts off taking

action. In one instance, he discovers a chance to assassinate Claudius when the latter is in

prayer. Even so, Hamlet declines the fantastic chance to fulfill his objective on the grounds

that he doesn't wish to murder a man who is in the middle of praying. He intends to

assassinate Claudius when he is committing a sin. Perfectionism, inaction, and ambiguity

regarding the best course of action are what finally cause Hamlet's death and plunge Denmark

into anarchy.

Catharsis: Catharsis is a remarkable feature of a Shakespearean tragedy. It refers to the

cleansing of the audience's pentup emotions. In other words, Shakespearean tragedies help

the audience to fe el and release emotions through the aid of tragedy. When we watch a

tragedy, we identify with the characters and take their losses personally. A Shakespearean

tragedy gives us an opportunity to feel pity for a certain character and fear for another, almost
as if we are playing the roles ourselves. The hero's hardships compel us to empathize with

him. The villain's cruel deeds cause us to feel wrath toward him.

Supernatural elements: Another essential component of a Shakespearean tragedy is the

supernatural. They contribute significantly to the sense of awe, wonder, and even dread.

Supernatural aspects are frequently employed to further the narrative and move the storyline

along. The ghost that Hamlet sees is crucial in igniting internal turmoil. The ghost informs

Hamlet that his father was murdered by his uncle Claudius and charges him with exacting

retribution. Similar to how the witches in Macbeth are crucial to the storyline. These witches

are to blame for encouraging Macbeth to commit murder in order to take the Scottish throne.

Morality: Shakespeare's tragedies depict the conflict between right and wrong. The majority

of them discuss the dominance of evil and the repression of virtue. Shakespeare's plays

portray evil in a way that makes its presence seem necessary and unavoidable. For instance,

the reader is made to believe that Denmark would undoubtedly experience something

negative in Hamlet (foreshadowing). Even if the reader has a hint, the play's ordinary folks

frequently aren't aware of the coming doom. The crowd in Julius Caesar is oblivious of King

Caesar's internal conflict between virtue and evil. They are likewise unaware of Cassius'

covert and cunning intentions. Shakespeare's dramas are full with instances where good loses

to evil. Evil triumphs over goodness. The reason for this is that whereas virtue is open and

readily evident to everybody, the evil element is always concealed. Because of his virtue, the

main character—who is also the tragedy's most holy and honest character—is tasked with

overcoming the greatest evil.

Modern Tragedy (20th century)

20th century tragedy is very distinctive from the other tragedies from the previous periods.

Attention shifts from God's, supernatural and nobility to just common people. The struggle a
common man passes through within himself, influenced by sociopolitical and socioeconomic

stuctures are what tragedy meant in the 20th century. This is as a result of different

catastrophic events such as economic depression, world wars, etc. Perhaps the event that

birthed this tragedy type is the advent of industrial revolution where a working class person

has to work tirelessly with the aim of getting a better life style but instead, the results of his

works goes to the Bourgeoisie, the industry owners. All these events served as inspiration for

writers like Henrik Ibsen, Eugene O'Neil, Arthur Miller, Anton Checkov, Tennessee

Williams, among others. These sociopolitical and socioeconomic issues are the main features

of the 20th century tragedy. It's worth to mention that these issues also resulted to the

formation of different other dramatic genres known as the "isms"; genres like Expressionism,

absurdism, etc.

Tragedy in African Drama

African drama basically can be said to be the type of drama that exposes the experiences of

African people. African drama can be classified into three forms according to its historical

periods. There is the Pre-colonial, the Colonial and the postcolonial. The pre-colonial African

Drama features the spiritual and communal elements of the African tradition and how it

affects the society. Colonial African Drama features the introduction of European colonialism

and how it affects Africans and their customs and traditions. As its name implies,

postcolonial African Drama mirrors the society after Political independence from

colonialism, how Africans have adapted some of these Western cultures along with their own

traditions.
Wedlock of the gods as an African Tragedy

Uloko and Ogwoma's pure love is shown in the wedlock of the gods. Ogwoma, a widow, was

coerced into marrying Adigwu by her parents because they needed the money from her bride

riches to treat their extremely ill son. Ogwoma, the unfortunate victim, had nothing but

resentment towards Adigwu. Uloko, with whom she was much in love, was unmarryable

since he lacked the resources his parents required. She thinks herself liberated from whatever

ties them together because, fortunately, her hated spouse passed away. She fell pregnant by

her lover, who retains her heart forever, instead of enduring the traditional lengthy time of

sorrow and passing on her estate to her husband's brother.

Taboos are violated, her parents' reputations are damaged, and her mother-in-law feels

remorse for her son, whom she believes was slain on purpose so that both loves could get

their way.

In the drama, it is shown that Odibei is sincerely looking for the drug that Ogwoma used to

kill her kid. She said that my son Adigwu did not pass away naturally. A man cannot be

deemed to have died naturally if he passed away with a bloated tummy like that of a pregnant

woman. Someone murdered him. She spoke.

Ogwoma's pregnancy was discovered when she was grieving, and we soon find that Uloko

caused her to become pregnant, breaking a very serious taboo. That is unacceptable and

disheartening. It is extremely offensive to her late husband's spirit, whom she mourns. This is

the major justification Odibei gives for believing that her son Ogwoma's son Adigwu did not

pass away naturally. Even those who are connected to her were humiliated to enter the hamlet

and market locations after this dishonorable deed went across the community and adjacent

clans.
In an attempt to resolve the embarrassment brought on by his daughter, Ogwoma's father

arranged a meeting; however, other family members, particularly Okolie, who never wish

him well, generated extra difficulty during the meeting.

For their disrespect of the spirit of her late son, Odibei resolves to give Ogwoma and her

boyfriend Ukolo a lesson they would never forget. Here, Odibei is portrayed as a vengeful

woman who swears to exact revenge on Ogwoma for her son's murder. She is adamant that

Ogwoma was to blame for her son's passing. She denies the accusation that she could not

wait till her period of mourning was finished before becoming pregnant for her boyfriend

while she was still grieving for her deceased spouse. Although Uloko's actions weren't wrong

in and of themselves, they brought great embarrassment to both families. He saw his deeds as

the culmination of fate and destiny. He claimed that when Ogwoma was taken from him by

circumstance, he was only watching helplessly. Thanks to the gods who never sleep, when

Adigwu passed away, Ogwoma seized the chance to go back to her true love Uloko and

conceived right away so that he wouldn't pass on the family fortune to his brother-in-law

Okezie as is customary.

The resolution of Odibei's nefarious schemes against Ogwoma is shown in the end storyline.

In Ogwoma's chamber, Odibei is seen carrying a herb containing kolanut and other items,

along with some medical powder. We could see from her behavior that death was

approaching Ogwoma. Odibei commands her to go down to her chamber and swallow the

medication that is next to the water pot after calling her invisibly. She complies and moves

like a remote control straight to her room. After drinking it, Ogwoma sank to the ground

gradually. Uloko entered almost instantly and witnessed her passing away. Uloko is very hurt

as she passes away, and he moves right over to her, pours his rage on her, and kills her. He

goes back to Ogwoma's body, lowers the cutlass, and drinks of the same poison.
References

Lehmann Hans-Thies, (2016). Tragedy and Dramatic Theatte

Elam, Keir (1980). The Semiotics of Theatre and Drama. Methuen

Brockett, Oscar (1968). History of the Theatre

Wilson, Edwin; Goldfarb, Alvin (2003). Living Theatre: A History of Theatre

George, Joseph, (1996) “African Literature”, in Gordon and Gordon, Understanding

Contemporary Africa.

Sofola, Zulu (1973). Wedlock of the Gods