The essence of tragedy can be found through time and across many cultures, reflecting back the dark and dangerous parts of human society. It may not be everyone’s preferred type of story, yet tragedies remain prevalent. What about the human condition draws some people to tragedy, and why do we still have hope?
What is a tragedy? The Oxford dictionary defines tragedy as “dealing with [tragic] events and having an unhappy ending, often concerning the downfall of the main character.” Another interpretation of tragedy is Shakespeare’s usage of the tragic hero. This character has a clear tragic flaw, hamartia, which they fall prey to in the end, rather than overcoming it as with a ‘comedy’.
Greek philosopher Aristotle attributed the origin of Greek drama to the worship of Dionysus. It is also possible to have originated with the worship of fallen heroes such as Adrastus. Epic poetry is likely what gave the language of the story its dramatic storyline (Brown EUD). Different cities around the world throughout time had different presentations of tragedy. i.e. Attica, Greece: 5th cent. BCE; England, 1558-1625; France, 17th cent. (Britannica) I encourage further research if you’d like to know more background. Some main questions that the Greeks pondered through the poetic format include the reason humans suffer and the elusiveness of justice.
Tragic stories can offer catharsis-an outlet to fully feel those powerful emotions and an opportunity to cry for those who need. Take one powerful film from 1989: Dead Poets Society is full of teenage happiness as well as the dark realities of the competitive academic scene. As the movie progresses, the audience can feel the tone shift, and the sinking realization that things may not turn out the way we want them too. Tragedy strikes in the last act. However, the final scene is not forcing the audience to sit in this sadness, rather, the characters stand up [on the desks] in the face of injustice and loss, demonstrating their appreciation of the knowledge they have gained.
The purpose of storytelling is not just to get to the end, so does it matter if we know the ending will be tragic when we experience a story? Even if the resolution is widely known, a story can take on many forms and can provide many emotions before the conclusion. The Tony award winning musical Hadestown executes this idea gracefully. Many are already familiar with the story of Orpheus and Eurydice and their sad fate. However, the musical takes the audience on a journey of life, love, music and humanity that all fold together into something tragically beautiful. The final song before the encore is a reprise of the opening number. We start again despite facing the painful end with the protagonists.
The fantastic analysis YouTuber, @Schnee, has a video on a similar contemplation: “Why is Tragedy Beautiful?” (I will summarize my main takeaways, but I highly encourage watching the video for yourself. Beware of spoilers for Arcane and The Last of Us.) This statement does not refer to all tragedy, especially not in real life. Beauty is an incredibly subjective term, but when applied to storytelling, what does it generally entail? The first possibility can be summarized as a change/expansion in perspective in light of something simple and surprising. The beauty in specifically sad stories is often found in the relief, the “tenderness in a strife-ridden world”. Other moments in which beauty is recognized can include sincerity, and complex or paradoxical emotions. These emotions are the focal point of the scene. The audience observes the beauty through personal connections to themselves, the characters, or the author. The second component is having the space and time to focus on that connection. Nothing else needs to happen except for what is, the act of sincerity and vulnerability that the audience empathizes with.
Another demonstration of beauty in storytelling is when all the complex plotlines, motifs, character arcs, etc. all unite into a single idea in the end. It is the feeling “that one would not want to change a note or a brush stroke or a line” (Stephen Weinberg) not a single thing. Not even if it leaves us with tears on our face. This is beauty in the thing itself, rather than creating a beautiful experience for the story’s audience. It retains its perfection, its simplicity, even if no one is there to witness it. A sunset is not any less beautiful just because no living being observes it.
Unfortunately, the reality of tragedy is that the pain and the ending themselves are not beautiful. It is wrong to deny the brutal tragedies of our world’s history. There is nothing beautiful in suffering or the ending of lives. Then, how do we remain hopeful in the face of all of history’s darkest moments? Can we take something despairing and find something meaningful in it? Many peoples throughout history have faced relentless tragedy for centuries, but are still here. That is beautiful. The fact that we can stand up in spite of the opposing forces and keep our pride and joy. Tragedy itself is not beautiful, but the struggle against it, the love, faith, and hope amidst a world of darkness is.
Numerous stories show us these moments of human connection in the midst of adversity. A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones is notoriously dark and unforgiving. However, characters continue to fight for whom and what they care for. The Picture of Dorian Gray condemns its protagonist to a maddening fate, but the reader is not forced to lose his or her appreciation for the beauty within art. Dead Poets Society illustrates the dark sides of competitive academia and the appreciation for good teachers, but the unfair ending does not erase the initial positive emotional impact on the characters and audience.
Sometimes, the story is important for the world/society. The ending holds a very strong moral that may be ruminated on with both positive and negative emotions. Other times, the story has most of its importance on an individual level. The sadness in the story resonated on an intimate, personal level. My favorite examples of this include Arcane and Sweeney Todd, two very character-driven stories. Depending on the audience, tragic fiction may just hurt. Many Greek myths fall under this category such as Orpheus and Euridyce or Apollo and Hyacinth. Grimdark fiction can also hold this power. The world is dark and dreary, and it isn’t supposed to leave you with any other emotion than hurt.
So why do these types of stories matter, and what do they tell us? Every story, no matter how painful and full of injustice, has a purpose. We see the fight of the characters against the whole world. Their fight reminds us that our own is just as important, that we are not alone. It likely will hurt, it may end in disaster, but it still meant something.
“Why is Tragedy Beautiful?”: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Zn9Dps8P4U&list=UULFIJhUaFcOoxyE4ImRpCaNhw&index=17
https://www.britannica.com/art/tragedy-literature
https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Joukowsky_Institute/courses/13things/7415.html#:~:text=Origins&text=Aristotle%20is%20known%20to%20have,of%20dead%20heroes%2C%20like%20Adrastus.
https://classical-inquiries.chs.harvard.edu/seven-greek-tragedies-seven-simple-overviews/#:~:text=According%20to%20Athenian%20traditions%2C%20the,been%20punished%20for%20his%20impiety.