TRAGEDY

Tragedy : Murders, deaths, insanity, and pain are among the most common ideas in tragedies. Main characters usually have some kind of weakness or defect that causes their downfall. Tragedy first appeared in the theater of Ancient Greece. Like comedy, it lived through Roman Empire, Medieval times, Renaissance and other eras. Aristotle believed that the main characteristic of tragedy was the change of fortunes of the main character because of his flaws. The philosopher also believed that such drama has to implant a feeling of fear and pity in the audience. As drama evolved, more modern script writers thought that depicting the downfall of a common person will cause the viewer to feel greater emotions as it will relate more to a character of their own social status.