'We are not looking for a new universal meaning of tragedy. We are looking for the structure of tragedy in our own culture.'
Raymond Williams, Modern Tragedy.
This module examines the idea of Tragedy in the theatre, tracing its development from classical Greek tragedy to the present day. The module concentrates on the structure of Tragedy and investigates ways in which it has developed over time and how it influences current ideas about contemporary plays.
The texts that have been chosen both acknowledge and question the influence of Aristotle's Poetics. The module explores the extent to which Aristotle's theories still articulate enduringly useful ideas about tragedy; and the extent to which they have been modified, altered, played with and rejected by playwrights over the ages. We ask whether there is an essential and timeless set of qualities that constitutes 'tragic drama', or whether notions of 'tragedy' are contingent on social and historical circumstances. We look at private and domestic tragedies, as well as public and political tragedies from different periods, examining the connection between the two.
The module investigates how playwrights have adapted tragic forms and structures to make theatre that explores suffering and catastrophe. Using Aristotle's Poetics as its starting-point, the Module also explores what the effect is on an audience member watching a tragic play.
- Module Supervisor: Jonathan Lichtenstein