Tragic Structure In
Macbeth
Shakespearean tragedies represent
conflicts which end in catastrophe.
Adapted from: A.C. Bradley. Shakespearean Tragedy. A Lecture online @ http://global.cscc.edu/engl/264/TragedyLex.htm
Prepare for your exams
Study with the several resources on Docsity
Earn points to download
Earn points by helping other students or get them with a premium plan
Guidelines and tips
Prepare for your exams
Study with the several resources on Docsity
Earn points to download
Earn points by helping other students or get them with a premium plan
Community
Ask the community
Ask the community for help and clear up your study doubts
University Rankings
Discover the best universities in your country according to Docsity users
Free resources
Our save-the-student-ebooks!
Download our free guides on studying techniques, anxiety management strategies, and thesis advice from Docsity tutors
Tragic Structure In Macbeth, Exams of English Literature
The hero recognizes responsibility for the catastrophe which befalls him too late to prevent his death. Page 12. TRAGIC CONFLICT: EXTERNAL. Only two people –.
Typology: Exams
2021/2022
1 / 44
This page cannot be seen from the preview
Don't miss anything!
Related documents
Partial preview of the text
Download Tragic Structure In Macbeth and more Exams English Literature in PDF only on Docsity!
Tragic Structure In
Macbeth
Shakespearean tragedies represent
conflicts which end in catastrophe.
Adapted from: A.C. Bradley. Shakespearean Tragedy. A Lecture online @ http://global.cscc.edu/engl/264/TragedyLex.htm
Tragic Structure
EXPOSITION
DEVELOPMENT: RISING ACTION
DEVELOPMENT: FALLING ACTION
RESOLUTION
DEVELOPMENT: RISING ACTION
Growth and nature of the conflict forms the bulk
- part of act 1, most of acts 2, 3, and 4, and part of act 5.
Unveils the developing complications arising from the conflicts as the problem intensifies.
Time and a sense of urgency become increasingly important as the speed of the action increases.
Sense of inevitability, tragic hero alienating allies, &
is finally all alone with his
back to the wall in act 5.
DEVELOPMENT:
FALLING ACTION
From act 2 onwards:
tragic hero is powerful,
advancing, then scattering the
opposition until, late in the 4 th act,
when a reversal of the situation
starts taking place.
Opposing forces begin to
openly resist and to make plans
for the removal of the
tragic hero, and the hero's power
is obviously declining
as the opposition's
power advances.
THE TRAGIC HERO,
IN GENERAL
Usually, there is only
one tragic hero.
The so-called "Love
Tragedies“
are exceptions to the rule
(such as in Romeo &
Juliet).
Shakespeare's tragedies
are usually stories
of one person, the "hero,“
or at most two, to include
the "heroine.”
Macbeth has a single star,
so the tragic story
is concerned primarily with
one person.
THE TRAGIC HERO AND THE TRAGIC "STORY"
The tragic story leads up to, and includes, the death of the hero
The suffering and calamity are exceptional
They befall a conspicuous person
They are of a striking kind
They are unexpected
They are contrasted with previous happiness and/or glory
No play that ends with the hero alive is, in the full Shakespearean sense, a tragedy.
Peasants do not inspire pity and fear as great men do
A Shakespearean tragedy is a story of Exceptional Calamity leading to the death of a man of high estate!
The pangs of despised love and the anguish of remorse are the same in a peasant and a prince
The hero’s fate affects the welfare of a whole nation or empire; when he falls suddenly from that height, his fall produces a sense of contrast, the powerlessness of man, the omnipotence of
We can extend the definition of Shakespearean tragedy to "a story of exceptional calamity, leading to the death of a man of high estate."
ONLY GREAT MEN QUALIFY AS TRAGIC HEROES
TRAGEDY,
HUMAN FLAWS,
AND RESPONSIBILITY
The calamities of tragedy proceed mainly from the actions of men.
Shakespeare's tragic heroes are responsible for the catastrophe of their own falls.
The Effect: we regard the suffering and catastrophe as something which happens to and is caused by the hero.
Human beings placed in situations - from their relationships, certain actions arise.
Actions cause other actions – Interconnected deeds leads to complications and inevitable catastrophe.
The Center of the tragedy: action issuing from character, of flawed perceptions, and of human frailty for which the hero is ultimately responsible.
The hero recognizes responsibility for the catastrophe which befalls him too late to prevent his death.
TRAGIC CONFLICT:
INTERNAL
Shakespeare's tragic
hero,
though he pursues his
fated way, is torn by an
inward struggle
The conception of outer
and inner
struggle includes the
action of
"spiritual forces."
THE ABNORMAL,
THE SUPERNATURAL,
FATE, FORTUNE & CHANCE
Shakespeare occasionally represents abnormal conditions of mind: insanity, somnambulism, hallucinations
Shakespeare also introduces the super- natural: ghosts and witches who have supernatural knowledge
Shakespeare, in most of the tragedies, allows "chance" in some form to influence some of the action
These are subordinate - dominant factors are the deeds of the character.
Supernatural Elements
contributes to the action, but is always placed in the closest relation with character
gives confirmation and distinct form to inward movements already present and influential
the half- formed thought or the horrified memory of guilt in Macbeth.
cannot be explained away
as an illusion in the mind of one of the characters
Watch for “accidents” in character traits or behavior flaws which are not really accidents
large use of accident would weaken the sense of the causal connection of character, deed, catastrophe
Man may start a course of events
but can neither calculate nor control it; a tragic
fact. Shakespeare uses accidents to make us feel this.
Operation of Chance Or Accident, Fortune, & Fate: a prominent fact of life.
External And Internal conflicts
Which lead to complica- tions
from which further conflicts arise
in a kind of snowballing effect
Driving
the action
toward a Tragic
resolution
The action of the Protagonist / Tragic Hero is most often motivated by:
- In Macbeth, we have the hero, Macbeth, and
the heroine, Lady Macbeth, opposed to the
representatives of Duncan, Malcolm, and
Macduff.
- In this case, the great majority of the
Dramatis Personae falls without difficulty
into two antagonistic groups, and the
conflict between these groups ends with the
defeat of the hero.