A Boring Entry on Tragedy
Tragedy.
Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Antigone, Shakespeare. These are all names that come to mind when I think of tragedy. Even the word comes through the mouth like a knife slicing through the air, turning it sour with death, mourning, and a loss of compassion. Ideas are portrayed, character flaws are brought to the surface, and people die off like flies in chain reaction.
As being the king (or kings, as speculated) of tragedy, Shakespeare has the basis which it has been founded on. He manipulates the reader into a cold dark place with his words, his ideas and his twists in the plot. In this time, where the art of theatre was somewhat new, and very expensive, people tended to put more emotion, more of their attention into it, especially if they’re drunk. Like the drunk party girl who inevitably will cry, the drunkards of Shakespearean times were the same way; feeling everything the play feels ten times more than if sober.
This made Shakespearean plays that much more popular; if you’re able to get into a play, truly be sedated by it, feel the pain of the tragic hero, laugh when they laugh, then you know that the writer has done something right. If you can relate to the hero, well, you’re probably drunk or going to die horribly, then you relate better. You become a part of something more..
This is where Hamlet comes in; bring forth the poisoned wine, the tomatoes, and watch the magic unfold!
Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Antigone, Shakespeare. These are all names that come to mind when I think of tragedy. Even the word comes through the mouth like a knife slicing through the air, turning it sour with death, mourning, and a loss of compassion. Ideas are portrayed, character flaws are brought to the surface, and people die off like flies in chain reaction.
As being the king (or kings, as speculated) of tragedy, Shakespeare has the basis which it has been founded on. He manipulates the reader into a cold dark place with his words, his ideas and his twists in the plot. In this time, where the art of theatre was somewhat new, and very expensive, people tended to put more emotion, more of their attention into it, especially if they’re drunk. Like the drunk party girl who inevitably will cry, the drunkards of Shakespearean times were the same way; feeling everything the play feels ten times more than if sober.
This made Shakespearean plays that much more popular; if you’re able to get into a play, truly be sedated by it, feel the pain of the tragic hero, laugh when they laugh, then you know that the writer has done something right. If you can relate to the hero, well, you’re probably drunk or going to die horribly, then you relate better. You become a part of something more..
This is where Hamlet comes in; bring forth the poisoned wine, the tomatoes, and watch the magic unfold!