Shakespeare’s conception of tragedy

Shakespeare (1564-1616) is the greatest Elizabethan playwright. He wrote high-rise comedies and tragedies. In his hands, romantic dramas reached their peak. John Dryden called him the Homer or the father of poets. Aristotle, the great literary figure, is known as a legislator and his work ‘The Poetics’ is the evidence of this. Shakespeare follows, but in some cases it is very different. He completely violates the law of three units. Above all, he follows the trail of Aristotle. His masterpiece is Hamlet, and we discuss his concept of tragedy with reference to Hamlet and other popular tragedies.

The tragedy is a story of exceptional suffering. According to AC Bradley, Shakespeare’s tragedy is the story of suffering and calamity that leads to the hero’s death. This suffering or death is not usual like natural death or old age death, but rather an exceptional death that leads to the death of the hero. It is an unusual death that arouses tragic feelings. In case of natural death, pity and fear do not awaken. Other than that, it fails to elevate the hero’s personality. This exceptional suffering does not take place at the beginning, but begins when the hero commits a sin or a serious mistake. The hero commits such a sin or serious fault but it is unknown to him. If he had known from the beginning; the drama would have ended before it began.

If we talk about the hero, our eyes focus on the type of the hero. Shakespeare’s tragedies concern a person of great eminence. His hero can be a king, a prince, a general or a very high-ranking official. Such a selection of heroes responds to Aristotle’s law of tragic heroes. Aristotle points out that the ideal tragic hero must be an intermediate person. It means that a tragic hero must not be perfectly virtuous or utterly wicked because misfortune befalls him not through vice or depravity but through some error of judgment. Now it is clear that a tragic hero must rise above the ordinary level and increase the power of intellect. He maintains a common humanity and, thanks to this, wins the sympathy and interest of the audience. Hamlet is a prince from Denmark. He is a well-mannered figure, and he is not devoid of the spirit of otherness. He is morally a good person and has friends. The nation likes him, but he is not a holy or perfect man. He can’t be called a villain, because he doesn’t perform any act that would prove that he is an absolute villain. He has great love for his parents. He is a middle person and makes mistakes that are unknown to him. Othello is a Republic general, and Macbeth and Brutus are nobles. Also, Lear, King Richard II, and Julius Caesar are kings. All the heroes are of great eminence. Such hero selection is necessary, and I think it’s a great point because it increases the personality and popularity of the writer. Even now, this law is mostly practiced by most playwrights.

Tragedy is the story of suffering and calamity that leads to the death of the heroes. Occurs by tragic failure or hamartia. Aristotle has elucidated it in his work ‘The Poetics’. The tragic hero is not perfect and misfortune befalls him through some fault of his own. Aristotle uses the Greek word, ‘Hamartia’. Its root meaning is, ‘to miss the mark’. AC Bradley translates it, ‘tragic flaw’. Aristotle uses it, ‘misjudgment’. Hamartia is not moral imperfection but an error of judgement, whether it arises from ignorance of some material fact or from rashness and impulsiveness of temperament or from some passion. The hero makes several serial mistakes that seem unknown to him. It is an absolute fact that Shakespeare’s tragedy is good, but it is not perfect. His certain character flaw results in suffering and death. His masterpiece is ‘Hamlet’. Hamlet is a tragic hero, and his flaw is the lack of decision that causes the action to be delayed. Finally, the situation turns against him and leads to his death. Othello’s tragedy happens because of his credulity or his mild temper. Macbeth is ambitious and King Richard II loves flattery and the misuse of power. King Richard II is under the effect of subservience. His lack of wisdom becomes the cause of his tragedy.

‘Character is destiny’ is a saying attributed to Heraclitus, a 16th century BC Greek philosopher. ‘King Oedipus’ follows this saying. Here man is defenseless before fate. King Oedipus tries hard to escape from fate, anticipated by the oracles, but he fails and falls prey to a dangerous tragedy. If we think of Shakespeare’s heroes, they seem different from ancient tragedies or fate. His heroes are good but not perfect. There is a glitch that results in suffering and death for the hero. In fact, Shakespeare’s tragic heroes are inventors of their own tragic destiny. As Hamlet is seized with indecision, although he has the opportunity, he deliberately misses it and delays. The delay from him falls on him, and as a result, the circumstances are reversed, and the hero falls to his death. Macbeth is ambitious, Othello is gullible and short-tempered, and King Richard II and King Lear are prey to adulation. All of them are responsible for his tragedies.

We students find confusion as to whether Shakespeare’s tragedies are based on the Renaissance theory of responsibility or on the Greek conception of death. There are many critics of Shakespeare who think that his tragedies are based on the conception of fate, but AC Bradley is different and calls Shakespeare’s heroes the architects of his tragic fate. In his idea, ‘character is destiny’ is used for the tragic destiny that they shape. It means that they themselves are responsible for it. Such discussions are endless. As far as I am concerned, Shakespeare’s tragedies fit both theories. This saying is suitable for the theory of responsibility and the Greek conception of destiny. If we talk about the theory of responsibility, our hero is a Renaissance man. Simultaneously, one cannot get rid of one’s own suffering or fate.

In Shakespeare’s tragedies, factors other than fatal flaws are found to be responsible. They are called contributing factors. The writer introduces supernatural beings and by chance or accident to exacerbate the tragedy because they are responsible for the suffering and death of the hero. In Hamlet, the writer presents a ghost. His entrance is supposed to come and is imminent in the kingdom. The ghost takes the form of the late king, the murdered king, and Prince Hamlet’s father. The ghost reveals the secret that his father’s death is not natural, but that he is killed by his brother Claudio. His death happened by putting poison in his ear. Thus, Claudio is the dirty and ruthless murderer of his brother. The ghost encourages Hamlet to murder his uncle to avenge the death of his father. Prince Hamlet is not hasty or quick-tempered to take action without any deliberation. Hamlet knows that the entrance of the supernatural element is supposedly bad. He, above all, wants to verify the truth and for this, he makes a plan by staging a drama. Tragedy befalls him due to the entrance of the supernatural being. He motivated him to take revenge on his father. In Macbeth, the writer introduces three witches, and these witches did not persecute him to assassinate the king but revived the ambitious spirit that already existed in his character. By virtue of it, he commits a tragic defect, causing his tragedy. In Shakespeare’s dramas, supernatural beings do not interfere with the positive activities of human beings as they do in Greek tragedies.

Shakespeare introduces luck or accident. He is found in King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and Othello. In Romeo and Juliet, the messenger fails to convey Friar’s message about the potion and her plan, simultaneously, the heroine awakens from her long sleep after the hero’s death, and commits suicide with the same knife. Chance plays a very dangerous role and ensures tragedy. This element is very definite in Hamlet because his ship was attacked by pirates and he was sent back to Denmark. This element makes Hamlet’s tragedy certain; otherwise he could be saved. In Othello, Desdemona’s handkerchief accidentally falls and causes the enemy’s plan to succeed, and as a result, Othello strangles her to death. In King Lear, Edger could make it to the prison before Cordelia’s sentencing. All are accidents that make tragedy certain. This element takes the reins of time in its clutches and enjoys its calamities.

Shakespeare introduces two types of conflict: internal conflict and external conflict. It is the conflict that moves the drama in the end; otherwise, no conflict, no drama. Internal conflict means a fight between the hero and his mind or consciousness, and external conflict means a fight between the hero and the villain or between two parties or groups. His masterpiece, the tragedy Hamlet, has both conflicts. All his soliloquies show his inner conflict so he lingers and faces his tragedy. His external conflict is with Claudio, the villain. Also, at the end, there is a fight between Hamlet and Laerates. It is also an external conflict. In Othello, Shakespeare introduces internal or internal conflict. Othello suspects his wife’s relationship with his friend. He for the most part remains in mental conflict, and when he finds her missing handkerchief, he kills her. In Romeo and Juliet, there is an external conflict between two families. This conflict becomes the cause of the tragedy. In Macbeth both types of conflicts are found. The internal conflict of him is between him and his mind to gain power because his spirit of voracity to gain power was revived by three witches. Subsequently, the external conflict of him meets the son of the late king who fights for the restoration of the kingdom.

Simultaneously, King Lear responds to both conflicts. In King Richard II, Shakespeare introduces an external conflict. There is conflict between Richard and Mowbray or his kinsmen, and it leads to calamity or death.

Poetic justice means reward and punishment distributed according to the merit of the characters or agents. If any character is good and noble, its calamity must be avoided. So the suffering must fall on the bad person. Shakespeare does not follow it. It is a contradictory fact, but it follows an impartial or universal rule. It means that the hero dies because of some defect in his character but with him dies some innocent or blameless. In Hamlet, Ophelia is not to blame, she suffers and dies. In this tragedy, there is the death of the hero, the villain, Gertrude and Laerates. Hamlet is a hero and suffers because of his tragic flaw and his sense of waste. Laerates suffers, though through no fault of his. In the fight, he proves to be a good person. In Othello, Desdemona is murdered, even though she is innocent, blameless, and honest. In King Lear, Cordelia dies. From her it can be understood that Shakespeare’s villains have a great destructive power and under her power heroes and innocents die, but it must be appreciated that Shakespeare never leaves them unpunished because the same destruction falls on them.

Shakespeare’s conception of tragedy is very strange and majestic because its heroes are dominated by pain from the beginning, and such suffering is quite effective on their personalities. Despite this, his heroes move and prove to be good and intermediate. Such pains and sufferings elevate them from terror to death or calamity, and in such a condition, all tragic events seem trivial. Hamlet is in great suffering because his mother marries his uncle and the appearance of Ghost reveals the secret of his father’s death. In such suffering, his mind works and stages the drama. He makes tragic mistakes under such sufferings, but these are unknown to them. Circumstance brings him to such a place where death seems noble and favorable to him. The villain tries to save himself by playing some tricks because after his death no one will seriously remember him, but the hero wins such feelings, and these feelings arouse pity and fear.

The contribution of such elements to tragedy really makes Shakespeare a great mastermind and dramatist. He has not left anything that can be introduced by the later or present playwright of him. They mostly follow it. He is a genius of his time, and his work has made his name immortal in the field of literature.