An Evolution of Tragedy

An “imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and has sufficient size, in a language that is made sweet…exciting pity and fear, bringing about a catharsis of such emotions,” is now Aristotle defined tragedy (trans. Gudeman). Basic Greek tragedies, like Sophocles’ Antigone, have transformed through the centuries. Shakespeare’s King Lear displays a blatant evolution of character, theme, and plot structure. This, in turn, caused a revolution in the genre, providing a new …

…more emotionally complex through time, whether it is through our desperate dependencies on material things or the dire need for social acceptance. As we change as a society, we begin to look more and more towards things that are entertaining to break up the monotony of everyday life, but still have that element of complexity and intelligence. So from Antigone to King Lear, there has been a definite positive evolution in the genre of tragedy.