Debate #1

BLONDE #1: "Have you ever read Shakespeare?"

BLONDE #2: "No, who wrote it?"

In modernist literature, the definition of tragedy has become less precise. The most fundamental change has been the rejection of Aristotle's dictum that true tragedy can only depict those with power and high status. Arthur Miller's essay 'Tragedy and the Common Man' exemplifies the modern belief that tragedy may also depict ordinary people in domestic surroundings.

Meaning of Modern Tragedy: ordinary people in tragic situation, Modern Tragedy: dark scenes, dark faces, everyone is destroyed or die, Modern Tragedy: funny at the loss of humanity, laughter without substance. Modern Tragedy: everything is simplified. People are stripped down to what is essential. Modern Tragedy: must fall from the throne. Modern Tragedy: they don't have to look real, real in essence, any action is simple.

For a modern tragedy to occur one must fall from the throne. Person in high position, falls to great depth. All central characters die or are destroyed. They don't have to look real, real in essence, any action is simple. Tragedy has to go beyond Drama. Tragedy has to bring on emotionally more than drama, it has to bring catharsis. This has got to be an enormous impact on the audience. The audience has to feel disemboweled at the end of the play. That is what tragedy has to achieve. And drama only has to move the audience. The difference between a drama and Modern Tragedy: modern tragedy is to fall from great height all central characters die, no way out of dilemma. Has to be done in stylized manner.(this gives it a stylish sense which is more appealing to the generation today) Very stylish Modern Tragedy.

What sense does this make a tragic love story who would be interested in that nowadays people watch romance movies or tragic movies its one or the other not both when you place both together it does not appeal to an audience today. A Shakespearean tragedy is the polar opposite of a comedy; it "...exemplifies the sense that human beings are inevitably doomed through their own failures or errors, or even the ironic action of their virtues, or through the nature of fate, destiny, or the human condition to suffer, fail, and die...." In other words, it is a drama with an unhappy ending. Who would honestly be interest in something were everybody dies?

Shakespeare is written in a different pronunciation of English than what we are used to so it loses the interest of the readers. Rhetorical question, how many people honestly enjoyed reading a book they didn’t understand at first and had to reread a bunch of times to actually understand it. Shakespeare’s drama dwells on the fact that bad things happen to good people which shouldn’t be true. Good people deserve good, what is appealing about a good person being punished for a crime or act he has not committed?

Early criticism was directed primarily at questions of form. Shakespeare was criticized for mixing comedy and tragedy and failing to observe the unities of time. This proves that Shakespeare was even sometimes looked at as a sloppy writer even in his generation.