My First Thoughts About Tragedy

My first thoughts about tragedy are that it is a broad subject and can be found in many forms. I feel that tragedy can be broken down into three categories; Media, Emotions and Misfortune.

MEDIA
In media, tragedy features in areas such as Greek Theatre and in famous playwrights work such as Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet or King Lear. Tragedy was first invented in Greek Theatre, using masks to portray emotions and tragedy was quite prominent throughout Shakespeare's work; he wrote 10 in total, quite a few of which are (very!) famous. Also, books and films can be based around/have the theme of tragedy, however it can be difficult to put such an powerful and sensitive subject into words/ film.

EMOTION
Tragedy, whether it is staged (theatre, filmography etc.) or real-life can cause us to feel a wide range of melancholic emotions and we can not only feel but show these emotions through actions such as crying. There are far to many to name but some examples of emotions that tragedy could evoke are despair, depression, pain, fear, hopelessness and anguish. Additionally, if we watch someone suffer due to tragedy, it can make us feel empathetic towards the subjects of the tragedy and lucky that such things are not happening to us.


Tragedy can also allow us to feel emotions such as universal understanding. This means that we can relate to what others are feeling and feel sympathetic towards them.

MISFORTUNE
I classify misfortune as real life events that can be called tragic. I feel that natural disasters, such as hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes etc. , happenings such as 9/11 or the attack on pearl harbour, personal disasters such as death of someone close or illness (of someone close or yourself) and world wide issues such as war, poverty, crime (eg. murder, theft etc.), discrimination etc. can all be classified as misfortune. Misfortune means unfortunate occurrences and I feel all the examples I have given above fall into that category.

In conclusion, I feel that tragedy is quite prominent in the world today and can often be found around us. Almost all people experience tragedy some time throughout their lives, whether it be something personal or through some style of media, and this experience comes with emotions attached.