Tragic Structure In Macbeth, Exams of English Literature

Download Tragic Structure In Macbeth and more Exams English Literature in PDF only on Docsity! Tragic Structure In Macbeth Shakespearean tragedies represent conflicts which end in catastrophe. Adapted from: A.C. Bradley. Shakespearean Tragedy. A Lecture online @ http://global.cscc.edu/engl/264/TragedyLex.htm Tragic Structure EXPOSITION DEVELOPMENT: RISING ACTION DEVELOPMENT: FALLING ACTION RESOLUTION DEVELOPMENT: FALLING ACTION From act 2 onwards: tragic hero is powerful, advancing, then scattering the opposition until, late in the 4th act, when a reversal of the situation starts taking place. Opposing forces begin to openly resist and to make plans for the removal of the tragic hero, and the hero's power is obviously declining as the opposition's power advances. TRAGIC RESOLUTION In the final acts: opposition reaches full strength and defeats/destroys the isolated, weakened hero. Tragic Recognition: in the final scenes become aware again of the hero’s greatness. Macbeth is dead: we can see the justice, but the feeling of satisfaction at the death of a tyrant or killer is conspicuously lacking. THE TRAGIC HERO, IN GENERAL Usually, there is only one tragic hero. The so-called "Love Tragedies“ are exceptions to the rule (such as in Romeo & Juliet). Shakespeare's tragedies are usually stories of one person, the "hero,“ or at most two, to include the "heroine.” Macbeth has a single star, so the tragic story is concerned primarily with one person. Peasants do not inspire pity and fear as great men do A Shakespearean tragedy is a story of Exceptional Calamity leading to the death of a man of high estate! The pangs of despised love and the anguish of remorse are the same in a peasant and a prince The hero’s fate affects the welfare of a whole nation or empire; when he falls suddenly from that height, his fall produces a sense of contrast, the powerlessness of man, the omnipotence of Fate/Fortune, which no tale of private life could possibly rival. We can extend the definition of Shakespearean tragedy to "a story of exceptional calamity, leading to the death of a man of high estate." ONLY GREAT MEN QUALIFY AS TRAGIC HEROES TRAGEDY, HUMAN FLAWS, AND RESPONSIBILITY The calamities of tragedy proceed mainly from the actions of men. Shakespeare's tragic heroes are responsible for the catastrophe of their own falls. The Effect: we regard the suffering and catastrophe as something which happens to and is caused by the hero. Human beings placed in situations - from their relationships, certain actions arise. Actions cause other actions – Interconnected deeds leads to complications and inevitable catastrophe. The Center of the tragedy: action issuing from character, of flawed perceptions, and of human frailty for which the hero is ultimately responsible. The hero recognizes responsibility for the catastrophe which befalls him too late to prevent his death. TRAGIC CONFLICT: EXTERNAL Only two people – the hero is one Passions, tendencies, ideas, principles, and forces animate them Or two Parties or Groups, one of which the hero leads The Abnormal Conditions of mind are never introduced as the origin of any deeds or any dramatic moment. Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking has no influence whatsoever on the events that follow it. Macbeth did not murder Duncan because he saw a dagger in the air; he saw a dagger in the air because he was about to murder Duncan. Supernatural Elements contributes to the action, but is always placed in the closest relation with character gives confirmation and distinct form to inward movements already present and influential the half- formed thought or the horrified memory of guilt in Macbeth. cannot be explained away as an illusion in the mind of one of the characters Watch for “accidents” in character traits or behavior flaws which are not really accidents large use of accident would weaken the sense of the causal connection of character, deed, catastrophe Man may start a course of events but can neither calculate nor control it; a tragic fact. Shakespeare uses accidents to make us feel this. Operation of Chance Or Accident, Fortune, & Fate: a prominent fact of life. • In Macbeth, we have the hero, Macbeth, and the heroine, Lady Macbeth, opposed to the representatives of Duncan, Malcolm, and Macduff. • In this case, the great majority of the Dramatis Personae falls without difficulty into two antagonistic groups, and the conflict between these groups ends with the defeat of the hero. • External conflict will be there, but there is more to it than that. • The type of tragedy in which an undivided soul is opposed to a hostile force is not the Shakespearean type. • But, we must also be aware of the internal conflicts the hero tries to deal with, while hostile forces begin to surround him, and eventually overwhelm him. • Whatever forces act in the human spirit, whether good or evil, whether personal passion or impersonal principle; doubts, desires, scruples, ideas--whatever can animate, shake, possess, and drive a man's soul--these are the "spiritual forces" generating the internal turmoil for the hero. • Treasonous ambition collides in Macbeth with loyalty, the laws of hospitality, patriotism in Macduff and Malcolm; this is the outer conflict. THEY ARE EXCEPTIONAL BEINGS Being of high estate is not everything His nature is also exceptional and raises him above the average level of humanity Tragic heroes are made of the stuff found in ourselves and within the persons who surround him • But, by an intensification of the life which they share with others, they are raised above them; and the greatest are raised so far that, if we fully realize all that is implied in their words and actions, we become conscious that in real life we have scarcely known anyone resembling them. • They have a fatal gift that carries with it a touch of greatness (fierce determination, fixed ideas); and when nobility of mind, or genius, or immense force are joined to it, we realize the full power and reach of the soul, and the conflict in which it engages acquires that magnitude which stirs not only sympathy and pity, but admiration, terror, and awe. THEY WILL HAVE A TRAGIC FLAW that often takes the form of obsession this tragic trait, which is also his greatness, is fatal to him To meet these circumstances, something is required which a smaller man might have given, but which the hero cannot give • Shakespeare gives Richard a power and audacity which excite astonishment and a courage which extorts admiration. • He gives to Macbeth a similar, though less extra- ordinary greatness, and adds to it a conscience so terrifying in its warnings and so maddening in its reproaches that the spectacle of inward torment compels a horrified sympathy and awe which balance at the least, the desire for the hero's ruin. • Shakespeare's tragic heroes need not be "good," though they generally are good– • Shakespeare's tragic heroes project that man is not small or contemptible, no matter how rotten he can be— • Shakespeare's tragic heroes illustrate the center of the tragic impression: the sense of waste– • Shakespeare's tragic heroes live for what seems to be a type of the mystery of the whole world. THEY NEED NOT BE "GOOD" has so much greatness that in his error and fall that we see the possibilities of human nature. Shakespearean Tragedy is never depressing No one ever closes the book with the feeling that man is a poor, mean creature His lot may be heart-rending and mysterious, but it is not contemptible He may be wretched and awful, but he is not small MYSTERY OF THE WHOLE WORLD IN TRAGEDY? because the greatness of soul, which Tragedy shows as oppressed, conflicting, and destroyed is the highest existence in our minds Tragedy forces the mystery upon us, and it makes us realize the worth of what is wasted, and that such waste of potential greatness, nobility of soul is truly the tragedy of human existence Out of all of this, a tragic pattern emerges. THE TRAGIC PATTERN A Man of High Estate A Flaw in Character Intrusion of Time and a Sense of Urgency Misreadings And Rationalizations Murder, Exile, Alienation of Enemies and Allies Gradual Isolation of the Tragic Hero Mobilization of the Opposition Tragic Recognition of the Flaw by the Tragic Hero: too late Last, Courageous Attempt to Restore Lost Honor/Greatness Audience Recognizes Potential for Greatness Death of the Tragic Hero Restoration of Order In summary • First of all, in Shakespearean tragedy, we will be dealing with a man of high estate: a king, a prince, a general, etc. • Normally, we will hear about him from others before he makes an entrance in the play. • Often, this is where we are given the first impression of the greatness of the tragic hero through the eyes of others. • Things happen a split second too late: the hero operates on what he believes to be the case rather than what he actually knows to be the case. • Soon they are one and the same thing to him. • As the flaw and the misreadings continue, new conflicts and complications arise which bring about the death or gradual alienation of all forms of support for the hero • By the end, the hero must face the opposing forces and the responsibility for his actions alone. • What we see during this process of alienation and isolation is suffering, sleeplessness, rage, confusion, hallucination, and violence as the internal conflicts intensify to an almost unbearable pitch. • At some point in the play, the opposing forces will begin to mobilize against the hero to bring the tragedy to its conclusion. • Often the hero is confronted by an enemy in the fifth act who has good reason to seek his death (Macduff in Macbeth). • At about this point in the play, the hero will realize the error (often a misreading of people/events) that is bringing about his fall. • Knowing that he alone is to blame, he alone has erred, and accepting it is absolutely necessary in Shakespearean tragedy, and is called Tragic Recognition.