Tragedy: A Short Introduction

Though classical tragedy may seem foreign to the contemporary reader, today s most popular television shows and films thrive on the type of violence, passion, madness, and catastrophe first introduced to the stage in fifth–century Athens. Far from being outdated, the themes of conflict in the writings of Sophocles, Shakespeare, and Racine remain as relevant as ever.

Tragedy: A Short Introduction reinvigorates the genre for readers who are eager to embrace it, but who often find the traditional masterpieces too distant from their own language and world. Each chapter focuses on selected case studies that exemplify the compelling qualities of tragedy. The book reviews the history of tragic performance and the qualities of the classic tragic hero, clarifies the role of plot in defining tragedy, and analyzes the difference between a tragedy, a catastrophe, and a mere unhappy ending. Tragedy: A Short Introduction connects classic tragic dramas to the social, political, and cultural worlds that produced them and that they were designed to challenge.

List of Illustrations.

Acknowledgments.

Preface.

Chapter 1. Tragic Theaters.

Chapter 2. Tragic Form and Language.

Chapter 3. Tragic Plots.

Chapter 4. Tragic Heroes.

Chapter 5. Tragic History and Tragic Future.

Plays Cited.

Bibliography.

Index

Rebecca Bushnell is Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences and Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania. She edited A Companion to Tragedy and authored Green Desire: Imagining Early Modern English Gardens, A Culture of Teaching: Early Modern Humanism in Theory and Practice, Tragedies of Tyrants: Political Thought and Theater in the English Renaissance, and Prophesying Tragedy: Sign and Voice in Sophocles Theban Plays.

"Rebecca Bushnell′s Tragedy: A Short Introduction is a brisk guide for the student reader. Bushnell′s approach is not only comparative, but even eclectic, as may befit the often rather unwieldy subject of tragedy . . . the reader will find helpful directions to further reading, but as a concise study, the real strength of this book lies in its close, attentive engagement with canonical texts." (Oxford Journal, 1 March 2011)