By: William Shakespeare

Tragedy Basics

• Tragedy: A drama in which the main character is defeated or suffers extreme sorrow

• Other Shakespeare Tragedies:– Romeo and Juliet (Freshman Year)– Macbeth (Senior Year)– Hamlet

• Tragic Hero (main character): has the potential for greatness but is doomed to fail. (more on the next slide)

Tragic HeroTRAGIC HEROES ARE• Born noble• Responsible for their own fate• Tragic flaw• Doomed to make serious error in judgment

EVENTUALLY, TRAGIC HEROES• Fall from being highly respected • Realize they made an irreversible error • Accepts death with honor• Meet a tragic death

FOR ALL TRAGIC HEROES• Audience is affected by pity

Words to Know!

• Soliloquy: long speech given by a character while alone on stage to reveal private thoughts/intentions

• Aside: character’s quiet remark to the audience or another character that no one else is supposed to hear on stage

• Dramatic Irony: audience knows something character(s) don’t

Language• Thee, Thou, Thine, Thy, Thyself  = you,

yours, yourself– “Thy youngest daughter does not love thee least”

(King Lear).

• Wherefore = why– “I have of late--but wherefore I know not--lost all my

mirth” (Hamlet).

• Pray thee, Beseech thee / Prithee = beg you– "I prithee, take thy fingers from my throat” (Hamlet).

• Marry = introduction of a sentence, or as an interjection– Marry, what do you think?

http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/xArchaisms.html

IntroductionBrave,

experienced hero

persona

+

Admiration of a young, high society

girl

= = =

You must read to find out what major problems are in store for these two lovers!

setting• Venice, Italy and Cyprus

• One event in the play is a war between the Venetians (Venice, Italy) and the Turks (Turkey) over Cyprus (an island in the Mediterranean Sea).– It is used to help the plot of the story move

along and is not a huge focus.

“Reputation is an idle and most

false imposition; oft got without

merit and lost without deserving.”

Iago, 2.3

This is a quote from Othello. You need to analyze the quote in one paragraph by answering the following:

• What do you think the quote means?

• Apply it to a situation (real or made up) and explain how your meaning fits the situation.