Renaissance drama: the tragedy. The tragic hero. Shakespeare: Macbeth.

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-Aristotle argued that ‘tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious, has magnitude,
and is complete in itself; in a dramatic (text), not in narrative form, with incidents
arousing pity and fear, with which to accompany its catharsis (purging) of such emotions’
(from The Poetics, Chapter Six).

-Aristotle: a tragedy has six parts: plot, character, diction, thought, spectacle and melody.

-The hero must have some defect (hamartia= fatal flaw), moral or intellectual, which
gives rise to a disastrous action; he makes a ‘tragic mistake’ (eg. King Lear).

-The medieval concept of tragedy is different from that of the Greeks. Tragedy meant a
narrative rather than a play.

-In Medieval drama mankind becomes the central tragic hero who has to face affliction
and finally death. Here he is shown as being responsible for his actions; he remains not the
passive sufferer but fights back against those afflicting him. He defends himself and is
defended, but his adversaries, and the last enemy, Death itself, finally push him into the
grave.

-By the Elizabethan age the concept of ‘the tragic hero’ was being revised. Due to:
Humanism, growth of philosophy, Italian Renaissance, the Reformation, geographical
discoveries, and the development of science (medicine, astronomy).

-For Shakespeare, the tragic hero was a man of status, often a prince, a general, a king, an
empress, or of similar high birth. They have a tragic flaw; theirs is the essence of tragedy.

-The tragic hero distances himself from the rest of the characters, which results in the
feeling of isolation (see Macbeth).

-If the tragic hero is a villain, then he is motivated by one of the four passions: ambition,
lust, jealousy, or greed.

-Macbeth (1606): historical background with varied sources. One of the main sources of
the play: Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (2nd edition publ.
1587).

-Witches: subject interested and fascinated James I, which led him to write a treatise on
witchcraft, Demonology (1597, publ. In 1603). Shakespeare and his contemporaries
accepted the reality and existence of witches.

-Macbeth surrenders his integrity willingly in order to have power. His ‘vaulting
ambition’ rules his actions.