Tragedy and Tragic Theory: An Analytical Guide

by Richard Hudson Palmer

Overview

Comprehending tragedy has been a major philosophical and critical preoccupation in Western thought. Whether concerned with the generic problem of definition or with tragedy in the context of specific writers or periods, books with multiple and often conflicting perspectives abound. In an effort to bring order to the explanations over two millennia, Tragedy and Tragic Theory lucidly analyzes the principal ideas about tragedy from Plato to the present.

Critically surveying the similarities and differences among major theories, Palmer analyzes features associated with tragedy, such as the tragic hero, katharsis, and self-recognition; develops a working definition of tragedy; and applies these ideas to a sampling of plays that present special interpretive problems. He incorporates and explores the ideas of such eminent thinkers as Aristotle, Hegel, Nietzche, Schopenhauer, Schiller, Kierkegaard, and Freud, as well as contemporary theorists, who also appear with biographical blurbs in an appendix to the volume along with an extensive bibliography. By examining both tragedy and the theoretical responses to tragedy, this study demonstrates that the definition of tragedy depends on the meaning perceived by an audience rather than on a structured stimulus independent of response; yet, it does not abandon the possibility of isolating fixed defining characteristics. The audience response approach provides a framework for analyzing earlier theories. Systematically developed, the study is equally valuable as a text in drama and criticism or as a convenient reference tool to drama theory and theorists.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313282034
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	06/30/1992
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	252
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)
Lexile:	1500L (what's this?)

About the Author

RICHARD H. PALMER is Professor of Theatre at The College of William and Mary. His specialities range from theatre aesthetics and dramatic theory to stage direction, lighting, and theatre management. The author of The Lighting Art (1985) and The Critics' Canon (Greenwood Press, 1988), he has published articles in jourbanals such as Dramatics, The Theatre Jourbanal, Educational Theatre Jourbanal, and Southern Quarterly and contributed to American Theatre Companies, 1888-1930 (Greenwood, 1987).

Table of Contents

Preface
Chapter Outlines and Study Guide
Introduction: The Problem of Understanding Tragedy
Approaches to Tragedy
The Audience Response
The Dualistic Chasm
The Flowering of the Human Spirit
Towards a Definition of Tragedy
The Circle of Inquiry
The Scope of Tragedy
The Application of Theory
A Sampling of Tragedy
Conclusion
Appendix: Biographies of Theorists
Selected Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

A study in three parts: the first providing a compendium of 2400 years of tragic theory; the second working toward a definition of tragedy; and the third demonstrating application of theory in five plays--The Orestria, The Bacchae, Romeo and Juliet, Mother Courage and Her Children, and The Birthday Party. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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