The Tragic Women Of Tragedy - 985 Words

The Tragic Women of Tragedy Euripides and Sophocles wrote powerful tragedies that remain influential to this day. The vast majority of work recovered from this time is by male authorship. What remains about women of this time is written through the lens of male authors’ perspective and beliefs about the role of women in Greek culture. The works of these two playwrights frequently characterize women as unstable and dangerous. Agave, Antigone, and Medea are all undoubtedly the driving force behind the tragic action in these plays. It is their choices that lead to the pain and death of the people around them. Through an examination of the evidence from three separate works, Antigone, The Bacchae, and The Medea, the role of women in ancient Greek tragedy becomes clear. The actions of Agave, Antigone, and Medea repeatedly prove their characters instability and danger. Agave in Euripides tragedy, The Bacchae, is a violent example of how women were portrayed. Agave, the mother of Pen theus, joins the cult of Dionysus. Pentheus dresses as a woman to spy on the Maenads because of a burning curiosity as to the possible sexual nature of their gatherings. His plan is foiled when he is spotted hiding in a tree. The messenger depicts the demise of Pentheus at the hands of Agave, â€Å"But she was foaming at the mouth, and her crazy eyes rolling with frenzy. She was mad, stark mad, possessed by Bacchus. Ignoring his cries pity, she seized his left arm at the wrist; then, planting her foot uponShow MoreRelatedThe Tragedy Of Medea By Sophocles1611 Words   |  7 Pagesnecessary for a top-notch tragedy. While these norms may seem to be easily understood through the reading of Aristotle’s fine-tuned poetics, there is a different understanding that needs to be interpreted to truly grasp the significance and qualifications that makeup a good tragedy. Of the many tragedies that Euripides provides us with, I chose the tragedy of Medea to further analyze, and present a strong argument for why I think Aristotle would find Medea a top-notch tragedy. According to AristotleRead MoreOthello presents women as the victims of men1276 Words   |  6 Pagesin â€Å"Othello† Shakespeare presents women as the tragic victims of men? Throughout ‘Othello’, Shakespeare uses the manipulation of the protagonist, by the antagonist, Iago, to present a play controlled by men. In such a male dominated society, Shakespeare presents the women in the play as tragic victims at the hands of their husbands, in particular Desdemona and Emilia. Throughout this essay I will relate to the Aristotelian and Senecan descriptions of tragedy to come to a conclusion of how in ‘Othello’Read More Women as Instigators of Tragedy in the Works of William Shakespeare1219 Words   |  5 PagesWomen as Instigators of Tragedy in the Works of Shakespeare    It is the very error of the moon; She comes more nearer earth than she was wont, And makes men mad. (Othello 5.2.112-14)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The moon is often seen in literature as an allegory for love, virtue, and chastity. In Shakespeares comedies, especially, the moon is personified as Diana, the Roman goddess of chastity. In these comedies, the foolish antics of lovers (literally, lunatics) usually occur underRead MoreComparing Aristotle s Tragedy And Antigone 921 Words   |  4 Pageswere major characteristics of a tragedy and tragic hero. In Sophocles’ tragedy Antigone, Antigone’s two brothers Eteocles and and Polynices have been killed in battle. Creon has ruled that Polynices not be given a proper burial because he thinks he is a traitor. Antigone disobeys his wishes and buries him, so Creon orders that she be put to death, even though she is engaged to his son, Haemon. In this play, both Antigone and Creon could be a considered a tragic hero, but Creon possesses more ofRead MoreA Dolls House As A Tragic Hero Analysis967 Words   |  4 PagesA tra gic hero is defined as a person â€Å"who has achieved, or who has the ability to achieve greatness but who through a weakness, or tragic flaw in his character, falls into the depths of misery and often to his death† (Ingham 1). Within Oedipus Rex, Sophocles laid the foundation for what is now considered the ideal tragic hero. Within A Doll’s House, Ibsen creates a modern hero in Nora Helmer; a woman who was oppressed for going against social rules for saving her husband. Nora follows the AristotelianRead MoreOedipus And The Wife Of Bath Comparison861 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å" Life is a Tragedy for those who feel, and a Comedy for those who think† said Jean De La Bruyere. Like in Oedipus, Oedipus feels all the pain when he learned the truth. In The Wife of Bath, the knight think through his decision making when the aged women ask him to pick a question. A tragedy is about human potentiality, while comedy is about the struggle between the youth and the old. Al though comedy and tragedy both have character’s flaw, comedy and tragedy are completely contradictory. One startsRead MoreThe Tragic Hero Of Shakespeare s Othello1613 Words   |  7 Pages A tragedy is one of the most captivating forms of drama as it truly grasps the attention of its audience. It unleashes hidden emotions and allows the viewers to escape their own realities. In Aristotle’s, Poetics, he analyzes the theory of a tragedy and explains that the essential criteria of an ideal tragedy consists of the plot, character, thought, diction, spectacle, and song (Aristotle, 169). According to Aristotle, tragedies also often focus on a tragic hero who possesses a flaw which ultimatelyRead MoreThe Tragedy Of Macbeth By William Shakespeare1205 Words   |  5 PagesThe first tragic story created in ancient Greece. Tragedies were written as a form of catharsis or purgation of emotions. In these types of plays, the audience finds characters in which they can relate to wh ich is a tragic hero. The tragic hero creates his own failures based upon their own actions and produces a detrimental fate for himself. The process of the protagonist’s fall is based upon the tragic structure. The structure of a tragedy consists of the exposition, exciting force, hamartia, theRead More Is the story Daughters of the late Colonel more comic than tragic928 Words   |  4 PagesIs the story Daughters of the late Colonel more comic than tragic for the reader overall? Be sure to comment on Mansfield’s use of language. The story â€Å"Daughters of the late Colonel†, written by Katherine Mansfield takes place during Victorian times, based around two sister’s whose father had recently died. Mansfield describes the struggles of these two women as they try to express their femininity and overcome the barriers of etiquette and the presence of their father, whom they fearedRead MoreHenrik Ibsen s A Doll s House899 Words   |  4 Pagessociety has confined women to in that era. Some readers would consider Hedda Gabler to be a modern tragedy about a woman who fights against social constructs but meets a tragic end in her death However, other readers have interpreted Hedda as a vindictive and manipulative person with a bleak and cruel outlook of life. As a result of Hedda’s actions, such readers argue that she does not possess the qualities to be defined as a tragic figure. So what qualities make a character tragic and how does one go