This Ted Talk is very interesting in learning how to define tragedy because it makes us wonder if we are predestined to experience the tragedies we
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I really enjoyed reading this article, and I found many quotes that spoke to me throughout it. The quote that spoke to me the most was "Tragedy is not an expression of despair, but the means by which they saved themselves from it." This quote sums up the optimistic qualities of tragedy works, quite nicely. Tragedy isn't just about a series of tragic events. it is also about the human spirit, and the strength of overcoming such difficult situations. In a way, tragedy is what connects us as humans, because none of us are immune to it.
The quote "A tragic writer does not have to believe in God, but he must believe in man", is a very interesting one to me, Due to the fact that the original tragedy pieces are so full with the Gods and the people's lives are so completely ran by them, it sure seems like the authors believe in God's power over humans, especially in Oedipus. This piece of literature was interesting to read because it is an absolute tragedy. Man marries his mother, kills his father, and then gouges his eyes out. Can you get any more tragic? Well, yes, you can. What makes it even more tragic is the lengths he went to to make sure the prophecy didn't 'come true. That's the saddest part of these sort of stories -- nobody seems to really have a say on what happens on their life. However, one could argue that not having a say in your future or the events that happen to you could be somewhat freeing. If you don't have any say in what happens to you, and your life is ruined, then you can just say "Whoops, not my problem. Those pesky Gods! Always messin' up everything, am I right?" I'm sure Oedipus was not thinking that, however. I'm sure he would have longed for the opportunity to make his own mistakes and not have a prophecy looming over his head.
To me, the greatest tragedy in Oedipus is the fact that his life was already planned out for him. There was nothing he could do to make it go his way, and have the prophecy not come true. A life planned out may sound appealing, but life without spontaneity isn't all that exciting. Not to mention that the things on the prophecy's to do list were: kill father, marry mother. This piece of reading was interesting because it made tragedy something that connects us as a human race. Tragedy not only effects the highest of the nobles, but also the lowliest of peasants. Even in our modern society, I think this is very true. There is not a single person among us who is protected against tragedy. You cannot buy tragedy insurance, although I'm sure Oedipus would have, if it was a possibility for him. Would've saved him a whole lot of trouble.
One quote that was in this piece that I found to be thought-provoking was "Tragedy, then, is the consequence of a man's total compulsion to evaluate himself justly." That made me wonder, if it is not our job to evaluate ourselves, whose is it? Is it God's job? It made me think back to the last Ted Talk, where he talks about the fact that we no longer worship the Gods, we worship other humans. As a result, we do not think of ourselves being judged by a higher sense of power, but rather, we allow ourselves to be judged by fellow humans. This Ted Talk was very interesting to watch, and to think about. In our modern, meritocratic era, we are so quick to compare ourselves to our peers. The idea that anyone can be successful if they try hard enough is so ingrained into us that we feel like a failure if we are not in a profession that society deems "successful" or "respectful". As a result, many people feel inadequate and as if it is their own fault. When in reality, it very well could just be random factors that are keeping them from "success". The desire to be successful leads us to ponder the idea of "What is success?" For many, it differs person to person, but overall, we are told by society what things we should strive towards.
This Ted Talk brought up something I found very interesting, and it related back to our theme, which is tragedy. In this Ted Talk, it said that back in the olden days, if someone had fallen upon hard times they would be called an "unfortunate" and it would be tragic. Whereas nowadays if someone is not deemed as successful, they will be referred to as a "loser". Much of this is due to the fact that we worship humans with seemingly realistic goals, as opposed to Gods with humanly impossible accomplishments. When one thinks of tragedy, they often think of war-torn countries, school shootings, or even natural disasters. In literature however, tragedy is something completely different. Originating in Ancient Greece's theaters about 2,500 years ago, the tragedy genre has fascinated mankind for ages. In a nutshell, tragedy is a type of drama that is rooted in human suffering and gives the audience a sense of pleasure and satisfaction. The Wikipedia page says that the audience gets a sense of "catharsis". I had never heard of that word before, and so I decided to look it up. After reading the definition, I began to think about tragedy a little differently. People don't just watch tragedies because they are masochistic and enjoy being sad, tragedies can often be somewhat comforting. In most cases, there is something familiar and almost uplifting about learning the mistakes of others. We can sympathize with the situations the characters find themselves in, and we can learn valuable lessons.
As a reader, it is important to be able to dig deeper whilst reading, especially when one reads a tragedy piece. You cannot look at it and think "This is a tragedy piece because it is sad", because that is not the way one should be interpreting tragedy. A literature piece is not marked a tragedy merely because something sad happens, it is marked a tragedy because it gives readers that sense of empathy and understanding for other humans, and mankind in general. It is a perfect way to connect us as a species, because none of us are safe from tragedy in our day to day lives. |
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