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#shakespearean tragedy
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"Why are you reading Shakespeare fanfic"
Maybe i'm just sad ok. Maybe i like the idea of Othello not having to deal with Iago's shit. Maybe i like watching Hamlet be a college student. Maybe i like Romeo dying painfully while Juliet lives happily. Maybe i like the idea of Lady Macbeth fucking me. Let me live.
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I once again think I’m funny & am being ruined by a Shakespeare play (it’s Hamlet this time)
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loremori · 2 months
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Claire Danes in Romeo + Juliet, 1996. Jacob Elordi in Saltburn, 2024.
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g0ldengaze · 1 year
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Can I interest you in our lord and savior Asta Nielsen Hamlet 😇😇 meeeow early 20th century women playing Hamlet stay winning . She has so much lesbian swag
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shadyblacklin · 5 months
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If we were villains is not a Shakespearean tragedy. It's a Greek tragedy because James literally goes to Troy. He IS THE TROY. He IS THE TRAGEDY himself. And Oliver is just a silly man who loves a good tragedy.
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nemaliwrites · 4 months
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Why "Bridge to the Turnabout" is a Shakespearean Tragedy - Part 1
I finally decided to put some of my thoughts into words, so here is part one of the BttT essay! It's getting kind of long, so it'll be split up into ~11 or 12 parts - the full thing will be posted on ao3 when it's done, for convenience.
To start, let’s discuss what exactly makes up a Shakespearean tragedy. While the specifics differ from play to play, it’s acknowledged that there are nine elements that are common to Shakespeare’s tragedies; these are derived from the major components of Tragedy as described in Aristotle’s “Poetics”. 
“A tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself; in appropriate and pleasurable language; in a dramatic rather than narrative form; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish a catharsis of these emotions.” — Aristotle
The nine elements we’ll be discussing in further depth are:
Tragic hero
A struggle between good and evil
Hamartia
Tragic waste
External/Internal conflict
Catharsis
Supernatural elements
Lack of poetic justice
Comic relief
By going through these one at a time, we’ll break down exactly what this element refers to, what it looks like in the context of a play, and common examples from Shakespeare’s tragedies — as well as the equivalent role in “Bridge to the Turnabout”, which will henceforth be referred to as BttT. This will be followed by a closer look at some direct character comparisons between Shakespeare's tragedies and BttT, where we'll examine character parallels, thematic resonances, and narrative structure.
First, we have the role of a tragic hero. While this hero may be either male or female, the most important thing is that they must suffer — either by reason of fate, of their own character flaws, or both. This hero usually holds a high status in society, such as that of royalty; this is to ensure that they are an important person, both in the context of the story and the world. Others look up to them and rely on them, which leads us into the most important element of a tragic hero: they die. The price for their suffering can only be paid with their death, and because they’re so important, their death leads to turmoil. 
A popular example of the tragic hero in Shakespeare’s tragedies is Hamlet. He suffers from the burden placed upon him by his father, who asks Hamlet to avenge him. But by doing so, he is led to his own death at the hands of Laertes, and allows the army of Fortinbras to enter Denmark and take control of the kingdom. 
BttT has a tragic hero as well, in Misty Fey. Misty’s life has plenty of suffering, brought on by combination of both fate and her own character flaws. Fate played a hand in her having more spiritual power than her older sister Morgan, which subsequently led to her taking on the title of Master of Kurain Village. This was what fostered the beginning of Morgan’s hatred for Misty and was the spark that set off their years-long one-sided feud. The beginning of Misty’s fall from grace is marked by the DL-6 incident, where she helped the police department by channeling Gregory Edgeworth’s spirit. Her name and details were leaked to the press by Redd White, which ruined the reputation of the entire Fey clan. 
It’s arguable whether this falls in the fate or character flaw camp, as there were forces at play in the DL-6 incident that Misty wasn’t privy to — particularly, Robert Hammond convincing Yanni Yogi to plead insane which resulted in all charges against him being dropped. However, according to Mia, Misty considered what happened in the DL-6 incident to be her own fault.
“‘I have tarnished the Fey name.’ Leaving only these words, my mother vanished.” - Mia Fey
In terms of the tragic hero, this can be considered Misty’s first “death” — further evidenced by her going into hiding and changing her name. For all intents and purposes, Misty Fey has died, and because of the role that she held, both in the family and the Fey clan, she leaves behind utter turmoil. Mia removes herself from the running as Master and sets off to the city in search of her mother, leaving Maya behind as the sole obstacle between Morgan and her desire for the title of Master. 
And now our tragic hero shifts over to Elise Deauxnim. Now, we shift from her suffering being borne of fate to being primarily due to her own character flaws. Because of her own shame, she refuses to reach out to either one of her daughters for seventeen years — not even after Mia was murdered. When she hears about Morgan’s attempt to have Maya murdered at Hazakura Temple, Elise comes out of hiding with the intention of protecting her daughter. But still, she keeps her identity a secret, to the point that we as the audience don’t even know who she is until after her death. 
Misty’s decisions, and the pain they inflicted on her children — even directly leading to Mia’s death — are not fully redeemed. However, she does pay for the suffering she’s caused both herself and others with her life. And this can be considered Misty’s second and final death. Her death leads to turmoil, and sets off the events of the entire BttT case — solidifying her role as the tragic hero of the case.
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torisaysyeet · 1 year
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sitting in my Intro to Shakespeare class, and someone just pointed out that The Tragedy of Coriolanus sounds a lot like The Hunger Games? And it makes sense??
Coriolanus is of course the name of President Snow in THG, and is the name of the tragedy's titular character. Plutarch is the Head Game Maker in Catching Fire, and is also the name of a man involved in the tragedy.
Tribunes are two representatives of those who are not aristocrats, and the Tributes are involved in the Games, two representatives from each district.
It's actually kind of shocking, because I had no idea this existed! I'd love to reach out to Suzanne Collins and see if this originally inspired the series before it became The Hunger Games as we know it today
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cto10121 · 1 year
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Stop Confusing Shakespearean Tragedy With Greek Tragedy: Or, Tragedy of Circumstance vs. Character
So this mini analysis/rant was brought to you by that Harley Granville-Barker quote (via John Green) about R&J being a tragedy of “youth as youth sees it.” Not only is this reductive but also the quote just…exemplifies the struggle of academics to categorize Shakespeare’s mid-90s tragedies. Not just R&J but Hamlet and even Macbeth as well (with Othello roped in sometimes as a 🤷‍♂️). After all, in these plays there is usually not one Big Tragic Flaw (Macbeth sometimes gets a pass for Ambition) that undoes the tragic protagonist and leads them to their utter ruin. These characters’s flaws are instead just part-and-parcel with their humanity.
So a lot of the time academics just do a little awkward side-step and say “Weeeell, the tragic protagonists in these things are young, even the Macbeths, soooooo Tragedy of Youth(tm) maybe??” but that of course is just academic weak sauce, no true spice at all. The fact that these protagonists are young is necessary to the worldbuilding plausibility, not the tragedy. As we have seen before, an older R&J and Hamlet and even Macbeth have been done before and were in fact the norm until very recently. It’s just much more plausible to their characters and their situation (that of relative powerlessness) if they are indeed young than if they were older.
However, their tragedies are not due to youth or even character frailty so much as circumstance. Unlike King Lear, Othello, and Coriolanus, Macbeth, Hamlet, and R&J’s tragedies are ultimately very situational.
What Is Tragedy?
Tragedy in the Greco-Roman tradition stems from harmatia, a character flaw that leads to the tragic protagonist’s undoing. This is usually the definition academics have when gauging Shakespearean Tragedy, even though Shakespeare had a vastly different take on tragedy.
In Greek tragedy, the Tragic Protagonist’s fate was written in the stars, unmovable and unshakable no matter what the tragic protagonist does (see: Oedipus Rex). The TP cannot escape fate, no matter what he tries.
By contrast, Shakespearean tragedy is never fully inevitable. It can always, at some level, be preventable. However, given the situation or circumstances in which the tragic events occur, as well as the tragic protagonists, the tragedy becomes inevitable from a certain point onwards—the inciting event.
This is true for both forms of Shakespearean tragedy, character and circumstance. That said, Shakespeare’s character tragedy is usually the most unyielding of them all, since it hedges more closely to the Greek model. With King Lear’s machismo and temper, Coriolanus’s military fascism, and Othello’s honor armor, the situation in which their tragedies unfold does not matter much, ultimately. You gain an understanding that this tragedy would have happened much earlier or much later and more or less along these same lines. These characters are too set in their ways to change and would have reacted in very similar ways in similar situations.
Not so for R&J, Hamlet, and Macbeth. Their tragedies are much more dependent on their circumstances and their world (particularly re: patriarchy and hierarchy) than anything else. Without that context, I think it’s clear these people would never have done what they did.
Both R&J, Hamlet, and Macbeth are flawed characters, but their flaws are not inherently tragic ones. Rather, their flaws stem from ordinary human emotions and desires that pretty much everyone has. R&J are young and in love and want to be together; Hamlet is a sensitive intellectual mourning his beloved father, with zero tolerance for BS, including Murderous Uncle BS; Macbeth hopes to move up in the world and secure a better position for him and his wife.
When Character Does Matter: Tragic Protagonists Must GAF
This is not to say character doesn’t matter completely in these Tragedies of Circumstance. On the contrary, they very much do.
Because no matter how much of a clusterfuck the tragic situation or circumstance, there is no tragedy if the tragic protagonist simply…well, DNGAF.
For instance, if Hamlet just decided to 🤷‍♂️, shut his mouth, and keep his head down and accept Claudius as true ruler because, well, what can he do…then most likely there would have been no tragedy for him. He is the prince of Denmark, after all. Claudius and Gertrude are shown to be content at the merest show of compliance. Even if Denmark’s moral and legal corruption would have doomed them, even if Fortinbras were successful in this timeline, it would not have been Hamlet’s tragedy alone.
If R&J had truly been the lusty fiends Internet clowns constantly claim they are, concerned only with getting themselves good and properly laid, then they would not have gone as far as they did with their ~concupiscence. Both their passivity and obedience would have been inertia enough and they would have chosen not to rock the boat. Hell, it must likely wouldn’t have even gotten to that point. Fuckboy!Romeo would have tried to persuade Juliet to give it up without marriage and fuckgirl!Juliet would have let him. At worst they would have eloped and fucked off out of Verona—and hence, no tragedy. And if they were indeed more invested in the feud, then any love relationship would truly have been out of the question.
And if Macbeth had not met the witches, had not truly not had cared for climbing rank, or just DNGAF about his wife acting as the man of the house, then killing Duncan and usurping him would not have proven to be an allure. He would simply continue serving Duncan or the next ruler.
But of course, that isn’t possible. Why? Because then the personalities of these Tragic Protagonists would be completely different—much less sympathetic, to be sure. Who would care about a Danish prince who ignores a truly serious miscarriage of justice? Who would care about the fate of two selfish Italian lovers? Who would respect a Scottish sycophant who bends the knee at whoever is in charge? Not to mention that there just simply wouldn’t be a plot to begin with and the story would be completely changed for the worst.
It just isn’t in Hamlet’s character not to care about his father’s murder. It just isn’t in R&J’s characters to suddenly start caring about the feud and stay away from their love. And it just isn’t in Macbeth’s character not to succumb to the pressures of masculinity, as his culture demands he be.
Tragic protagonists do not have to be sympathetic or likable, although their plight usually is. But Tragedies of Circumstance almost universally call for sympathetic protagonists who would react as most people would in their situation. Nobody would react with indifference at learning their beloved father has been murdered. Nobody would consider giving up a promising relationship for a violent and senseless feud. And if tempted enough, anyone would risk doing something unethical and immoral to get ahead.
Summing Up
Shakespeare obviously had a very different idea of tragedy than the Greeks—precisely because he was responding to the Greek model in the first place while he was adapting the source materials for his plays. And indeed, the very act of adaptation would prompt taking a different approach, however slight.
So if his early tragedies don’t seem as inevitable as they are until after a certain turning point (Tybalt’s death, Polonius’s death, Duncan’s death)…that’s the point. Tragedy is never fully inevitable in Shakespeare because almost nothing about our world and society is. We literally just made it up. Men must be tough and never cry and if someone insults them they must fight them even risking their lives? Made up BS. Women must be quiet and obedient and never have sex outside of marriage or else they’ll be tainted? Made up BS. And all of that BS obscures what human beings really are and what they truly want. And ultimately, that’s what all these tragedies boil down to.
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daffodilferox · 2 months
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I am convinced that the third murderer in Macbeth was not, in fact, sent by Macbeth as he says. Neither of the other murderers know who the guy is, and he is never once seen speaking with Macbeth.
I think he overheard the conversation between the other 2 and Macbeth and ended up joining them for funsies, and I will play him as such. Unless the director says no.
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everdeenxmellark · 9 months
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romeo and juliet (2018)
by sergio cupido
“for never was a story of more woe.
than this of juliet and her romeo.”
- william shakespeare
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that-glitter-chick · 1 year
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That pervy expression on Light’s face, that content smile on L’s...
Take away the text and this could be viewed in a different... light.
Yes I went there and now I hate myself 😅🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🖤💀📓✍️🍎💔
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!
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Props to how done Gwilym! Michael Williams seems @ Tom! Henry V in this scene like…
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“Like any other man my ass”
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“Lord give me the strength not to smack a bitch”
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“I’m about to end this man’s entire career.”
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almostdazed · 2 years
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“what were we, then? in tens years i have not found an adequate word to describe us.”
james & oliver playlist – if we were villains
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blueheartbookclub · 30 days
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Star-Crossed Love: A Review of "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare
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William Shakespeare's "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet" stands as one of the most enduring and beloved works of literature, captivating audiences for centuries with its timeless tale of love, passion, and tragedy. Set in the bustling city of Verona, the play follows the ill-fated romance between Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, two young lovers from feuding families. From the moment they meet at a masquerade ball, Romeo and Juliet are drawn to each other with an intensity that transcends their family's bitter rivalry. Shakespeare masterfully weaves a narrative filled with forbidden love, secret meetings, and desperate attempts to defy fate. As their love blossoms, Romeo and Juliet find themselves ensnared in a web of deceit, betrayal, and violence that ultimately leads to their tragic demise.
At the heart of "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet" is Shakespeare's exploration of the power of love and the destructive force of hatred. Through the doomed romance of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare delves into themes of passion, loyalty, and the consequences of unchecked emotion. The play's iconic balcony scene, where Romeo professes his love to Juliet under the cover of night, has become one of the most famous and enduring moments in literature, capturing the essence of youthful ardor and romantic longing. Yet, as the story unfolds, Shakespeare also reveals the darker side of love, as jealousy, anger, and vengeance threaten to tear apart the fragile bond between the star-crossed lovers.
In addition to its exploration of love and fate, "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet" also offers a rich tapestry of characters, each contributing to the unfolding drama in their own unique way. From the hot-headed Tybalt to the well-meaning Friar Laurence, Shakespeare populates the play with a diverse cast of characters whose actions shape the tragic outcome of the story. Juliet's nurse provides comic relief with her bawdy humor and earthy wisdom, while Romeo's loyal friend Mercutio adds a touch of wit and bravado to the proceedings. Through these characters, Shakespeare offers a multifaceted portrait of human nature, revealing the complexities of love, honor, and duty in a world torn apart by conflict.
Ultimately, "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet" remains as relevant and poignant today as it was when it was first performed over four centuries ago. Shakespeare's timeless exploration of love, passion, and fate continues to resonate with audiences of all ages, reminding us of the enduring power of the human spirit in the face of adversity. As Romeo and Juliet's tragic tale unfolds on the stage, we are reminded of the fragility of life, the fleeting nature of love, and the eternal struggle to find meaning and purpose in a world filled with chaos and uncertainty.
William Shakespeare's "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet", is available in Amazon in paperback 13.99$ and hardcover20.99$ editions.
Number of pages: 229
Language: English
Rating: 10/10                                           
Link of the book!
Review By: King's Cat
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philearning · 3 months
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PHI Learning Shakespeare Series - Buy at 40% Discount https://www.phindia.com/Books/SpecialOffer
PHI Learning's Shakespeare Series comprises all select works of Shakespeare, which are integral to our universities' curriculum and are developed by acclaimed academia specializing in Shakespeare literature. The editors of the books have made an attempt to decode the language by providing descriptive explanatory notes. Each play is written and organised in such a manner that the students of English Literature can understand with ease and comfort.
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Rip Hamlet, you would’ve loved hot topic.
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