In Greek tragedy, inevitability plays an important role, painting the protagonists as pawns of fate, whose roles in the tragedy are distributed arbitrarily and without justice. The outcomes of these roles are decided before the play even begins, for example in Sophocles' Antigone, and therefore any actions of the characters during the play are useless, as they cannot influence the outcome. In the worst tragedy of all, the characters must return again and again to play the same roles, while the wheel turns. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Of course, Shakespeare and the other Jacobean playwrights were not subject to the conventions of Greek tragedy, but nevertheless they were aware of it and were influenced by it. Inevitability is also important in Shakespeare's tragedies, both as a dramatic device and as a tool to convey the play's message. A feeling of inevitability keeps audiences spellbound as they watch seemingly hopeful events in the knowledge that there will be an inexorable recession in the near future. This leads the audience to sympathize more with the tragic hero, as if he is involved in circumstances beyond his control, albeit of his own making (I will return to this point later). However, there is an important difference between inevitability and predictability. If the events are predictable, the audience will quickly become bored and the tragic effect will be lost; while events that arouse pathos have a greater effect when they happen unexpectedly, but at the same time as a direct consequence of each other. An example of this is at the end of King Lear, when Lear enters carrying Cordelia "dead in his arms", as the direction says. This event could not have been predicted, especially since in the previous lines there was a sense of hope for the first time in the play, but there is a sense of inevitability, and it is a consequence of Edmund's wickedness. I believe the show would be incomplete and much less powerful if it didn't contain this final blow to hope. If Cordelia were to survive, it would contradict everything the play has said up to this point about the injustice and futility of life; Lear's death alone would not have been enough, for there would have been a sense of fulfillment and justice, as he would have reconciled with Cordelia and would therefore have died a happy man. The tragedy is greatly multiplied by this denial of Lear's death. contentment, and consequently dies confused and wondering what all the pain, destruction and loss was for. One of the greatest tragedies of the play, and there are many, is that Lear dies without finding an answer to his question: "Why should a dog, a horse, a mouse have life, / And you not breathe at all?" Cordelia in no way deserves the fate meted out to her: she is only in England because of her selfless love for her father, but it could be argued that it was she who precipitated the tragedy by refusing to take part in the "meeting of "love" of his father. However, his suffering is completely out of proportion to the magnitude of his crime, which further accentuates the tragedy. There is a sense of hope in other Shakespeare tragedies, for example in Hamlet, when the "young prince" returns from England in Act V, he is not as naive as he has been in the rest of the play; he has overcome some of his tantrum and is starting to take responsibility for the first time. However, at this point the tragedy is too far advanced for him to change the outcome. The death of Ophelia, due to the killing of Polonius, makes the positionirreparable for Hamlet, and only amplifies his hatred for the world, even more so because he knows that it is his fault and his selfishness does not like being reminded of his guilt. It is only after his fate is sealed and he is wounded with the poisoned rapier that Hamlet finally does what he should have done in the beginning and kills his uncle. This tragedy is similar to how Gloucester only gains his insight after his eyes have been gouged out, as it is only when he is dying that Hamlet overcomes his hesitation and performs the act that could have saved the waste of life and the promise that occurred because of it. Thus hope is once again dashed by the inevitability of the course of events. In Macbeth, at the beginning of the play there is hope that Macbeth can overcome his temptation and let the prophecy be fulfilled without him committing wrongdoing, as he says, "If chance will have me king, then chance will crown myself / Without my fuss." (I:iii:141-3). However, Duncan's stupidity and tactlessness in the next scene, when he extolls Macbeth's virtues for a page and a half, saying "More is owed you than any can pay", and then names the insignificant Malcolm as his heir, effectively signing his death warrant Surely at least one step towards rewarding Macbeth "more than pays" would mean making him Prince of Cumberland, rather than Malcolm, who has been with his father several miles from the fighting while Macbeth and the others soldiers risked their lives for him. From this point on the events of the play are inevitable, as Macbeth says of the rendezvous: "This is a step / upon which I must fall, or leap, / for in my way lies up to this." point, it was possible that Duncan could name Macbeth heir, and therefore he would not have to "fuss". It could be argued that the ambition and complete lack of self-control that Macbeth displays later in the play must also be present at this stage, and so not only is Duncan prudent in not naming Macbeth heir, but even if the king had , Macbeth would not have been able to wait until Duncan's death of natural causes to claim what had been prophesied as his. Macbeth's "?Could he crown me / Without my fuss" can be seen as a feeble effort to convince himself that he will be strong enough to resist temptation when placed in the context of his previous actions. Macbeth is said to "gasp" (I:iii:50) at the news that he will become king, and this could mean that he has already dreamed of ruling and that he knows he will have difficulty resisting. This impression of anxiety is reinforced by his desire to know more about the witches, and by his feeble statement that "?being king / is not within the scope of faith - / Any more than being Cawdor", since he already knows at this point that one of the three prophecies have already come true. This attempt to deceive himself and his companion Banquo fails when, upon learning that he is really Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth shows clear ambition: "? Thane of Cawdor! / The greatest is behind - Thank you for your sorrows." It could therefore be argued that even before the start of the play these character traits of Macbeth, dangerous when combined, make the events of the play inevitable. Therefore it is questionable whether the events of the play are directly precipitated by the prophecies of the Weird Sisters, or whether they simply reflect the desires and still hidden mentality of Macbeth at the beginning of the play. If he is a witches' puppet, it could be argued that he generates more sympathy because his actions are out of his control, whereby the tragedy is increased because the suffering he endures is even greater than the level of his crimes. However, if one believes that the source of Macbeth's actions comes from withinof itself, discovered and encouraged only by external influences, then, as in King Lear, if one believes that there are no gods in the play, all actions are perpetrated by humans and men. this provides a bleak impression of the underlying cruelty and selfishness of human nature. This view is supported when one of the witches says of the first apparition, "He knows your thoughts" (IV:i:68), implying that the root of their words is within Macbeth himself.head and thoughts A Macbeth he simply lacks the willpower to act on his impulses without what he says as a promise of his success. To the witches (who might therefore be seen as Satan's temptresses) Macbeth's offering actually means "to despise fate, to despise death, and to carry / His hopes above wisdom, grace, and fear" (III:v :30-31). There is always the hope in Othello that "the Moor" can come to his senses, understand Iago's plots (it would not, frankly, be difficult to do so) and forgive Desdemona. Even at the end, just as Othello is about to suffocate Desdemona, the audience hopes that he can give in to what seems like obvious common sense and believe his wife and not Iago. The plea of ​​the innocent and self-condemned Desdemona arouses our deepest sympathy and makes the tragic atrocity of the deceived Othello even worse, because we cannot believe that it can be carried out. Again, like Gloucester in King Lear, whose deception bears a strong resemblance to Othello's easy and troubling deception, the tragedy is that it is only after an irrevocable act has taken place that the deceived party realizes it what happened. Othello obviously cannot take back his wrong. , and Gloucester cannot help his son after his eyes are gouged out, although he wishes him prosperity, and they both wish to commit suicide; but Gloucester's attempt is thwarted by Edgar. In Othello, once the council decides to let Desdemona accompany Othello to Cyprus, there is a sense of foreboding about the events to come. As shown in Richard II's failure as king, a leader's personal life and role should be kept separate, and a leader's personality and intelligence are not necessarily indicators of how he will perform in his job. Henry V was a great king. , but he had many flaws as a man. So when Othello mixes work and family life there is bound to be trouble. What cannot be predicted in Othello is the ease with which Othello is deceived by Iago, and this stupidity on the hero's part puts a strain on the tragedy, as the audience may be undecided whether to sympathize with Othello, given his stupidity and readiness, even impatience, to believe that his wife has been unfaithful to him. It is absolutely necessary that the audience sympathizes with the fate of the protagonist, otherwise they would not care if he dies and the tragic element would be lost. The audience must see in the main character a reflection, however small, in itself, and a representation of human limitations, we pity a man who does not deserve his misfortunes and fear for someone like us1. Furthermore, the protagonist must be fundamentally virtuous or just, suffering misfortune not because of depravity or vice but because of an error of judgment,2 often because the character is temporarily "blinded" by a character flaw that prevents him from acting as he normally would. It therefore depends on one's personal reaction whether Othello's tragedy works or not and on how much one is willing to forgive Othello for his stupidity. Personally, I think the tragedy still works, but it's nowhere near as overwhelming as the other "great tragedies": King Lear, Hamlet, and Macbeth. This "blindness", which causes the lack of reason, is another common feature of Shakespeare's tragedies3. It's similar in conceptGreek for "Hamartia", the "fatal flaw" that causes the character to contribute to his own downfall. Hamlet is blinded by his hatred of the world around him, and his obsessive nature and deep-rooted selfishness lead him to pontificate unreasonably about the broader connotations of the acts he must perform. He knows his hesitation is unnecessary, and he guiltily tries to make excuses to delay his decision, first pretending he needs more proof, saying "I'll have reasons / More relative than this: the important thing is comedy, / In whom I will cause to capture the King's conscience" (II:ii:605-8). This reasoning is undermined because it ends with adistic, which symbolizes Hamlet's acceptance of the fact that he is making excuses. In the most famous of his soliloquies (III:I:58-92), Hamlet debates whether it is "nobler" to surrender to "outrageous fortune", or to end it all by taking his own life. He declares, "conscience makes cowards of us all" and concludes that if it were not for "the fear of something after death" that "perplexes the will," no one would "endure the whips and scorns of time." He therefore lacks the resolve to take his own life or to carry out his uncle's murder, although "[he has] cause, will, strength and means / To do it" (IV:iv:47-8), and even admits that " thinking exactly about the event, / A thought divided into four is only one part wisdom, / And always three parts cowardly.” (IV:iv:44-5) It is only in dying that Hamlet overcomes his remorse and cowardice, "whether it be / Bestial oblivion, or some vile scruple," and commits the deed. Of course at this point it's too late. King Lear is a more complicated case, as he is blinded by a combination of anger, pride, and vanity. The vain 'love marriage' he arranges to flatter himself publicly is a political mistake of enormous importance, as is the very idea of ​​dividing a kingdom. According to Machiavelli, this is one of the worst things a ruler can do, and this is certainly reinforced by the events narrated in the work. From the moment Lear divides his kingdom, it is inevitable that there will be unrest, the different factions will eventually succumb to greed and there will be war. To make matters worse, Lear has already decided which area of ​​the kingdom will go to which daughter, telling Cordelia, "What can you say to draw / A third more opulent than your sisters?" (I:i:82) This shows that the competition does not even have a practical purpose; it is purely for the benefit of Lear's ego that he asks his daughters to flatter him in public, and it is for this reason that he reacts so badly to Cordelia's response "Nothing." It's a big blow to his ego, and a light jab at him in public, in court. This hurts his pride and causes him to vent his anger on her, but in his anger he fails to understand the true meaning of Cordelia's response, which is that she can't beat her parents' complicated and verbose declarations of love. sisters, since his love is of a different nature. a simple and pure nature. It is in this fit of rage that Lear banishes Cordelia and Kent, the two people who love him most and whom he needs to protect him from his other daughters, in a truly spectacular display of political incompetence that makes his downfall inevitable and the whole- pervasive waste of life that occurs in the final stages of the show. Although Lear is undoubtedly guilty, the suffering he endures is completely disproportionate to the crimes he perpetrates. His subsequent reduction to the level of "non-accommodating man" allows him to shed the pride and vanity that provoked his anger, and thus he is able to make insightful decisions and understand his previous mistakes, even if it is too late to do it. nothing about the state of events in the play, since he has given up all his power. Paradoxically he hadneeds to lose power to gain insight, but needs power to use this insight. In this way the audience gains sympathy for Lear, "a man more against than sinner" (III:ii:58-9), and this makes the tragedy work. Macbeth is blinded by "vaulting ambition": even though he knows that the witches' prophecies will cause trouble and, as Banquo says, "[fears] / Things that seem so right" (I:iii:51-2). Even so, he tells his wife, in an act she must know will lead him to encourage her ambition, hers being as passionate as his. Either Macbeth knows this and doesn't have the judgment or strength to resist telling her, or he doesn't know his wife as well as he thinks he does. He may tell her knowing that she will help him overcome his weakness and force him to act, which he could not have done on his own. Macbeth's ambition makes him impatient while it would be more prudent to wait for his prophecy to be fulfilled, especially since he has "no spur / To prick the sides of my content but only / The vaulting ambition that surpasses itself." King, he could stop there and get away with his crime. However, his ambition wants his sons to become kings too, which means he must prevent Banquo's prophecy from coming true. With his high level of intelligence, Macbeth should realize that if something is preordained, and since these prophecies have proven true, nothing he can do will change the course of events. There is no point in trying to change the inevitable, but his judgment is tainted by ambition and he refuses to accept it. Having first discovered that witches' fortune-telling is a "poisoned chalice," that in fact "bloody instructions, which, taught, return / To afflict the inventor" (I;vii:9-10), Macbeth he should know better than to go back and ask them for more, and even says, "If you loose the winds and let them fight / Against the churches; though the hissing waves / Confound and swallow the navigation? Answer me" (IV:i:51 -9). However, once again his ambition interferes with his reasoning ability, and he gives in to temptation. Macbeth's ambition is similar to Edmund's in King Lear, in that they both go against the natural order. The difference is that Macbeth suffers terribly from guilt at being "[Duncan's] kinsman and his subject, both strong against action (I:vii:13-14), while Edmund states, "It all depends on me that I can adapt," a very Machiavellian response which shows that unlike Macbeth he has no respect for the natural order he is subverting. Macbeth's guilt and subsequent mental turmoil are symbolized by the storm, which Lennox describes by saying, "My young memory cannot match / A companion to it. " (II:iii:58-9). This is similar to the storm in Lear, of which Kent says: "Since I was man, / Such layers of fire? I never remember / hearing of it" (III:ii:58-9). :44-6). Although Macbeth's guilt is the reason he fails, forcing him to betray himself when he sees the ghost's appearance of Banquo, it is also the reason why we sympathize with him and therefore why the tragedy works if, like Edmund, we would not be at all sympathetic, and the pathos would be lost. 9) is fundamental in Macbeth, and in fact Macbeth's first words are, "I never saw a day so bad and fair" (I:iii:36): he understands that things are not always as good or bad as they seem , his victory on the battlefield came at the cost of his life. This awareness sets him apart from the simpler but equally loyal Banquo, who fails to see the danger in the witches' words. This simplicity is in many ways the saving grace of Banquo, for it prevents him from being tempted as he is