Tragedy as Part of Life

Tragedy as Part of Life

  • Submitted By: bobbob
  • Date Submitted: 08/10/2008 1:34 PM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 1024
  • Page: 5
  • Views: 1

A view from the bridge

A tragedy is a part of life that has long been identified. The Ancient Greeks showed tragedy in a dramatic form and it is still used now in literature. Shakespeare used this dramatic form in lots of his plays and we can see that Arthur Miller has used it in “A view from the bridge.” He uses an ordinary man and he has a fatal flaw. This is different from most tragedies because the protagonist is normally a person of status. It is about a person with potential. Some characteristics of a tragedy are that there will be a fatal flaw, the protagonist will cause his/her own death and there is a chorus.
In this case the chorus in “A view from the bridge” is when Alfieri is the narrator. The job of a chorus is to keep the audience informed of events and there effects. The chorus will take to the audience about the protagonist and their behaviour. In “A view from the bridge” Alfieri plays the role of the chorus however he is also a lawyer in the play. The chorus will also make the audience sympathetic towards the protagonist. In the play, Alfieri appears as the narrator eight times and each time he gets the audience fully aware of the play and sympathetic for Eddie. This is one characteristic of a tragedy. One example of Alfieri being the narrator is, “And yet, it is better to settle for half, it must be!” This is Alfieri’s last speech. He says that it is better to settle for half meaning that Eddie should have settled for half. However, he did not, and things ended badly.
Also in a tragedy, the protagonist will be a person with potential. At first the audience will believe they will do well in life and that the protagonist is a good person. We can see this from “A view from the bridge” where at the beginning Eddie is thought to be kind and respected in his community. He also seems kind because he is hard working and he has adopted Catherine. For example, “Katie, I promised your mother on her deathbed. I’m responsible for you!” This shows he...

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