There are elements in a tragedy that are expected. These are:
· The main character comes from a privileged background.
· They are successful in their field of expertise.
· Fate, to a point, has been good to them.
· They have a character flaw that leads towards their downfall.
· Fate continually has the main character fall farther from grace.
· It ends with the main characters' death.
My short examples come from a more traditional way of writing tragedies. Elements have changed of course since there are a number of ways to write a tragedy. These elements are so common that you come to expect them.
So, let’s dive deeper into the bullet points starting with the main character comes from a privileged background. In traditional tragedies, only those that fall from grace are worth the title of a tragic hero. That means everyone who is not rich cannot be a tragic figure. Bad things just naturally happen to everyday people. This changed when modern tragedies started shining a light on the terrible things that happen to everyday people. Tragic characters also tended to be males since they're the ones that hold the position of power. That does not mean that they're not any female characters in traditional tragedies, they're usually not the main character.
Next point is that the main character is successful in their field of expertise. In traditional tragedies, the main character may come from a military background. Or the main character can be a child of a rich merchant, a noble, or a king. Or the main character themselves holds this position. Because of their privileged background, the main character has access to a wealth of knowledge. What the character does with this knowledge leads them to their greatness.
Fate or destiny also has a role in tragedies. Usually when all is going well for the main character fate is smiling brightly on them. It is because of fate that the main character is fed with a golden spoon. Destiny made it so that the main character will be a legend on the battlefield. Fame and fortune are certain when fate is on their side. Because the heavens love the main character. The stars shine brighter because they were born. Too bad for that nasty flaw.
When the narrative of the story is supposed to be in favor of the main character it is because they have a character trait that is their saving grace. On the flip side, in a tragedy, the main character has a damning flaw which leads to their downfall. Now, to make a character realistic, a character needs flaws. If they don't have flaws then there is nothing with which they struggle with. A tragic flaw has to be able to be the downfall of the character and also something that can be identified by the readers. This flaw is something that the villain of the story usually possesses. But there's going to be an entire post talking about tragic flaws so this is going to have to be all you're getting for now.
Just as fate or destiny leads the main character to be born with riches or leads them to success, it also screws them over. Because fate also blessed the main character with their tragic flaw, so their downfall was always destined to happen. At least that's how it works out for the main character in tragedies. It is that feeling of betrayal from fate that gets at you. After all this character is great and stands on top and seeing their downfall is saddening.
Lastly is the main characters death. After their fall, it is only death that welcomes them with open arms. Well, not all tragedies end with the main character's death. But I can't think of one where someone didn't die. The death of the main character is supposed to make the readers feel something as well as learning something. What the reader learns depends on the author. But the death of the main character has to mean something to the story because you're killing them.
Now for a more modern tragic story, the main character doesn't have to come from a privileged background. They can be an everyday person. When the story comes from this angle the feeling of the story is about how cruel the world is to the main character or how it is rigged against the everyday person. The downfall isn't about the character falling from grace, but the emptiness that anyone can feel while living in a draining world.
The effects that both have are different for each person. A tragedy about an everyday person can make it harder for the reader to alienate themselves from the main character. On the other hand seeing a great person fall from grace is just as jarring but is more epic. But once you're at the top, the only way to fall down is with great dramatics. At least that's what I think because the ride down needs to be epic. But a normal main character has to have the dramatics that everyday life has to offer which makes their downfall sometimes hard to watch because that can very well be you or someone you know. The point, I think, of an everyday tragic character is that they could be you.
On that somber note, we end the first part of the three-part miniseries. Next up is The Worse Flaw is a Tragic Flaw! Be ready for it since that is the one I have been waiting to explain. Be sure to Google+ this post and follow up on the different posts that are up on my blog. Hope you come back again to have a good time with me and leave comments because I do read them.
