8-3Tragedies

Schumaker 1 Matthew Schumaker English 8-3 10 April 2009  Shakespeare’s Tragedies William Shakespeare wrote ten tragedies: //Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, King Lear, Macbeth, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, Timon of Athens,// and //Titus// //Andronicus//. According to Andrea Elliott and Mahvash Gandhi, authors of the article “Shakespeare’s Tragedies” published on the Springfield K12 website, of all these plays, his most famous are //Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello,// and //King Lear//. Most people would add //Romeo and Juliet// to the list. //Hamlet// was written between 1599 and 1601. The play is set in Denmark and deals with how Prince Hamlet takes revenge on his uncle Claudius. Claudius has murdered Hamlet's father, the King, and taken the throne and married Hamlet’s mother. This is Shakespeare’s longest tragedy and deals with many dark themes, like treachery, revenge, incest, and moral corruption. // Macbeth // is about the killing of a monarch called regicide and what happens afterwards. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and was written sometime between 1603 and 1606. The play was thought to be cursed by actors and the name was never mentioned in the theater. It was only called the Scottish play. //Othello// was written in 1603 and the themes of this play are still popular today. Racism, love, jealousy and betrayal were all part of this play. //King Lear// //is// filled with human cruelty and terrible disasters. The characters have to decide if the Schumaker 2 world is just endless death and chaos or there is goodness somewhere. Finally, //Romeo and Juliet// is probably Shakespeare’s most famous and popular tragedy with young people. There is a lot of romance and the tragic death of two young people makes it really popular with younger people. In the opening chapter of his book, //Shakespeare the Playwright//, Victor Cahn says, “the tragic form is perhaps the noblest dramatic expression of the human predicament.” He goes on to explain that the conflict of the hero or heroine is against overwhelming odds and ends in catastrophe, (Cahn p.1). In Shakespearean tragedy, Cahn explains that the primary conflict of a central figure or figures is with social order. Chan explains, “the cause of human suffering is human actions,” (p. 2), so human character is, “the springboard of human conflict,” (p. 2). Good and evil are always at work in Shakespeare’s tragedies, and lots of human suffering takes place. Humans are responsible for their situations and bring about their own pain. However, at the end of his tragedies, Shakespeare shows the goodness in humans and encourages trust in the human spirit, (Cahn p. 2). Schumaker 3  Elliot, Andrea, Mahvash Ghandi. "Shakespeare's Tragedies." //Springfield K12// Web.13Apr 2009.  .  Cahn, Victor L. //Shakespeare the Playwright//. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishing, 1996. Print.