The title of this post is a misnomer, unfortunately. I wish I knew the true meaning of tragedy, but like every other word, it has more than one meaning, a meaning that changes too often to keep up with. Based on the "Fallacy" article, I would say that tragedy in literature is when a character acts based on their morals in light of a terrible and life-changing event. This definition mainly comes from Krutch's definition in which he says, "Tragedy is essentially an expression, not of despair, but of the triumph over despair and of confidence in the value of human life." Basically the main character acts with nobility while being tested by a difficult time in their life.
On the topic of nobility, I disagree with the Krutch's opinion of the quote by Aristotle that he started his article about. Aristotle said that tragedy is the imitation of noble actions, and while Krutch doesn't agree with this, I do. Imitation, like tragedy, has multiple definitions. It is true that imitation can mean a fake, such as with imitation vanilla extract; it can be used in recipes that call for vanilla, but in it isn't as good as the real thing. One could even say that imitation vanilla wishes it were as good as real vanilla, because it is a fake, a man-made thing. However, imitation doesn't have to be something negative though I don't believe. When I read the quote by Aristotle, I took it to mean that the characters in tragedies see nobility as a role model, and when they imitate noble actions, they are attempting to be better people, to become a good role model just like the nobility that they look up to. In this case, I don't see nobility as kings and queens and such, I see nobility as something representing all of the people with good morals.
To bring this all back to the definition of tragedy, I think a good definition is, as I said before, that it is when a character acts with good morals and makes honorable decisions even though they are facing often insurmountable problems.
On the topic of nobility, I disagree with the Krutch's opinion of the quote by Aristotle that he started his article about. Aristotle said that tragedy is the imitation of noble actions, and while Krutch doesn't agree with this, I do. Imitation, like tragedy, has multiple definitions. It is true that imitation can mean a fake, such as with imitation vanilla extract; it can be used in recipes that call for vanilla, but in it isn't as good as the real thing. One could even say that imitation vanilla wishes it were as good as real vanilla, because it is a fake, a man-made thing. However, imitation doesn't have to be something negative though I don't believe. When I read the quote by Aristotle, I took it to mean that the characters in tragedies see nobility as a role model, and when they imitate noble actions, they are attempting to be better people, to become a good role model just like the nobility that they look up to. In this case, I don't see nobility as kings and queens and such, I see nobility as something representing all of the people with good morals.
To bring this all back to the definition of tragedy, I think a good definition is, as I said before, that it is when a character acts with good morals and makes honorable decisions even though they are facing often insurmountable problems.