VIEWS OF TRAGEDY
(week 10 entry, response)
artist James Barry, "King Lear weeping over Cordelia"
Response to Dan Cummin’s Wk 10 entry
In his entry, Dan discusses Shakespeare’s “King Lear” and the different viewpoints in regards to the aspect of tragedy. He mentions Tolstoy’s criticism of King Lear who believes the play is rather gloomy. Well, shouldn’t it be? It is a tragedy after all.
Needless to say that Tolstoy’s best work, “The Death of Ivan Illych” is a tragedy in itself, focusing on the nature of life and death and coming to terms with one's own inevitable ending. Not as “bloody” as Shakespeare’s but nevertheless, an honest (and some say brutal) depiction of life.
Well, it is believed that Tolstoy felt that King Lear (and its representation) was a little too close to home and perhaps it is why he viewed it in such a way. This is why I love King Lear. It has all the elements that make it “personal” for its audience because the core of the story revolves around family, loyalty and love intertwined with greed, betrayal and revenge. These are all universal themes with resonance.
Dan says of King Lear, “As fleeting as this may appear, eventually some of us come to understand that a tragic ending can co-exist with positive elements”. I’d like to take this statement and place it alongside German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s comment about tragedy in which he says, “we must remember the enormous power of tragedy, exciting, purifying, releasing an entire life…”
When I think about all the deaths in these tragedies, King Lear, Dr Faustus, Ivan Illych, Vivian Bearing (Wit), it seems to me that a new realization is born. It releases something within us, something powerful and energizing. It is as if their lives are made to strengthen us in our own. Can this be the positive elements that co-exist with tragic circumstances? What a strange paradox.
artist James Barry, "King Lear weeping over Cordelia"
Response to Dan Cummin’s Wk 10 entry
In his entry, Dan discusses Shakespeare’s “King Lear” and the different viewpoints in regards to the aspect of tragedy. He mentions Tolstoy’s criticism of King Lear who believes the play is rather gloomy. Well, shouldn’t it be? It is a tragedy after all.
Needless to say that Tolstoy’s best work, “The Death of Ivan Illych” is a tragedy in itself, focusing on the nature of life and death and coming to terms with one's own inevitable ending. Not as “bloody” as Shakespeare’s but nevertheless, an honest (and some say brutal) depiction of life.
Well, it is believed that Tolstoy felt that King Lear (and its representation) was a little too close to home and perhaps it is why he viewed it in such a way. This is why I love King Lear. It has all the elements that make it “personal” for its audience because the core of the story revolves around family, loyalty and love intertwined with greed, betrayal and revenge. These are all universal themes with resonance.
Dan says of King Lear, “As fleeting as this may appear, eventually some of us come to understand that a tragic ending can co-exist with positive elements”. I’d like to take this statement and place it alongside German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s comment about tragedy in which he says, “we must remember the enormous power of tragedy, exciting, purifying, releasing an entire life…”
When I think about all the deaths in these tragedies, King Lear, Dr Faustus, Ivan Illych, Vivian Bearing (Wit), it seems to me that a new realization is born. It releases something within us, something powerful and energizing. It is as if their lives are made to strengthen us in our own. Can this be the positive elements that co-exist with tragic circumstances? What a strange paradox.