Braveheart

I recently watched the movie "Braveheart", and while I was watching I started thinking how it would be another good example of a tragedy. I know it's not something we officially looked at in class, but I think it can offer some valuable insights nonetheless. Not all people would think this to be a tragedy, at least in the traditional sense, but while watching it, I really felt like it was.

As Miriam-Webster defines tragedy, it is "a dramatic composition, often in verse, dealing with a serious or somber theme, typically that of a great person destined through a flaw of character or conflict with some overpowering force, as fate or society, to downfall or destruction." In regards to this definition, Braveheart fits right in with this study of tragedy.

The basic storyline of the film is that of William Wallace, who is a patriotic Scot, is fighting against the tyranny of King Longshanks of England. He has many troubles in this fight, many of them arising from the fact that all the warring tribes of Scotland refuse to get along, even when threatened with England looming over the head of their country. Eventually, Wallace is betrayed by some clan leaders he was trying to unite, and falls into the hands of the English. He is executed as a traitor, in front of a huge crowd, but he refuses to cry out through his torture, with the thinking that if he cries out, Longshanks would have won. The only word he says, right before his head is cut off, is "freedom." This serves as enough encouragement to rally the clans of Scotland to final victory against the English, and the film ends with the final battle which results in Scottish victory.

The reason I view this as a tragedy is that Wallace is definitely a hero, who is working against supposedly insurmountable odds to accomplish something that he believes in with all his heart. He is eventually defeated, but not his ultimate cause, which achieves victory after his death. This is not a tragedy in the same sense as the Greek plays are, but it is nonetheless. Wallace is a tragic hero, who is killed but refuses to let go of his morals or his cause, even to the point of death.

Oedipus Rex

"Look ye, countrymen and Thebans, this is Oedipus the great,
he who knew the Sphinx's riddle and was mightiest in our state.
Who of all our townsmen gazed not on his fame with envious eyes?
Now, in what a sea of troubles sunk and overwhelmed he lies!
Therefore wait to see life's ending ere thou count one mortal blest;
Wait till free from pain and sorrow he has gained his final rest."

-Sophocles, Oedipus Rex

This quote pretty much sums up this tragedy. Oedipus was the revered king of a dying city, Thebes. He sent men to the Oracle at Delphi to determine why the city was going through such hard times, and it was found out that it was because they had allowed their last king's murder go un-avenged. This play is the story of discovering who that murderer is. Through a perplexing series of conversations with his wife, the shepherd who saved his life, and a messenger from Corinth, the city Oedipus grew up in, Oedipus learns that it was really him who killed Laius and married his wife. This is not nearly as disturbing as the realization which follows it, which is the revelation that Laius was actually his father, and Jocasta, his wife, is actually his mother. After Oedipus realizes this, Jocasta is already dead, having killed herself when she realized who Oedipus is. Oedipus takes the brooches from Jocasta's shoulders and stabs his eyes out, because he cannot bear to see the world anymore.

The interesting part about this play for me was that even after Oedipus had fallen from his high place and was humiliated for all to see, he still tried to order people to do what he wanted, just as if he was king. This shows that even though Oedipus had been humbled, he was still noble inside, which I think is an attribute of a true tragic hero. He kept his authority, even though nobody really had any reason to follow him, and they said that to him. But in the end everyone obeyed him.

What can tragedy teach us about success?

This seems like an odd question, because when one thinks about tragedy, the first thing one will think of is failure, no? This TED talk addresses the question of what tragedy can teach us about success. I think that the speaker does not address this question very directly, but he does bring up some good points about tragedy and success.

On the topic of personal tragedy, he says that our personal fears of failing spring from a general fear of being judged by others, and not being at the same place in the social hierarchy as one once was. This fear arises out of a need to feel significant in the eyes of those one meets through work of walking down the street. He also says that one person cannot be successful at everything, so you need to learn what is the important thing is to you and focus on that, and it's no tragedy if you don't do as well in other areas.

So what about success? He talks about that rather extensively. I would say that success, not tragedy, is the main emphasis of this talk. The speaker, in his short discussion on the Shakespearean play Hamlet, says about Hamlet that he is "not a loser, although he did lose." This shows his philosophy about failure, which is basically that if you fail graciously, then you may as well not really have failed, because you're not a loser in that case. Another quote that he said about success stuck out to me, which was "let's make sure that our ideas of success are truly our own." I'll leave it at that for now.

Beginnings of Tragedy

In my (brief) readings about tragedy and the Greek plays, there were a few things I noticed. Firstly, I noticed that the basic premise of tragedy is somewhat perverted. "Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers it's audience pleasure." This seems pretty twisted when you look at it that way, doesn't it?

Tragedy can also be used as a cathartic sort of entertainment. This means that it brings out the intense feelings in its viewers and helps them to release those, especially if they had been holding them back or not wanting to show them at all. This can help someone feel better about a hard life situation, or help them realzie that they have it pretty good after all.

Here we go, embarking on a journey to discover what tragedy really is. I hope you enjoy the ride!