Tragic Last Words: The Big Speech and the Lament in Ancient Greek and Modern Irish Tragic Drama

Abstract

Abstract More, perhaps, has been written about tragedy than about any other dramatic form, and yet two of the mainstays of tragic drama—the big speech and the lament—have received relatively little attention. This is surprising not least because death, even if it does not always constitute ‘the necessary action’, is always present as ‘a necessary actor’ in tragic drama. And death as ‘action’ and death as ‘actor’ receives, of course, its fullest articulation through the big speech and the lament respectively. This paper will demonstrate, with comparative evidence drawn from Greek tragedy and modern Irish tragic drama, that a consideration of the last words uttered by both the dying characters and the chief mourners alike must be central to any discussion concerning the effect of tragedy.