Tragic Elements Research Articles

Duerrenmatt's Physicists And The Tragic Tradition

THE QUESTION OF GENRE IN A DRAMA BY Duerrenmatt is problematic, and the most cursory glance into the corpus of Duerrenmatt-criticism brings to light a variety of generic possibilities. The title of a recent study of The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi, for example-“Tragic Elements of a Duerrenmatt Comedy"-is significant in that it indicates the fusion of the two extremes of dramatic composition. The Physicists, which is again styled a comedy by its author, represents a converse of this formulation. The thesis proposed in this article is that The Physicists may not only be termed a tragedy in the full sense, but further, may even be seen in some respects as representing a final stage in the tragic tradition.

Calderón's "La hija del aire" and the Classical Type of Tragedy

The status of La hija del aire, Parts I and II, as a tragedy is no longer questioned. Modern critics have rectified Menendez Pelayo's omission of the play from his list of Calderonian tragedies. But they have also, possibly because they have not gone very deeply into the question, unreservedly presented the work as a classical-type tragedy. This view is partly true but it is not the whole truth. In this paper, therefore, I propose to examine the traditional tragic elements in the two plays in order, firstly, to suggest how much there is which does not conform to this pattern, and, secondly, to consider, if the first point is established, what significance there is in the juxtapostion of the tragic and the non-tragic.

CALDERÓN'SLA HIJA DEL AIREAND THE CLASSICAL TYPE OF TRAGEDY

The status of La hija del aire, Parts I and II, as a tragedy is no longer questioned. Modern critics have rectified Menéndez Pelayo's omission of the play from his list of Calderonian tragedies. But they have also, possibly because they have not gone very deeply into the question, unreservedly presented the work as a classical-type tragedy. This view is partly true but it is not the whole truth. In this paper, therefore, I propose to examine the traditional tragic elements in the two plays in order, firstly, to suggest how much there is which does not conform to this pattern, and, secondly, to consider, if the first point is established, what significance there is in the juxtapostion of the tragic and the non-tragic.

Karen Horney on feminine psychology.

In this series of papers Horney's evolving ideas on feminine psychology are reflected, her differences with Freud are defined and the emergence of her own views on the theory and practice of psychoanalysis are noted. While developing her ideas, those aspects of her holistic philosophy and the positive aspects of her approach to psychoanalysis were present, operating and maturing. Having confronted Freud's male-oriented psychology with her own on so-called female psychology, the way had been prepared for a philosophy, psychology and psychoanalysis of whole persons, living, being and interacting with changing environments which had their impact on them, which they in turn influenced. I feel a study of Horney's papers on feminine psychology is an invitation and an opportunity to accompany a woman of wisdom and experience on a voyage of discovery and creation while searching for better ways to alleviate human suffering. The closing sentence ofNeurosis and Human Growth 31 fittingly convey the spirit, the method and the efforts displayed in these papers and in her whole life's work: “Albert Schweitzer uses the terms ‘optimistic’ and ‘pessimistic’ in the sense of ‘world and life affirmation’ and ‘world and life negation’. Freud's philosophy, in this deep sense, is a pessimistic one. Ours, with all its cognizance of the tragic element in neurosis, is an optimistic one.”

Saint Joan As Epic Tragedy

SEVERAL OF THE CRITICAL PROBLEMS related to Saint Joan stem from the unusual nature of the play—unusual, that is, for Shaw, for in no other Shaw play do we have a predominantly tragic tone.1 In the numerous commentaries on the play, we find three key questions frequently recurring: 1) Is Joan a tragic heroine with a tragic flaw or an innocent victim of circumstances? 2) Although Joan has our sympathies throughout, why does Shaw go to such elaborate lengths to align us intellectually on the side of her opposition? and 3) If the play is a tragedy, what is the purpose of the epilogue? In dealing with the above questions, I propose to consider Saint Joan as indeed a tragedy, but a special kind of tragedy, one that encompasses an epic design. The play is as consistently tragic in tone (at least from the first third of it to the end), as it is epic in structure. We may speculate on Shaw's reasons for not using the conventional tragic structure for Joan's story, but it is perhaps more rewarding to concern ourselves with the effects that Shaw achieves by coordinating epic and tragic elements.

The Uncertain Frontier: Ghana-Togo

The unsatisfactory nature of the frontiers between the independent African states is widely stressed, and provides an additional argument for those who would like to see a regrouping of the African scene in terms of larger political units. This short article discusses the boundary between Ghana and Togo—a classic example (it might be thought) of colonial division calling for early revision along rational lines. It was demarcated between Britain and France some 40 years ago: now African governments have come into existence on both sides under leaders who have given their support at one time or another to Pan-African movements for closer union. The alternative is likely to be constant friction, the interruption of trade, the harbouring of refugees seeking a base from which to continue a struggle already lost in their own country, and accusations by the party leaders in Ghana and Togo that these refugee organisations are actively sponsored by the Lomé or Accra governments. These unhappy consequences are indeed present today following the independence of Ghana in 1957 and Togo in 1960; and it is worth enquiring why they should have come about, in view of the great advantages which it is generally assumed would flow from a more cordial, open association between the two republics. In January 1963, the assassination of Sylvanus Olympio added a further, tragic element to the problem, although whether the coup d'état which installed a new, quasi-military government in Lome will materially alter the relationship between Ghana and Togo remains to be seen.

Ancient Myths and the Moral Framework of Faulkner's "Absalom, Absalom!"

THE STUDY OF FAULKNER'S Absalom! against its cultural background, seen in the light of classical ideas of tragedy, is not new. Although three critical essays-by Ilse Dusoir Lind, Cleanth Brooks, and Richard Sewall-have discussed the tragic elements in the novel, none of examines in detail Faulkner's allusions to ancient mythology, and none therefore successfully illuminates the concrete elements of plot and character that constitute the author's ethical analogies.' most common explanation as to why Faulkner employed ancient myths has been that he attempted to create characters of heroic stature and to give the story historic dimensions. True. But previous studies have failed to emphasize the essential role that the fusion of the three major Western cultures-the Greek, the Hebrew, and the Christian-plays in Faulkner's tragic vision and the moral framework in which he sees Colonel Sutpen, perhaps his foremost tragic figure. In Absalom! Faulkner has succeeded in creating a man of the heroic magnitude necessary to originate a myth: the little boy, who at the age of fourteen did not lose his innocence but did discover his social position when he was turned away by a broadcloth monkey Negro from the door of the rich planter for whom his father worked; the little boy who made up his mind to take revenge on them-with them meaning the human puny mortals under the sun that might lie in hammocks all afternoon with their shoes off-and in order to do so needed money, a house, a plantation, slaves, a family-incidentally of course, a wife; who with this design in mind set out for Haiti, where, a few years later, he quelled a slave revolt and was rewarded with the 1 See Ilse Dusoir Lind, The Design and Meaning of Absalom!, PMLA, LXX, 887-912 (Dec., I955); Cleanth Brooks, Absalom, Absalom!: Definition of Innocence, Sewanee Review, LIX, 543-558 (Autumn, I959); Richard Sewall, Vision of Tragedy (New Haven, I959), pp. I33-I47.