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Shakespeare: 

Discover the Basics of the Bard

Learning Tools

To start... understand if the play is a tragedy or a comedy. Knowing this is like understanding the genre of a piece of fiction. It gives you clues to look for as you're reading.

Elements of Tragedy

  1. The Tragic Hero - Only great men are tragic heroes​

  2. The Tragic Flaw - (Greek- Hamartia) is what leads to their downfall; usually obsession

  3. The Tragic Story - The tragic story leads up to and includes the death of the hero​

  4. The Abnormal, The Supernatural, Fate - Common elements like hallucinations, witches and ghosts, and fate​

  5. Tragic Conflicts - External: fighting between people of groups; Internal: inner moral conflicts

  6. The Tragic Pattern - A man who is powerful and high ranking whose obsession will bring about his downfall

  7. Tragic Structure in Plays - Plot structure

Elements of Comedy

  1. Marriage - happy endings

  2. A greater emphasis on situations than characters - when something bad happens to the characters, we don't feel bad

  3. Struggle of young lovers to overcome difficulty - usually elders/parents who stand in the way of their love

  4. Separation and reunification of couples

  5. Deception among characters - mistaken identity, usually in costume

  6. A clever servant or clown

  7. Tension between characters, usually within a family

  8.  Multiple, intertwining plots

  9. Use of different styles of comedy - slapstick, puns, sarcasm, practical jokes

  10. Happy Ending

Shakespearean Tragedy, A.C. Bradley

If you understand these elements before you begin reading, you know most of the story before you've even cracked open the play!

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