Tragedy

*is a form of drama based on human suffering

*The word "tragedy" appears to have been used to describe different phenomena at different times. It derives from Classical Greek: trag(o)-aoidia

Renaissance tragedy



*mystery plays, morality plays, farces and miracle plays

*The most important sources for French tragic theatre in the Renaissance were the example of Seneca and the precepts of Horace and Aristotle.

Neo-classical tragedy

*Pierre Corneille, who made his mark on the world of tragedy with plays like Medée (1635) and Le Cid (1636), was the most successful writer of French tragedies

*noble characters

*deals with affairs of the state

Bourgeois tragedy

*18th-century Europe
*Enlightenment
*they made fun of bourgeois class
*George Lillo's The London Merchant