In Arthur Miller's "Tragedy and the Common Man," he discusses the many ways that tragedy could be perceived by many different people. While also discussing the many common misconceptions about Tragedy that often gets highlighted in today's society. One of the very first things that he discusses in this piece is the subject of Tragedy being associated with nobility or royalty. He argues that instead of only the nobles being able to experience Tragedy, the common man, meaning us, can easily experience these as well. Arthur Miller goes into saying how "the underlying struggle is that of the individual attempting to gain his "rightful" position in his society." This idea is a very true one. This is because a lot of tragic stories often start off with the so-called hero trying to prove himself to someone, or a group of people in order for him to get truly accepted into his society and get a better life. This makes the inevitable tragic failure that comes to follow even more devastating because we know that the character has had the drive to make himself known to be more than just another person in the minds of the people that he knows and loves. And when he inevitably fails, we feel for him too because we know his story and all of the struggles that he had to go through. Arthur Miller's views on what Tragedy is has opened my eyes to even more possibilities to what stories could also be considered "tragic." I have never thought any deeper than that of: "Tragedy is just about a character experiencing a large amount of pain and maybe dying at the end." Miller's views sheds light on subjects that truly relate to how most people see the subject of tragedy.
0 Comments
The main thing that stuck to me in his TED Talk was the message of: "You can't be successful at everything." This insight is very much true and it hits home with most people I assume and not just for me. It signifies how most people often stress about not being able to do something perfectly like other people can. Like for me, I see people in other Taekwondo schools, or in tournaments, being able to do something that I cannot do and that bothers me very much to the point that I just think to my self that I am not even close to being as good as the person doing the thing that I cannot do. This aggravates me every time it happens, but I forget this very important point that I can't be successful at everything, and for that matter everyone has different skills and traits that benefits them to be successful at some things that you aren't. I feel like this message should be heard a lot more throughout the world just because of how I'm pretty sure that the envy for another person that stems from this idea has lead many people to deep depression and has just ruined their lives. This then leads to the idea of envy and how "the closer two people are -- in age, in background, in the process of identification -- the more there's a danger of envy." He successfully presents the idea that envy is what often drives people to think that they are less fortunate than others around them. This is especially true around friends that you have known for many years and are really close to you. You would start comparing yourself to them and feeling unhappy with your own way of life and start to undermine the amount of actual success that you have achieved through your life. This is yet another strong and true message that more people should hear. Overall I thought that his messages were very well explained and put out there. I feel like I have the same preconceived idea as anyone else when it comes to knowing what Tragedy is. It's a work of literature that deals with a story that has a character, usually a main character, experiencing a sort of loss or any devastating event that changes the whole shtick of the character for the whole story. Or, if the event happens at the end of the story we as readers can easily assume that the event will surely change how the character acts outside of the confines of the story itself.
So after researching it more on Wikipedia, I found that Tragedy is generally a story about human suffering that provokes a sense of catharsis or sensation, depending on the reader. So this definition just basically confirms my first thought of what Tragedy is. Except for the fact that it states how it gives the audience or reader a sense of catharsis or sensation. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |