Comedy, Romance, Tragedy Genres

At the beginning of a romance the hero and/or heroine, despite their overall good characteristics, suffer from hubris or from some other sort of excessive behavior. Because of this excess, the hero and/or heroine must be educated and learn balance or moderation (sophrosune) in order to be prepared for right (or just) rule. This education is usually an involved, episodic process. The process of education creates suffering. Education ultimately occurs because of the efforts of the hero’s counterpart, the heroine, or vice versa. After much suffering, the hero and/or heroine are educated, order returns, right rule can occur, and usually marriage occurs. Personal and political disorder are resolved.

Key Concepts:

• The beautiful is the good.

• Romances are political: A man’s relationship with his wife mirrors a leader’s relationship with his subjects.

• paradox: conflict between the appearance of right and its proper reality, between a false and true understanding

• arete: excellence (strength, eloquence, cleverness, handsomeness)

• hubris: excessive pride in oneself

• sophrosune: balance or moderation

• education for right rule

• a balance of the masculine and the feminine

Examples:

Jane Eyre, The legend of King Arthur, The Notebook, Shrek

Comedy is a literary genre and a type of dramatic work that is amusing and satirical in its tone, mostly having a cheerful ending. The motif of this dramatic work is triumph over unpleasant circumstance by creating comic effects, resulting in a happy or successful conclusion. Thus, the purpose of comedy is to amuse the audience.

Key Concepts:

• Concerned with idealized love affairs.

• Love overcomes difficulties and ends in a happy union (a marriage).

• People balance their bodies, and thus remain healthy.

• Intrigues and relations of ladies and gentlemen living in a sophisticated society.

• Sparkle and wit of dialogues, violations of social traditions, and good manners, by nonsense characters like jealous husbands, wives, and others.

Examples:

A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Importance of Being Earnest, Love Actually

Tragedy is a type of drama that presents a serious subject matter about human suffering and corresponding terrible events in a dignified manner.

Key Concepts:

• a hero is brought down by his/her own flaws, usually by ordinary human flaws – flaws like greed, over-ambition, or even an excess of love, honor, or loyalty

• Start with the tragic hero, usually in his prime. The hero is successful, respected, and happy. But he has some tragic flaw that will ultimately cause his downfall.

• Usually, the plot of the story follows a gradual descent from greatness to destruction.

• It’s especially important that the hero end up isolated from all of his friends and companions.

• In the end, we feel deep sadness and pity (also called pathos) for the hero.

• But we also feel a sense of understanding – the story warns us to guard against the ordinary flaws that brought down the hero.

Examples:

Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, American History X