Reference no: EM133329498

Question: Answer the following questions about your peers' paper:

• Did they identify the title, author, genre, and historical context of the work?
• Is there a thesis in the introduction--that is a statement of what the paper is about. Another way to think about it is after reading the introduction do you understand what information the paper will present and why? If not be sure to say you are unclear.
• Is the literary theory or criticism identified and defined in the paper or does it seem unclear?
• What do you like about the draft so far?

Case Study: "Tragedy Across Two Time Periods"

CTragedy is one of the most common genres for plays, books, movies, and other literature. It's been around for millenia, stemming from Ancient Greece. While the concept of pain and anguish displayed by the main characters is very popular, it has changed over the years following historical events and the change in human society. When people look at past literature that held elements of tragedy, they think of two time periods: Ancient Greece, and the Renaissance. This essay is showing the change in tragedy between those two periods by specifically outlining two plays: Medea by the Greek poet Euripedes and Romeo and Juliet by the Renaissance poet William Shakespeare.

Often, tragedy will portray the current life of people from that generation or era. In Ancient Greece, many plays will include the Greek Gods and often include royalty or other major figures in government. Medea is a story about a wife who was divorced by her husband when he decides to marry into a noble house. The wife, Medea, used to be a princess, while her husband, Jason, was a hero. The play is about two royals and their relationship changing with the desire Jason has with power. It also has references and connections with the Greek gods. Helios is the major one to provide the deus ex machina for the story by providing Medea a chariot to escape Jason and the consequences of her actions.

However, Renaissance plays like Romeo and Juliet don't include Gods. At that time, Christianity had grasped a hold of society as the main religion, so the Greek and Roman gods were abandoned in favor of monotheism. Romeo and Juliet doesn't include many references to any gods, which is very different from Medea. One thing that is similar in both plays is the status of the main characters. Both Romeo and Juliet are nobility, which matches Greek tragedies. While neither of the main characters are seeking to further their power, it is the power struggle between their families that caused strife in the story.

The content of the plays vary as well. While the main characters are the same, the trials they go through are different. Medea is about justice and revenge, while Romeo and Juliet is about how love is stronger than a family feud. In Medea, the tragedy is caused by the death of Medea and Jason's children, whereas in Romeo and Juliet, the ones to die were the main characters themselves. While not all tragedies are defined by death, many of them are, no matter when the play or literary piece is written. It is a consistent pain that people experience, no matter what their backgrounds are. What varies from the two in this aspect is the use of war or conflict. Ancient Greece saw war as heroic and led by the Greek Gods, and the Renaissance was influencing literature by adding knowledge and personal experiences into the plays. The Renaissance didn't necessarily encourage peace, but it embraced more than war unlike the majority of Ancient Greek literature.

The content of tragedy plays may vary between the two time periods, but the major difference is in the structure and language used in the plays. In ancient Greece, the chorus held a major role in sharing the story with the audience. In Medea, the Chorus acts as their own character, trying to give advice to Medea, much like an average person would've done to someone in their state of grief. One statement that the Chorus made was "Ah! poor lady, woe is thee! Alas, for thy sorrows! Whither wilt thou turn?" (Compact Anthology of World Literature, pg 347). Many statements like this portrayed emotions from Medea and the lament that people were feeling towards a wife who was abandoned by her husband. Romeo and Juliet doesn't have a chorus, relying on the characters themselves to act and tell the story themselves. Romeo himself states the feelings he had towards Juliet by saying "But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun." (Romeo and Juliet). While the characters would state their own emotions, the play left the audience to determine their own emotions regarding events in the play.

Language varies firstly on the language that was used between the two plays. Medea was written in Greek, whereas Romeo and Juliet was written in English. Translation of Medea as well as the one and a half millennia time difference changed the structure and vocabulary used. Medea had longer sections of dialogue, almost bordering on monologues for every statement. Even characters that don't have names like the nurse and the messenger have long sections of dialogue. In Romeo and Juliet, longer dialogue is saved for the key characters, predominantly Romeo, Juliet and Friar Laurence. While there may be sections in both plays that have short sentences between characters, Medea still has lengthier sentences than the shorter responses in Romeo and Juliet.

Another aspect that grew between the time Euripedes wrote Medea to when Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet is the idea of iambic pentameter and rhyme. These cause many monologues and other confessions seem softer and smoother.
"Benedicite!
What early tongue so sweet saluteth me?"
Friar Laurence, Romeo and Juliet
While there may've been some literary devices used in Medea, it isn't evident after a few millennia of translations and retellings. Instead, statements are given like a speech or confession.

"May that prosperity, whose end is woe, ne'er be mine, nor such wealth as would ever sting my heart!" Medea, Medea

Both plays used older language than what is seen in today's literature, but they both vary nonetheless. The use of "thee" instead of "you" being one of the most obvious differences. While Romeo and Juliet uses "thee", Medea doesn't use "you". It shows the change in the language into what we commonly use now.

Despite the differences, tragedy is the very same at the core. The loss of one dear, the parting of loved ones, or the unfortunate events that plague a person. While both Euripedes and Shakespeare use death as a major core of their tragedies, there are plenty of differing plot points, casts, and language to show the change in literature over the years.