Anybody help plz? In what way might we view Antony and Cleopatra as a tragedy?
[ 跟贴目录 ] [ 返回论坛 ]
May 于 1999/11/20 01:28:43 发表在 汉英
I'm at the moment studying English as a subject for my A'level.Ofcourse this includes reading Shakespeare's plays; one of them is A&C. Ii've been given this essay question about how might i view A&C as a tragedy and i'm kind of stuck at the moment. So any comment on this title at all will be a BIG help for me as i still have 2 other plays to work on. I'll be VERY MUCH appreciate on your help. Thank you!
[ 回应主贴 ]
[ 返回论坛 ]
跟贴目录:
Why not write down your ideas on the play first, I'll make some comments on them.
作者：tian xin - 1999/11/20 03:54:20
***
[ 回应此贴 |
查看原贴 ]
Well I got this email reply from a friend. Would you comment on it?
作者：May - 1999/11/20 08:16:38
***
Dear May:
First you've got to see that Shakespeare and everybody else in 1590-1616 agreed that a tragedy is as defined by Aristotle, 4th Cent. BC., in his book Poetics. A tragedy is a spectacle about the fall of a man from high estate through his own fault, though apart from this fault he is noble. Now Antony is in high estate; with Octavius he rules the whole Roman empire. He falls when he runs away from the Battle of Actium. And he does this because of a fault, he loves Cleopatra too much, though otherwise he is generous and brave.
David
[ 回应此贴 |
查看原贴 ]
A few points for your reference
作者：tian xin - 1999/11/20 14:47:56
***
Along the line of David's comment, one may add that the tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra at the same time goes beyond the definitions of an ordinary tragedy, in that the play does not end in poetic justice as Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello and King Lear do.
The tensions remain unreconciled not just between Rome and Egypt, love and power, but also between love and illusion, reality and imagination. The play can leave us facing the aching absence of final meaning or certainty of values. For Antony and Cleopatra are much the same extravagant and flawed characters till the very end, though at their dying moments, there are glimpses of transcendental visions shining through them. In Antony's last unselfish concern for his love and magnanimity of nature, as well as in Cleopatra's final speech, one does feel that they are rising above their human limitations through loss and suffering.
However, the impact of the play is to be felt through a heart response to both the pity and glory of their fates. Tragedies never end easily, there is always an unsolved tension to cope with, especially in "Antony and Cleopatra".
[ 回应此贴 |
查看原贴 ]
Pending the solution to the tension thereof, my problem has been resolved. Thx!
作者：May - 1999/11/21 00:54:27
***
[ 回应此贴 |
查看原贴 ]
[ 跟贴目录 ] [ 返回论坛 ]