[traj-i-dee] 
| 1. | a dramatic composition, often in verse, dealing with a serious or somber theme, typically that of a great person destined through a flaw of character or conflict with some overpowering force, as fate or society, to downfall or destruction. |
| 2. | the branch of the drama that is concerned with this form of composition. |
| 3. | the art and theory of writing and producing tragedies. |
| 4. | any literary composition, as a novel, dealing with a somber theme carried to a tragic conclusion. |
| 5. | the tragic element of drama, of literature generally, or of life. |
| 6. | a lamentable, dreadful, or fatal event or affair; calamity; disaster: the tragedy of war. |
| trag·e·dy (trāj'ĭ-dē) n. pl. trag·e·dies
[Middle English tragedie, from Old French, from Latin tragoedia, from Greek tragōidiā : tragos, goat + aoidē, ōidē, song; see wed-2 in Indo-European roots.] |
A serious drama in which a central character, the protagonist — usually an important, heroic person — meets with disaster either through some personal fault or through unavoidable circumstances. In most cases, the protagonist's downfall conveys a sense of human dignity in the face of great conflict. Tragedy originated in ancient Greece in the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. In modern times, it achieved excellence with William Shakespeare in such works as Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, and Othello. Twentieth-century tragedies include Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, and Murder in the Cathedral, by T. S. Eliot.
Note: Aristotle argued that the proper effect of tragedy is catharsis — the purging of the emotions.
Note: In common usage, disasters of many kinds are called tragedies.
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