In Summary of tragedy and tradition and Modern tragedy by Raymond Williams he has given his views about the concept of tragedy in his essay tragedy and tradition. Summary of tragedy and tradition and Modern tragedy by Raymond Williams is totally against tradition and its norms it is base on modern time. He gives his views about the interpretation of tragedy in the modern era. He rejects the past ideas related to the concept of tragedy. He has discussed the evolution of tragedy in different eras and periods. Ton him tragedy is a continual process. He links the idea of tragedy to the life of the ordinary man. He does not believe that the tragedy can only about the death of the hero or the king of a state. He takes every individual as the hero of his own story. He believes in the tragedy of the ordinary man. He gives various possibilities about the execution of the tragedy in the modern era. His concept of tragedy involves the immediate experience, body of literature, academic problem and the conflict of theory. All these ideas lead to the possibility of tragedy.
Tragedy comes to us by many roads
In addition condensation of tragedy and tradition Raymond Williams believes that tragedy can happen in several forms. In the modern sense, all the actions involved by the individual can be titled tragic. A man can bring his tragedy by his own actions. He involves the accident of the man as a tragedy of his life. All these actions contribute to making a tragic drama of life. He says that man can be responsible for his actions in the modern theory of tragedy. But the road accident can be explicated from this concept. The conflict of the ideas also generates a tragic moment among the two partners.
Our response to an event makes it tragic
Raymond William has critically examined the concept of tragedy. He is of the view that certain events are made more tragic with our response. He considers the tragedy as our response to a particular situation. He is of the view that the death of a relative is made more tragic by our response to the event. We suffer from this great loss. We feel dejected at heart because of the loss of our friends and family. So here our response to the event makes it more tragic and critical.
Tradition is not the past but the interpretation of the past
He has given unified ideas about the concept of tradition with reference to modern tragedy. He considers it as a valid interpretation of past events. He does not employ the idea that the tradition only belongs to past events and happenings. He confers the reality that it has space for modification of the past and evolution in the pat concepts and ideas. He tries to build a connection between the past and the modern. This establishes a link between the traditional notions and the modern unified ideas through his essay.
The tragedy was absent in the medieval period
Greek people were champions of tragedy. They regarded it as a festival and part of their life. For them, tragedy was a serious action regarding their lifestyle. They performed tragedies in order to respect Dionysius. But with the change in the thoughts and beliefs of the people the concept of the tragedy was also changed. The chorus was the main part of the Greek tragedy for the embellishment of the tragedy. But in the later part, it seemed missing or disapproved. The chorus sang hymns in praise of their gods but the notions of the people changed gradually. The chorus was discarded as a dramatic element from the tragedy and it has lost its importance. There was no tragedy produced in the medieval era because of the fling beliefs of the people in the religion and tradition. They did not care about the continuation of the tradition. The only tragic work produced and published in this era was by Geoffrey Chaucer. His tales in the Canterbury tales were regarded as tragic. In the monk tale by Chaucer, there is a depiction of tragic action. He falls from prosperity to adversity through the course of tragic action.
The tragedy was secular in the RENAISSANCE era
The renaissance age was related to the rebirth of knowledge and revival of knowledge. The modern thoughts and ideas were prevailing among the new liberals. The religious beliefs were losing their importance. People were no more guided by religion. They followed the logic to generate new ideas. All ideas were based on the behavior of the individual. For that purpose, people were guided by reason and the tragedy was now based on the general behavior of the individual. They tried to interpret their matters without religion the tragedy of this era became more secular and neutral. The neoclassical era also followed this change and tragedy was also secular in this era.
Raymond William contradict the ideas of Lessing
There was much advancement in the field of tragedy in the Elizabethan era. This era was remarkable for the tragic place. The Shakespearean tragedy was popular in this era. The German critic Lessing was of the view that Shakespeare is real inheriting of the Greek tragedy and he has followed the tradition. But the Raymond William does not give his consent to the idea. He is of the view that he has developed a new kind of tragedy in the modern era. These are shown in to the Summary of tragedy and tradition by Raymond Williams .
The ideas of humanism
In this era, there was a due focus on the role of the man in society. The tragedy was based on the tragedy of character of the individual. The process was quite complicated because all the stress was on the individuality of the man. The Elizabethan tragedy was completely secular in its origin.
Concept of poetic justice by Hegel
Elizabethan drama introduced the concept of good and evil with reference to poetic justice. He considers the causes behind the suffering of the man. To him, the sufferings only are not important to understand the concept of the tragedy
