 Are you studying a play or a piece of drama which your teacher called a tragedy? But you're not sure what this means? The genre of a tragedy isn't what you think it means. It doesn't always involve death. This genre has five key elements taken from Aristotle which we will summarise for you in a nutshell. So let's get started. Now the Greek philosopher Aristotle writing about the theatre of his times defined a tragedy as a genre of drama distinct from comedy or history in his book Poetics which was written in 350 BC. In Aristotle's own words he states, A tragedy is a form of drama exciting the emotions of pity and fear. Its action should be a single and complete presenting a reversal of fortune involving persons renowned or of superior attainments and it should be written in poetry embellished with every kind of artistic impressions. Now to break this down into very simple language essentially a tragedy should have these following elements and we can summarise them as five main components. The first element is a tragedy features a hero of high-born noble status. This hero has what we call ha-marsha which is a fatal flaw for instance this hero could be greedy, they could be ambitious, they could have arrogance, they could have hubris. Now this consequently this ha-marsha consequently leads the hero to commit a mistaken action or a series of mistaken actions that result in a reversal of their fortune. What Aristotle called peripatia. Consequently as a result of the hero's downfall they in a moment of self-reflection recognise their actions have caused their downfall. This is what Aristotle termed anagnorosis. Finally the hero's punishment as we are watching this unfold as a drama leads the audience to feel sorry for them. This causes a purge of emotion and fear within the audience which Aristotle termed a catharsis. So that's all when it comes to understanding the different elements of a tragedy. Do you bear in mind that a tragedy does sometimes involve the death of the hero however it doesn't always involve this happening. It can be a form of punishment, it can be them falling from some form of grace which makes it a tragedy. Now if you need more information or study worksheets for English do make sure you check out our website www.firstreadcheaters.com but also do bear in mind that we are massively active on TikTok and Instagram so make sure you follow us for study tips, model answers and revision worksheets. Thank you so much for listening.