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Tragedy - Dictionary Definition and Overview |
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Tragedy : (noun)
1: an event resulting in great loss and misfortune; "the whole
city was affected by the irremediable calamity"; "the
earthquake was a disaster" [syn: calamity, catastrophe,
disaster, cataclysm]
2: drama in which the protagonist is overcome by some superior
force or circumstance; excites terror or pity [ant: comedy]
Based on WordNet 2.0
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Tragedy : \Trag"e*dy\, n.; pl. Tragedies. [OE. tragedie, OF.
tragedie, F. trag['e]die, L. tragoedia, Gr. ?, fr. ? a tragic
poet and singer, originally, a goat singer; ? a goat (perhaps
akin to ? to gnaw, nibble, eat, and E. trout) _ ? to sing;
from the oldest tragedies being exhibited when a goat was
sacrificed, or because a goat was the prize, or because the
actors were clothed in goatskins. See Ode.]
1. A dramatic poem, composed in elevated style, representing
a signal action performed by some person or persons, and
having a fatal issue; that species of drama which
represents the sad or terrible phases of character and
life.
Tragedy is to say a certain storie, As olde bookes
maken us memorie, Of him that stood in great
prosperitee And is yfallen out of high degree Into
misery and endeth wretchedly. --Chaucer.
All our tragedies are of kings and princes. --Jer.
Taylor.
tragedy is poetry in its deepest earnest; comedy is
poetry in unlimited jest. --Coleridge.
2. A fatal and mournful event; any event in which human lives
are lost by human violence, more especially by
unauthorized violence.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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Drama \Dra"ma\ (?; 277), n. [L. drama, Gr. ?, fr. ? to do, act;
cf. Lith. daryti.]
1. A composition, in prose or poetry, accommodated to action,
and intended to exhibit a picture of human life, or to
depict a series of grave or humorous actions of more than
ordinary interest, tending toward some striking result. It
is commonly designed to be spoken and represented by
actors on the stage.
A divine pastoral drama in the Song of Solomon.
--Milton.
2. A series of real events invested with a dramatic unity and
interest. ``The drama of war.'' --Thackeray.
Westward the course of empire takes its way; The
four first acts already past, A fifth shall close
the drama with the day; Time's noblest offspring is
the last. --Berkeley.
The drama and contrivances of God's providence.
--Sharp.
3. Dramatic composition and the literature pertaining to or
illustrating it; dramatic literature.
Note: The principal species of the drama are tragedy and
comedy; inferior species are tragi-comedy,
melodrama, operas, burlettas, and farces.
The romantic drama, the kind of drama whose aim is to
present a tale or history in scenes, and whose plays (like
those of Shakespeare, Marlowe, and others) are stories
told in dialogue by actors on the stage. --J. A. Symonds.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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