In a further search to discover what tragedy is, we watched a TED Talk video that did not highlight tragedy specifically, but it discussed some important events that can lead to tragedy. We learned two very important lessons that we all knew was true but had never really thought of before.
The first tragic lesson we learned is that "the reason we are scared of failure is because we are scared of the judgement and ridicule that comes with it," not just because we don't want to fail. So what exactly does that mean? I will explain with an example. Lets say that we have a young woman who came from a line of well-known, gentle, southern women, who's only duty was to take care of her home and family. But perhaps this specific woman didn't want to be a stay at home mother. Instead, she wanted to see the world and defend her country by joining the army. This woman would be very scared to follow her dreams not because she is scared that she will fail, because we can all get over that. She is scared because if she does fail, her family would be able to say "I told you so," and this poor young lady would never here the end of it. This drama of the high possibility to fail is what brings a hint of entertainment to the story through tragedy.
We also learned that "you cannot envy someone who doesn't have anything in common with you." This is a fact that may be hard to wrap your head around when you first read it, so I will explain with the example used in the TED Talk. Compare your life to a figure head such as the Queen of England. Would you be jealous of the way she lives her life? Absolutely not because you have no similarities between you and her. She lives in a country with a different culture and has a large responsibility every day she wakes up. She has to lead a huge population of people when all that I have to lead are my clubs and sports teams. I would never be jealous of the Queen of England, but I may envy a girl who has a really good jump shot because we have the similarity of playing basketball, but she is better then me.
These two topics relate to tragedy because failure and envy are two elements that can lead to tragedy. For example, in Hamlet, his uncle envies his father and soon tragedy follows. Failure is one of the most common reasons for tragedy because when people fail they are embarrassed and lash out.
The first tragic lesson we learned is that "the reason we are scared of failure is because we are scared of the judgement and ridicule that comes with it," not just because we don't want to fail. So what exactly does that mean? I will explain with an example. Lets say that we have a young woman who came from a line of well-known, gentle, southern women, who's only duty was to take care of her home and family. But perhaps this specific woman didn't want to be a stay at home mother. Instead, she wanted to see the world and defend her country by joining the army. This woman would be very scared to follow her dreams not because she is scared that she will fail, because we can all get over that. She is scared because if she does fail, her family would be able to say "I told you so," and this poor young lady would never here the end of it. This drama of the high possibility to fail is what brings a hint of entertainment to the story through tragedy.
We also learned that "you cannot envy someone who doesn't have anything in common with you." This is a fact that may be hard to wrap your head around when you first read it, so I will explain with the example used in the TED Talk. Compare your life to a figure head such as the Queen of England. Would you be jealous of the way she lives her life? Absolutely not because you have no similarities between you and her. She lives in a country with a different culture and has a large responsibility every day she wakes up. She has to lead a huge population of people when all that I have to lead are my clubs and sports teams. I would never be jealous of the Queen of England, but I may envy a girl who has a really good jump shot because we have the similarity of playing basketball, but she is better then me.
These two topics relate to tragedy because failure and envy are two elements that can lead to tragedy. For example, in Hamlet, his uncle envies his father and soon tragedy follows. Failure is one of the most common reasons for tragedy because when people fail they are embarrassed and lash out.