Great Works Of Literature

The Chorus in tragedy “ought to be regarded as one of the actors, and as being part of the whole and integrated into performance” (See Norton 1153).

Tragic irony is the incongruity (disharmony) created when the (tragic) significance of a character’s speech or actions is revealed to the audience but unknown to the character concerned. It is the literary device so used orig. in Greek tragedy. (Oxford English Dictionary)

Example from Oedipus: Oedipus vows to find the murderer and curses him for the plague that he has caused, not knowing that the murderer he has cursed and vowed to find is himself. (See lines 296-300)

Peripeteia (Reversal) is a change from one state of affairs to its exact opposite. For example, the Messenger comes to cheer Oedipus by relieving him of fear with regard to his mother, but by revelaing his true identity, does just the opposite of this.

Anagnorisis (Recognition) is a change from ignorance to knowledge, leading either to friendship or to hostility on the part of those persons who are marked for good fortune or bad. It is a moment in a play or other work when a character makes a critical discovery,

Hamartia is a mistake or error of judgment, sometimes translated as “tragic flaw” – but for Aristotle it is not a moral defect. (See Norton footnote on 1152)

Katharsis is the process of releasing strong repressed emotions; an uplifting of the spectators through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions.