Reading Response #2: Dramatic Irony and Greek Tragedy

Choose one of the two tragedies we have read. Where does the tension come from? Why are these plays suspenseful? Try to explain what makes the audience or reader want to see the ending, when we already know how the story will end. Your argument should include considerations of dramatic irony.

You must find at least three pieces of evidence.

Some useful questions:

• Where is the moment of reversal (peripeteia) in the play? Remember that most Greek tragedies have a moment when the fate of the protagonist is dramatically overturned.

• Where is the moment of recognition (anagnorisis) in the play? Greek tragedies also often have a moment when either the characters, the chorus, or perhaps even the audience realize that something terrible and bloody is about to happen.

• What is the spectacle of violence at the end of the play? How do all the events lead toward it?

Your response should be no more than 1-2 pages. It may be a single paragraph, or several, but this is not an essay. You must write in the CEA style, however.

Due Tuesday, 10/31