tragoed The Changing Tragedy of Oedipus Rex, Hamlet, and...

The Changing Tragedy of Oedipus Rex, Hamlet, and Desire under the Elms nbsp; Tragedy can easily be considered the greatest of all genres due to the fact that it has withstood the test of time. Formally, tragedy employs something more complex than other genres. It is not part of a life full of happy endings. It is part of a bigger system of things. It is part of who we are. Perhaps tragedy is simply the art that truly imitates life.gt; Historically speaking, the great rises of tragedy have occurred during times of exceptional affluence. The Greeks, the Renaissance, and the early twentieth century are periods that enjoyed this type of security. Extreme cultural and technological advances marked each of these periods. The†¦show more content†¦On a basic level, the characters are of a higher status in society. Even though the characters in Desire under the Elms are farmers, based on the jealous reactions of the other townspeople at the party and the sheriffs envious, open admiration of the farm, they are of a higher rank in that particular so cial structure. The audience, not only expects a resolution to the problem at hand, they also expect the characters to meet some sort of tragic end. This is certainly the case in the three plays studied thus far. nbsp; The Oedipal Complex is best defined by Iokaste in Oedipus Rex when she exclaims, how many men, in dreams, have lain with their mothers! Freuds theory examines the desire of all sons to kill their fathers so that they can have the mother to themselves. The basic premise is shown in all three plays in varying degrees. In the Oedipus Complexs namesake, Oedipus actually murders his father and marries his mother. In Hamlet, the lack of stage directions enables the director to take liberties with the scene in Gertrudes bedroom. Desire under the Elms possibly has the most bizarre construct of the Oedipus Complex through, not only the mother/lover relationship of Eban and Abbie, but through the father/daughter relationship of Cabot and Abbie. As suggested in class, this dynamic being shown over and over throughout