Tragicomedy

What is tragicomedy? From the amphitheatres of ancient Greece and Rome to twenty-first-century television screens, this hybrid dramatic genre has undergone numerous metamorphoses, combining its constituent parts, tragedy and comedy, in new and surprising ways. Is tragicomedy best defined by its mixing of high and low characters and subject matters? Or does it primarily indicate aspects of structure and plot? Could tragicomedy be best understood through its juxtaposition of emotions and affective responses? Or might it even index a basic existential reality: the tragicomic nature of human experience? In this class we will explore these questions through a transhistorical selection of drama, including works by Euripides, Shakespeare, Kleist, Beckett, and Pinter. Alongside these dramatic works, we will engage a wide selection of critical, theoretical, and philosophical texts.