Table of Contents

Preface
Chapter Outlines and Study Guide
Introduction: The Problem of Understanding Tragedy
Approaches to Tragedy
The Audience Response
The Dualistic Chasm
The Flowering of the Human Spirit
Towards a Definition of Tragedy
The Circle of Inquiry
The Scope of Tragedy
The Application of Theory
A Sampling of Tragedy
Conclusion
Appendix: Biographies of Theorists
Selected Bibliography
Index

Promotional Information

In an effort to bring order to the explanations over two millennia, this book lucidly analyzes the principal ideas about tragedy from Plato to the present.

About the Author

RICHARD H. PALMER is Professor of Theatre at The College of William and Mary. His specialities range from theatre aesthetics and dramatic theory to stage direction, lighting, and theatre management. The author of The Lighting Art (1985) and The Critics' Canon (Greenwood Press, 1988), he has published articles in journals such as Dramatics, The Theatre Journal, Educational Theatre Journal, and Southern Quarterly and contributed to American Theatre Companies, 1888-1930 (Greenwood, 1987).