The Truth about Tragedy by Susan Caldwell

"What makes a tragedy so tragic is not that the noble individual falls into ruin, but that
his fall causes so much suffering in others."
--Charmezel Dudt.

When I read this quote I can’t help but think about Shakespeare and how this idea must have been the foundation upon which all of his tragedies were based. When King Lear’s pride and ego drive him to choose unwisely, it is his honest and devoted daughter Cordelia who pays with her life. As Romeo and Juliet’s lives end tragically because of their choices, Tibalt and Mercutio lose their lives as well. Perhaps the hardest part of a tragedy is trying to make sense out of the carnage left behind. And in Shakespeare’s plays as in real world tragedies, like Rwanda and the Republic of Congo, carnage really means loss of life.

Someone once said that there is very little tragedy in American theater because America’s ideal is; man is captain of his own fate and that justice will prevail for all men. And if tragedy by definition is an event or action that carries no resolve in itself, then justice will never triumph out of tragedy. At least not on its own; it must be brought into the tragedy by those who are willing to enter into the suffering. This can be by the very one who fell into ruin and caused the tragedy…or by those left standing, the living "carnage".

In Shakespeare’s tragedies, those who could have brought justice fell victim to the suffering that surrounded them and were unable to bear the guilt or shame or responsibility of their actions; King Lear dies of a heart attack after watching his daughter hanged, Macbeth goes crazy, Othello can only cry and Hamlet’s (re) actions come too late.

The truth is that we will all experience tragedy in our lives. Sometimes we will be the “noble individual” (or not so noble) who brings the tragedy and sometimes we will be the innocent one suffering.

When Nelson Mandela stood before his accusers during his trial for sabotage, he gave this response to the tragedy that he found himself in.

“Having said this, I must deal immediately and at some length with the question of violence. Some of the things so far told to the Court are true and some are untrue. I do not, however, deny that I planned sabotage. I did not plan it in a spirit of recklessness, nor because I have any love of violence. I planned it as a result of a calm and sober assessment of the political situation that had arisen after many years of tyranny, exploitation, and oppression of my people by the Whites.”

I believe when one takes responsibility for their life and actions, as Mandela did, it is in that moment they are able to accept whatever consequences have incurred as a result of their choices. It is in this place where we embrace both our innocence and guilt that the hope for redemption is born and justice reign.