What Constitutes as a Tragedy?

So I have been reading novels and watching anime for a long time now, and a question has always come up whenever I see the tragedy tag. Like I read some novels with the tag and never really see what the tragedy is. Like is tragedy when something awful happens to the MC like losing his parents? Or is it something bad happening in general, like people losing loved ones and it being shown or something.

 

It’s ambiguous basically anytime there is an event that can be considered tragic and it’s a main driving force of the story

 

It varies. A strict definition would have an ending like Romeo and Juliet, where there basically aren't any happy endings. This is following the tradition from ancient Greek plays. But I have seen it applied to stories if there is a character that has had a tragic moment in their backstory, even if the rest of the story was happy. So the only thing the tragedy tag reliably tells you is that at least one person who added tags felt sad.

 

A crude definition is that a tragedy is a story where bad things happen to someone you respect. A comedy is when bad things happen to a character you look down on.

 

Type tragedy on google, it's already there

 

I'm also not sure but, something that plays with reader's emotion by use of unfortunate event such as death of love ones?

 

I've seen tragedy tag in novels where I thought it wasn't really fitting, then I read The Novel's Extra and it only says "drama" and "psychological" but it already has several moments that are quite tragic if you ask me...

But well, that's pretty much how it is. You can't trust the tags, you can't trust the ratings, you can't trust the reviews, you can't really trust anything besides reading the novels... (Maybe a bit off topic but w/e)

p.s. also, "tragedy" tag on NU just says, "Definition: Contains events resulting in great loss and misfortune." so it's quite vague anyway

 

Well, I think the "Tragedy" must be a very dark part of the plot where the characters not only feel sad, but destroyed inside. Something that readers dread and could give them hard nights for days.

 

a character who is introduced and is close to the MC dying, like his mother, father, brother or wife.

Imo, getting cucked should be listed as tragedy too LUL

 

Ntr is consider one I think

 

The amount of qidian/webnovel posts whenever they change something

 

see Shakespeare

 

See clannad af

 

City of Sin, that is tragic

 

I would guess it would be something like a sad ending, something that makes you cry. Not because it’s too happy, but because it’s just tear-wrenching. Usually MC doesn’t end up in a good situation— sometimes = dead

 

A million deaths is a statistic.
A single death is a tragedy.

 

Honestly I personally hate tragedy in books or novels I read. Then again when I think of tragedy I think of horrible events that continuously occur throughout the entirety of the story. Where the main character struggles and struggles to where it improves a bit to only have it get even worse. Btw I also expect a bad ending, but this isn't always the case and more then likely not even close to being.

 

When the MC is corrected by his nagging mother-in-law (not sexually).

 

The unavoidable loss of that which is most precious.

Examples:
Realizing your fault in a past mistake and being unable to make amends because the other person is dead
Realizing your first love, but immediately after they move away
In trying to save that which is most precious you cause its very loss

Tragedy isn't as simple as something extremely sad, requiring a psychological element.

 

Tragedy tag in NU isn't really relevant to the story. They could be just a single moment of mentioning MC past or a one time tale of a side character family.