Discussion Why Do You Love To Read Tragedy?

Sometimes, I find it weird that I enjoy reading tragedy so much. I'm guessing that it's because I'm not a a very emotional person in real life. Very few things can affect my emotions so I look for that kind of stimulation in fiction. And it's just much easier to get sad when you read than to get happy.

 

I don't love to read tragedy.......far from it

 

It's because tragic stories are the ones that are best at evoking emotion, and the ability to evoke emotion is as strong an effect as a story can generate. That said, just because a story is tragic doesn't automatically mean that it can have this kind of effect. To do that, the writer has to be able to make the reader care about the characters and what happens to them. And by the time you reach that point, what more can you ask of a story? There's a reason why tragedies have been some of the most popular tales told through the ages.

I think that the only reason why this isn't a self-evident truth is because a lot of (younger) readers put themselves too much into the protagonists' shoes so they only want good outcomes. And why a lot of popular stories avoid any real adversity at all. I'm of the opposite opinion. Without lows there is no way to generate highs either. A character unable to suffer setbacks is a character that is hard to care about; they just lack a sense of realness and their stories tend to suffer as a result.

 

I think you lack a definition of the word tragedy.

Tragedy: shakespearean term for when in the end, everybody died

Shakespear also wrote non tragedies. Comedies.

 

Shakespeare wrote three main types of plays: tragedies, comedies, and histories. Of these the tragedies are the most celebrated. The same goes for Greek tragedies, Le Morte d'Arthur, Chinese operas, and so on. But I'm not really going by tragedy in the Greek or Shakespearean sense. Instead, I'm talking about stories which purposefully cultivate a pervasive feeling of sadness in the reader. It doesn't matter whether it's a lot of people dying, or a single person dying, or even no one dying at all; these can all be tragedies or they can all be non-tragedies.

Take for example a novel that much of NU would think of as a tragedy: "a Step Into the Past". This novel is generally considered a tragedy because several of the protagonist's lovers die over the course of the story. Personally I don't think that this is sufficient as these characters dying is only a very small amount of the story and the sequences aren't really that interested in focusing on sadness. It's much in the same vein as a scene near the beginning of the story where the protagonist's parental figures die.

 

There are some mind-breaking events or concepts in literature and in life in general. Some people can't handle them , but if you do face them head on you become a stronger person.

I'm talking about that moment where you go "HOLY SHIT" and you have to take time out to come to terms what just happened.

Also tragedy poses very difficult questions, there's this classic book I read about a terrorist group forcing a dude to bomb a hotel. They had his wife and lover under the gun.
What would I do in that situation? I dread to think

 

People like tragedies because it’s the most realistic way of story telling and the best way to evoke emotions in the reader.

 

It provides a different perspective, in a story sometimes it means that the author is willing to take chances. It is a great tool if done correctly and brings out the best in a story.

 

I guess I like to cry every once in a while but I also don't like to read tragedy all the time because it makes me sad. haha gotta balance it out.

 

Why?

Cause tragedies are often much closer to reality. After all, no 'happily ever after' endings exist in this world since every human would die one day, and the once 'happy' ending would somehow turn wistful. But that doesn't reduce the beauty of life.

And, tragedy makes the blissful, beautiful moments in a novel much more memorable. Ephemeral things left the most lasting impression, after all. Nostalgia simply taste divine; it left a lingering bittersweet aftertaste in your tongue that's impossible to forget.

As an appreciator of beauty, and life itself, of course tragedy sits on top of my reading list. Even if it tortures my heart.

 

You are a masochist


Depression is contagious. I rather avoid it but tragedy is a money maker.
Look at zombie and apocalypse stories which are very popular.
Tragedy for the sake of tragedy pisses me off because a story without a pay off fails as a story.
It's supposed to be entertainment. Real life is bad enough.
I would read non fiction if I want to be down ARRGHHH!!

 

I guess I like some tragedies, because it really shows the reality of a story. Some things which can't be changed or even when these characters try to fight against their destiny, fall back and succumb to their reality.

The Manwha "Immortal Regis" is one tragedy I have favor for. You can read a spoiler by reviewing the protagonists character profile here.

It's not entirely considered a tragedy depending who you converse with, but I consider Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory a tragedy.

 

Coz I hate cheesy romantic stories? And tragedy is definitely the opposite of that.

 

In my opinion there is reasonable tragedy and pointless tragedy.

Reasonable tragedy is something within the sphere of events which directly or indirectly apply to the characters.
Like a choice that one character made, comes bite them later in the story.

e.g. The Protagonist kills a would be assailant, assuming them to be the mastermind, but upon reveal that person was their beloved, being treated as a puppet by the true mastermind.

e.g. The Protagonists parents dies, by random gun fire from a bank being robbed across the street. The unrelated incident creates a dark view of life for the young protagonist.

Pointless tragedy is something that just happens to any passing character in the story. Like it could "literally happen to anyone"

e.g. Mob character is slaughtered by runaway monster.

e.g. Side Character is kidnapped and mistreated, just like mob characters in story.

 

Tragedy was one of great vehicles to transmit the questions of moral dilemas arising from the theme of the stories. As I was deeply emphathised with their struggles, that made me have to think all the more about the meaning of all that, was that right or wrong, why it became that terrible, what else could be done. The ends often left me witheven more questions to ponder, and a deep appreciation for the human capacity of goodness and life sanctity. (A beautiful Day, Gattaca, Tale of an Edible Girl, etc.,)
And admist all the swirling of despairs and darkness, those fleeting beautiful moments shine all the more and burnt my heart with indescribable emotion of both sorrow and joy. (Great Expectation, Great Gasby, No. 6, ects.)

 

I want to feel sadness once awhile, I wanna cry until my tears overflowing

Usually tragedy novels have good storytelling

 

tragedy is good as i don't cry nor feel sad anymore i just watch with cold eyes or bored eyes nowadays i watched so much tragedies that i transcends the emotion state and gone to the realm of huh so you died i saw that coming and warned you but you didn't believe me now how should i react ah i should feel sad and seek revenge or be alone for a while then move on and this things well i know that i will see my parents die in front of me and i am going to see my grand parents die too so why bother being sad when you know that will happen you just do what someone will do when they have a dead relative or loved ones right > ?

 

Tragedy doesn't have to be the end game of stories either. It can be a theme to propel the character to other means.

In "The Count of Monte Cristo", characters experience tragedy as a result, directly/ indirectly of their actions.

But the point of the story wasn't to highlight tragic moments, but to bequeath greater themes, of hope, justice, vengeance, mercy and forgiveness.

That even the vilest man can be forgiven. Pain is relative to one who has gone the arduous path, in hopes of justice for ideals they carry.

There's a lot that goes on and I implore others, who haven't read the story, to pick it up. And if reading blocks of text isn't your thing, then the Manga by Ena Moriyama could be up your alley.

Spoiler: May these few pictures incite your curiosity

 

That was wonderful, @Return. As you had achieved awareness of how ephemeral life was, and not too attached to suffered by its loss.
Tragedy often involved deaths, be it of the main character, side character, or background character.
But it just one part of the bigger theme of tragedy. Tragedy was more about how an individual facing the bigger unstoppable forces of authority violence, religion extremes, society herd mentality, discrimination, tides of changing time, fortune *cue O, Fortuna*, etcs.
The one good thing of tragedy was that most deaths were not meaningless, but the direct logical consequences of characters' previous acts, mistakes or inaction. Death often marked the tipping point where the house of card of good time was brought down. It alerted that something very wrong had been going on and the culmination of leaving it unchecked was someone's death. So then, the characters, often devastated by deaths of loved ones and greatly wounded by misfortune, were left with how they would face the consequences.
Here the juiciest part that all tragedy lover were suckers for. The characters could collapse by self-blame into oblivion; try to make peace with what happened: try to forgive, justify, or assimilate with the surroundings (no matter how creepy); try to escape; try to become better themselves; or try to furtively change it (read unstoppable forces). Whatever the choices they made, when cornered, humans would bare their truest selves, their strength of convinction, the best or the worst human were capable of commiting. *~panting roughly~*

 

Woah

there you sound like albedo there for a moment