Greek Tragedy

>>7370978
Kierkegaard believed that a tragedy is great because of the ambiguity as to whether a tragic hero erred and incurred his own punishment, or whether he was fated to be punished from the beginning.

Crucially, if the tragedy is entirely the hero's fault (he is totally capable of determining his own fate) then the dramatic element disappears. There's no use agonizing over somebody who willingly chose to do the wrong thing with no fate involved.

write an autobiography

>>7370978
Read Aristotle's Poetics. I pretty certain it wasn't designed as advice for playwrights, but it will likely have all the information you need.

I like a good contemporary tragedy that's not too melodramatic or formal. A lot of Ibsen is like that, so those tend to be my favourites.

>>7371003
best ibsen play?

>>7371007
A Doll's House. :^)

>>7370978
Aristotle wrote down the formula for what constituted a tragedy
nobody really follows the formula anymore because once everybody follows a formula then everything becomes formulaic and audiences get bored

The Bacchae, and Agamemnon: proof that literature could still be based 2500 years ago.

>>7371007
NOT A Doll's House.

Rosmersholm is great. An Enemy of the People is fantastic. Ghosts is also great.