Description:
Joseph Meeker is a biologist who turned his talents to the study of literature. His contributions have an ecological and evolutionary flavor and can be classified as eco-criticism.
Tragedy, Meeker says, is characterized by a struggle between the hero and forces greater than themselves. These forces may be Nature, the gods, fate, passionate love, hatred, morality, injustice, and so on. The hero invariably dies in his attempts to overcome these obstacles, and receives a heavenly and/or earthly reward of remembrance for his sacrifice. The prerequisite for tragedy, according to Meeker, is that the universe cares about the suffer
Joseph Meeker is a biologist who turned his talents to the study of literature. His contributions have an ecological and evolutionary flavor and can be classified as eco-criticism.
Tragedy, Meeker says, is characterized by a struggle between the hero and forces greater than themselves. These forces may be Nature, the gods, fate, passionate love, hatred, morality, injustice, and so on. The hero invariably dies in his attempts to overcome these obstacles, and receives a heavenly and/or earthly reward of remembrance for his sacrifice. The prerequisite for tragedy, according to Meeker, is that the universe cares about the sufferings of these extraordinary tragic heroes.
Meeker also argues that this tragic mode of behavior is a cultural artifact and is somewhat "unnatural." People are not born with a predisposition to die for a cause; they are taught to do so, or they imitate examples of ostensible heroes found in Classic and Renaissance literature.
Comedy, on the other, hand is found wherever humans are. The author suggests that comedy is universal; genetically-based, and therefore natural. Comedy is about avoiding conflict and inevitably seeking a compromise such that would ensure your survival. Under the comic mode of behavior, there is nothing for which it is worth dying.
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Manufacturer: International College, Guild of Tutors Press
Release date: 23 April 1974
ISBN-10 : 0896150488 |
ISBN-13: 9780896150485
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