The past few millennia have seen man explore the human condition through various forms of art. From as early as rock paintings to theatre, to modern music now - it is evident to see that by capturing society through out time, one is able to closely analyze what it is that makes humans tick. Greek theatre addressed the duality of human nature, and this can easily be seen by the two masks representing comedy, and tragedy. ### Comedy is our hope. Our belief that things can be better and our desires for entertainment, and even assurance. Tragedy is our wake up call. That things aren't all ### "sunshine and rainbows". Tragedy shows flawed heroes that the audience can relate to. Tragedy, instigated by ### violence, agitated grievance, injustice and deep loss are all presented in Euripides revenge tragedy 'Medea'.
The revenge tragedy is a form of genre. Certainly a genre is dynamic, fluid and subject to change over time.
Euripides
English: Fragment from a vellum codex of Euripides...
Title page of the Quarto edition of The Spanish Tr...This is because it is adapted by composers to suit a particular context or cultural ideology or even the composers own ideology. Genre may also change owing to political, social and economic factors. The genre of revenge tragedy has continued to evolve over time because its theme of the universal timeless impulse of revenge strikes responsive chords in society at large, thus composers have always been drawn to this genre.
However before discussing the revenge tragedy we must understand exactly what it is. Fore mostly, a tragedy is defined as a serious play in which the main character, along with many others, perishes upon completion of the play. A modern critic, Bonamy Dobree defines tragedy as ### 'the trial of a person's individual strength. The protagonist must be able to put up a fight, which is often against a flaw in...