Tragedy is realism in its most poignant and persuasive form. The power of realism lies in its ability not only to mirror humanity with aching truth but to appeal to the subconscious, eliciting an emotional reaction that is innate and intimate. Tragedy is a realism altered through “language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament” that encourages a paradigm shift in thinking. In presenting Thalia and Melpomene, the extremes of the human psyche, the traditional tragedy could connect to it’s audience’s very consciousness. Our understanding of self is altered when we see it reflected back at us. This is the profundity of realism, thus through the tragic hero, audiences are allowed the opportunity to understand the human truths they both fear and long to recognise. Shakespeare’s King Lear, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams and Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan align in the functioning of their tragic heroes and heroines. All trigger their own destruction, all are plagued by a commanding desire for worth, sense, purpose in a world where there is little. Their audiences are communicated to- through realism’s striking effect- the paradox that is both our fuel and our downfall. In the fear that our lives and existence mean nothing, we become obsessed with the idea of everything.

Shakespeare’s perfect tragedy reveals humanity’s flaw to look externally, denying our own responsibility over our own lives. “The King falls from bias of nature”, with an ignorant narcissism born from constant endorsement, Lear lacks the sight vital in confronting his own flaws. He experiences a peripeteia due to this and his belief in his own invincibility. After experiencing a storm that symbolizes “the tempest in my mind” and losing all he deems valuable, he realizes that “No eyes in your head…yet you see how this world goes” because in a world compelled by societal order and expectation, the only way to experience truth is to “see it feelingly”. Without the protection of “robes and fur gowns”, he realizes that “I stumbled when I saw.” Only in being “drenched” by “this pitiless storm” and ridding himself of his title and regalia can Lear recognise the truth that he is but a man, no more and no less. No crown or illusive order can protect him from the inevitability of suffering and consequence. Shakespeare reveals to his audience that our desperation to look externally and value propriety over truth results in a lack of ownership over the course of our own lives. In this “great stage of fools”, Lear’s tragedy compels us to “speak what we feel and not what we ought to say”, because everywhere, is the dangerous inclination to abide by futile expectation.

Tragedy reveals that “We are only what we always were but naked now…” (Miller, The Crucible). Arthur Miller’s manipulation of the tragic hero drew from Shakespeare’s imitation, developing further the disparity between what is valuable and what “we must obey” (King Lear, a.5 s.3). The Crucible reveals that in a society dictated by a yearning for order and purpose, we reject the inevitably imperfect nature of humanity because “a person is either with this court or against it there be no road between…we live no longer in the dusky afternoon where evil mixed itself with good.” John Proctor is a “sinner against his own vision of decent conduct” and falls due to an unrelenting pride. Like Lear, he is guilty of causing his own destruction in being conditioned never to question his own virtue. Despite knowing that it will cause his death, he refuses to confess to witchcraft “because it speaks deceit and I am honest!” He values his prestige over the possibility to live further “because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! … I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” In valuing his name over his soul, he gives up life for distinction. Miller comments, through Proctor’s tragedy, on the way we are urged by the illusion that we should be more than we are, that we must reach for more than is before us. His tragedy reveals the reality that this “sharp” and “precise” line between ‘good and evil’ is a conviction born from a fear of oblivion, of having no purpose to dictate our existence. It is one that creates good citizens, but bad human beings. Both Lear and Proctor learn too late that in looking externally, we adorn ourselves in names and duties, pride and purpose, reluctant to admit that the reality of being human is transitory. Miller illustrates the way abiding by impossible expectations of transcendence is a catalyst for tragedy as we always fall short in our humanity.

Tennessee Williams added vitality to the tragic hero through the incurably flawed Blanche DuBois. A Streetcar Named Desire, through complex psychological realism, suggests the idea that tragedy is not a measurable happening. It is an internal unravelling. While Lear and Proctor are endorsed, Blanche is a heroine taught to suppress, thus the tragedy of womanhood is one that happens intrinsically. Blanche is made into what she is by a cruel society that “abused her and forced her to change.” Knowing that her worth is measured by the affection of others, she lives with the desperation to be wanted, to fulfil the intricate and conflicting expectations placed on her as a woman. Her tragedy is an intrinsic shattering at the hands of a society who use her and then ostracize her for being used. Blanche’s hamartia is an inclination to run from truth because “I don’t want realism, I want magic!…and if that is sinful then let me be damned for it!” She is told by the world “to take a streetcar named Desire, and transfer to one called Cemeteries, and ride six blocks and get off at —Elysian Fields!” On the streetcar named Desire, she must be the desirable. Upon reaching the expiry date of her desirability, she transfers to “one called Cemeteries” because “death is the opposite of desire”, without it she is nothing. Her final stop is Elysian Fields, where Greek heroes could go to rest after their death. Ironically, the only way she can experience relief is by losing touch with reality all together. Blanche’s psychological tragedy reinvents what we see established by Shakespeare and Miller, his audience is made to realize the cause and dire effect of illusion in a world where you are convinced to throw everything you have into giving the world what others want from you, when what they want is impossible. Williams’ audience is confronted with the human proclivity to impose expectations so violent, that our tragedy is losing ourselves and our minds in the pursuit of being something we cannot. 

Like Blanche, Darren Aronofsky’s tragic heroine, Nina, is flawed by the desires and expectations of others. Black Swan builds from Tennessee Williams’ illusion driven tragedy yet takes it further, revealing the sometimes complementary nature of illusion and reality, tragedy and triumph. Nina is a replaceable ballerina who, in being “thrown to the wolves” strives to be validated by them. In an revised performance of Swan Lake, she is expected to “play both” the Black and the White Swan, be both innocent and seductive, vulnerable and powerful as the ballet company’s “little princess”. The pressure to meet the demands of “not just the prince. The court, the audience, the whole world”, ultimately drive an obsession with perfection that kills her. Nina’s peripeteia is reversed, she crumbles into insanity while all her audience sees is a perfect ballerina twirling on her pedestal. She simultaneously becomes both extraordinary and broken. This stark juxtaposition between what is seen and what is hidden positions the audience to recognize the danger in putting value in only the visible as it sets us up for tragic success. Just as John Proctor sacrifices the possibility of living to maintain his name, as Blanche and Lear lose their minds stretched on “the rack of this tough world”, Nina sacrifices everything she is for the illusion of perfection. It is worth more than her potential to be more, in the true sense of the word, rather than the materialsm we have made it into.

In reflecting on the formidable thread that runs through these four tragedies, their audiences are communicate to a warning of the human condition. Shakespeare, Miller, Williams and Aronofsky speak to the human desire for more. We unknowingly contribute to a society in which we feed an insatiable hunger, constantly stretching ourselves to gain some unknown and impossible reward. These tragedies warn us of the line we continuously trip over between having everything and having nothing. It is a tragedy that we are all capable of whether we are the pursued or the pursuing; the society or the hero made tragic by it.  Through recognizing ourselves in these four tragic protagonists, a shift in our thinking is triggered, influencing us to understand that human life is not quantifiable. Rather than reaching in vain for illusive purpose, we are encouraged to experience the fullness of life by appreciating the immeasurable, the present and the unpredictable.