Greek and Shakespearian Drama

Classic movies and stories often incorporate elements of either tragedy or comedy. A classic modern tragedy is Gone with the Wind. The main character, Scarlett O’Hara, never learns and doubles down on her destructive behavior. The ending is sad, indeed. Conversely, comedies have happy endings.

What is the point?

Tragedies and comedies help us make sense of human experience. Leland Ryken notes that the exaggerated content encourages wisdom and virtue. A tragedy shocks our sensibilities, causing us to think more deeply about life. A comedy gently nudges us toward what is true, good, and beautiful. It helps us appreciate and love what should be valued.

William Shakespeare’s dramas are entertaining and unforgettable experiences. Some are haunting and serve as warnings to the reader. Who can forget Macbeth’s attempt to cleanse his hands of the blood he shed?

When C.S. Lewis was a child in Ireland during the early 20th century, he would read Shakespeare’s plays for entertainment. One of Lewis’s biographers, Dr. Harry Lee Poe, observed that attending a Shakespearean play was akin to watching a movie today.

If you plan on reading Shakespeare to your kids, read a couple of the best Greek dramas first. They form the foundation of the tradition that Shakespeare built upon. Tragedies like Oedipus Rex (Oedipus the King) and Antigone by Sophocles are the greatest dramas ever written. One commentator noted that the plot of Oedipus Rex might be the best.

The stories are not only gripping and entertaining, but lessons are apparent. (Antigone’s uncle Creon is a parable for power’s corrupting influence and the dangers of pride.)

In closing, Leland Ryken made an invaluable point about the difference between Greek and Shakespearean dramas: the focal point of Greek dramas is fate, while Shakespeare emphasizes human responsibility. In the former, the main characters had no final say in what happened to them; in the latter’s work, it’s as Sir Walter Scott so famously wrote: “Oh what a tangled web we weave….”