There is Some Good In Tragedy

Tragedy is something that people usually see as pure sadness and misfortune. However, there is some good that comes with unfortunate events. This is something that Joseph Krutch mentions in The Tragic Fallacy. "We accept gladly the outward defeats which it describes for the sake of the inward victories which it reveals." (Krutch, 3) 
 
If a story is to be remembered, it must have a happy ending. All good stories have some kind of positive ending. No one wants to read a story that has absolutely no happiness to it whatsoever. Even tragedy has some happiness included in it. It is definitely harder to see than other types of stories, since tragedies are always quite sad. Sometimes you even have to really sit and think about how a certain tragedy might have something positive in it, but it is possible to find something. Let's look at Oedipus Rex, for example. That is a disturbing tragedy in which Oedipus discovered that he married his mom and had four kids with her. This particular story could be an example of a tragedy that might be very difficult to uncover anything positive. If you really think about it, you could say that at least Oedipus found out the truth about his family, and his mom discovered that her son was alive and they were reunited so, that could be considered good. The only problem being that they did not like the truth about their family, and everyone in the town of Thebes came to despise Oedipus and what he did. However, his uncle / brother in law showed some sympathy, making the ending a tiny bit happier. Joseph Krutch mentions a couple other tragedies and how they have happiness in them, in The Tragic Fallacy. "Juliet died, but not before she had shown how great and resplendent a thing love could be; Othello plunged the dagger into his own breast, but not before he had revealed that greatness of soul which makes his death seem unimportant." (3) Even when it comes to tragedy, you can always look on the bright side.




 

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