Neil Bowen on
Tennessee Williams wrote to Kazan during rehearsals of the first production: "There are no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ people... It is a tragedy with the classic aim of producing a catharsis of pity and terror and in order to do that, Blanche must finally have the understanding and compassion of the audience. This without creating a black-dyed villain in Stanley."
The conventions of the tragic hero (as defined by Aristotle, and used by Shakespeare) require:
the protagonist to be a character of great importance to his society and culture. His character is generally better than most but not perfect.
his downfall is caused by a serious character flaw or an over-riding passion which causes him to make a fatal error of judgement.
Supernatural powers or gods may prophesy his fall or he may anger the gods by disregarding their laws.
The plot of a tragedy traces the tragic fall of the hero from a state of happiness, through a disastrous reversal of fortune, to the depths of misery.
Before his death he may experience an epiphany (a moment of truth and understanding), fully comprehending the reality of his situation for the first time.
We should be able to identify with the tragic hero, feeling pity for his misfortune, which is more than he deserves, but also feeling alarm because we recognise similar flaws in ourselves.
Overall his story should leave us feeling not depressed but relieved and wiser for the experience. It should be CATHARTIC (The male pronoun is used for this definition because Greek and Shakespearian tragic heroes are almost exclusively male.)
‘…the classical tragic hero was usually a person of stature who is undone either by some personal flaw, such as hubris, or by the will of the gods…In modern tragedy the emphasise is not so much on a struggle against fate or some tragic flaw but on a conflict with social, hereditary, psychological or environmental forces.’ (from ‘The Readers Encyclopedia)
‘A play which presents the occurrence and the effects of a great misfortune suffered by an individual, and reverberating in society. Earlier, this required a great person as protagonist, but modern writers have attempted to confer tragic status on ordinary people. The fundamental purpose of tragedy (reminding us of its origins in religious ritual) was claimed by Aristotle to be the ‘awakening of pity and fear’, a sense of wonder and awe at human potential, including the potential for suffering; it makes or implies an assertion of human value in the face of a hostile universe.’ (from ‘The Cambridge Encyclopedia)