Aspects of tragedy - specimen question commentary

What follows is an explanation of how a question taken from the specimen assessment material addresses the assessment objectives and some suggestions of how the task might be approached. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every point that could be made but it gives teachers and students some guidance that will support their work on this paper.

Paper 1A, Section C

The final type of question on Paper 1A invites debate around an aspect of tragedy, but now two texts have to be considered in relation to an argument. While the two texts do not necessarily need to be written about absolutely equally, and while they do not need to be compared, there needs to be substantial coverage of both texts and the texts will be connected through a focus on the task. As this is a closed book exam students will need to know their texts very well and be able to recall specific details that can be used in their responses.

Sample Question

'At the heart of the tragic experience is an overwhelming sense of shame.'

To what extent do you agree with this view in relation to two texts you have studied?

Remember to include in your answer relevant comment on the ways the writers have shaped meanings.

How the question meets the Assessment Objectives:

In this question, as in all questions, all the assessment objectives are assessed. The key words and terms in the question are: to what extent, relevant comment, ways, and these are clearly connected to the assessment objectives. Students also need to engage with 'the heart of the tragic experience' and 'overwhelming sense of shame'.

AO1 will be tested through the way students construct their arguments and express their ideas. AO2 is set up in the requirement for students to write about "the ways the writers have shaped meanings".  AO3 will be addressed through the students showing their understanding of both the dramatic and tragic contexts in which these texts have been produced and received. When they discuss 'shame' they will be operating in a moral context.  A wider understanding of the tragic impact of shame, whether or not it is overwhelming (for characters and readers) and at the heart of the tragic experience, will allow students to target AO4. AO5 will be addressed when students assess the viewpoint that "an overwhelming sense of shame" is at the "heart of the tragic experience", when they consider interpretations of these key concepts, and decide to what extent they agree.

Possible text combinations:

There are various combinations of texts that students might use when answering this question. What follows is a brief outline of how the task might be approached using two possible textual pairings. This is not provided as a full answer but it gives teachers and students some ideas about some of the points that might be explored.

Example 1: Death of a Salesman and Tess of the D'Urbervilles

It could be argued that, in both of these texts, shame is the main driver of the action and is at the heart of the tragic experience. It could also be argued that shame is overwhelming. Tess continually moves on, propelled by her shame, as her past catches up with her. Her shame at her parents, at her "impurity", her part in the death of Prince and her return to Alec are all key factors in building to the novel's tragic dénouement. Students will be able to debate the nature of this shame: whether it is a result of Tess' purity, or a reflection of the hypocrisy with which she is treated. It might also be worth discussing the role that shame plays in Angel's behaviour. He is too ashamed to stay with Tess when he learns of her past sexual encounter with Alec, and then so ashamed of his behaviour (his abandoning and cruelly misjudging her) that he returns to her and stays by her side to the end. In contrast, Alec rarely exhibits any shame, although his behaviour is, to most readers, the most shameful.

Willy Loman, too, is ashamed of himself and it could be said that it overwhelms him and the play's tragic experience. Whether or not his shame is justified is debatable. Miller suggests that its source could be external and therefore the shame Willy feels is not commensurate with what he does. Willy is ashamed of his lack of success and of his inability to support his family. He is also ashamed of his affairs. Willy's sons are another source of shame for him and students may also want to explore the extent to which his shame is assimilated by them.

In both texts, characters do not tell the truth at significant moments, because they are ashamed to do so. Writing about the social mechanism by which shame is inculcated in the protagonists (religion or ideas surrounding gender identity, for example) will help students to develop their understanding of the variety of meanings that the texts open up. The idea that characters are "overwhelmed" by forces beyond their control should be familiar to students sitting an exam about tragedy.

Example 2: Richard II and the selection of Keats' poetry

Candidates may explore several rich seams in Richard II that concern shame. Richard is not alone in believing that Bolingbroke's rebellion is shameful in the eyes of heaven; York, himself shamed in the eyes of the audience when he shifts allegiance, is in turn ashamed of the similar behaviour of Aumerle; John of Gaunt expresses the shame that the nobility feels at the decline in England's status since the death of Edward III; Bolingbroke may be said to be motivated by shame at his exile and his later disenfranchisement. These are all valid and relevant points, which may form a significant part of an argument in response to this question, though whether an overwhelming sense of shame is at the heart of the tragic experience, is of course debatable. In writing about any of the above ideas students will need to consider the roles of sub-plots, historical context and peripheral characters in tragedies in a wider sense.  

In order to explore the "heart" of the tragedy, it would be sensible to focus on the protagonist, Richard. There is much to debate here. For the majority of the play, Richard expresses no shame at all. Quite the opposite seems to be the case: analysis of his high-handedness, his isolation from most of the sympathetic characters and his hubris are likely to be good points to discuss. However, debate is possible in relation to his capitulation and abdication in Act IV. Are they rooted in a feeling of shame or just in a pragmatic acceptance of defeat? Richard is shamed by events, his shaming is part of his tragic downfall, but even when in prison, the extent to which he is ashamed of himself is very much open to question. Does the phrase "heart of the tragic experience" imply something that occurs within a character, or within those watching that character? Precise explanations of the impact of these ideas on the audience and an exploration of their contribution to the tragic effect will be useful in terms of the question.

A valid connection with the Keats selection can be made here. In 'Lamia' and 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci', the tragic protagonists, Lamia, Lycius and the Knight-at-Arms are all shamed by their behaviour or by what befalls them  in that they are brought low in the eyes of society. The knight can no longer fight, Lamia is removed from the setting in which she has power, and Lycius rejects his mentor and teacher, Apollonius. As with Richard II, the distinction between being shamed and feeling shame might provide an interesting focus for the debate. Candidates might argue that the knight, for example, is devoid of all emotion in his suspended state, or that Lamia takes pride in her descent into Corinth. Readers may expect these characters to feel shame at their actions, but the characters' behaviour suggests otherwise. The one time that a character behaves as if he is truly ashamed of himself is the moment in Lamia when Lycius hides his face from Apollonius. An exploration of why Lycius feels this shame is likely to advance an argument in response to this question very well.

In either text, shame could be construed to be a symptom of the tragic fall. Some candidates might argue that this does not put it at the heart of the tragic experience, as other factors, such as death or isolation, are equally – or more associated with the process. Some may argue that being ashamed implies self-awareness and they may hence connect the moment at which the protagonists' hubris is undercut (in classical terms, their anagnorisis) to a growing or sudden sense of shame. This moment may very accurately be said to be at the "heart of the tragic experience". Finally, candidates may well wish to explore audience reactions: how does the shaming of a character that we are initially invited to dislike (in Richard's case) or sympathise with (in Lycius') develop the pity and terror that we might expect to experience at the end of a tragedy?

This resource is part of the Aspects of tragedy resource package.