Tragedy Versus Melodrama

T.S Eliot’s quote concerning the “delay … which is inevitable” within the genre of melodrama is indeed correct, however it is not particularly inherent within Tragedy other than the possible mention of the Tragic Hero’s fatal flaw, or “Achilles heel” if you will. This shall be further discussed with reference to Aristotle’s Poetics, Tennessee Williams A Streetcar Named Desire, the television episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful and of course a comparison and contrast between the genres of Tragedy and Melodrama.

Tragedy, from the word tragoida, can be described as a struggle of an intellectual individual (generally of high status), otherwise known as the “tragic hero”, against the inevitability of death. At the heart of the tragedy is the choice of the aforementioned individual, fluctuating between the two tragic situations; these being the misunderstanding of reality and the conflict of interest between two obvious opposing principles. The main character of a ...