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Very Short Introductions #522
Shakespeare's Tragedies: A Very Short Introduction
Tragedy, including grief, pain and suffering, is a common theme in Shakespeare's plays, often leading to the death of at least one character, if not several. Yet such themes can also be found in Shakespearian plays which are classed as comedies, or histories. What is it which makes a Shakespearian tragedy, and what dramatic themes and conventions did the bard draw upon when writing them?
In this Very Short Introduction Stanley Wells considers what is meant by the word 'tragedy', and discusses nine of Shakespeare's iconic tragic plays. He explores how the early definitions and theoretical discussions of the concept of tragedy in Shakespeare's time would have influenced these plays, along with the literary influence of Seneca. Wells also considers Shakespeare's uses of the word 'tragedy' itself, analysing whether he had any overall concept of the genre in relation to the drama, and looking at the ways in which the theatrical conventions of his time shaped his plays, such as the use of boy players in women's roles and the physical structures of the playhouses. Offering a critical analysis of each of the nine plays in turn, Wells concludes by discussing why tragedy is regarded as fit subject for entertainment, and what it is about tragic plays that audiences find so enjoyable.
ABOUT THE The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
In this Very Short Introduction Stanley Wells considers what is meant by the word 'tragedy', and discusses nine of Shakespeare's iconic tragic plays. He explores how the early definitions and theoretical discussions of the concept of tragedy in Shakespeare's time would have influenced these plays, along with the literary influence of Seneca. Wells also considers Shakespeare's uses of the word 'tragedy' itself, analysing whether he had any overall concept of the genre in relation to the drama, and looking at the ways in which the theatrical conventions of his time shaped his plays, such as the use of boy players in women's roles and the physical structures of the playhouses. Offering a critical analysis of each of the nine plays in turn, Wells concludes by discussing why tragedy is regarded as fit subject for entertainment, and what it is about tragic plays that audiences find so enjoyable.
ABOUT THE The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
160 pages, Paperback
Published June 13, 2017
21 people are currently reading
176 people want to read
About the author
Stanley Wells
188 books47 followersStanley William Wells, CBE, is a Shakespeare scholar and Chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
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May 6, 2023we really took the words "short" and introduction quite literally, huh?
April 29, 2021
Useful
Wells's analysis of Shakespeare's tragedies is quite good and the contextual information very helpful, but for a short book, too much time is revised to plot synopsis of the individual plays, which is a little tedious if you have already read them.
Wells's analysis of Shakespeare's tragedies is quite good and the contextual information very helpful, but for a short book, too much time is revised to plot synopsis of the individual plays, which is a little tedious if you have already read them.
November 1, 2017
There is not much new about this chronological account of some of the most exciting and still relevant material. There is not much more that could be said, in this very short format, other that compiling for of the most memorable quotations and listing off the most familiar film adaptations with a couple of sort of recognizable painting and sculpture to underline the dominance of these plays on Western and world cultures. Compared to Bart van Es’ expansive evaluation of the comedies, I approached this authoritative tome wanting a bit more than the occasional flash of insight. Good job, however, with calling Coriolanus Shakespeare’s greatest comedy, as I can still recall the strange sense of the absurd from when I first read the play, much like the dizzying sense of dread felt when reading Titus Andronicus, the Roman bookends to a remarkable career on stage.
March 8, 2025
As with all of the Short Introduction series, this covers a wide subject but distills it down into the key points and critical information needed to understand it. Wells provides a introduction to what a tragedy is and how they were portrayed in Shakespeare's time before diving into those written by the man himself, covering 10 plays in total. Each play gets its own chapter where the play is summarised (so there are spoilers if you don't know them but it has been 400 years) before breaking them down and explaining not only their basis and background, but how and what they show about the human condition. Wells also includes how they would've been portrayed on stage at the time, how this has changed over the years and how each one has influenced or been influenced during different times and in different places. And all of this is done is a very accessible and easy to read way, which given the subject matter (and the universal aversion to Shakespeare in-built by the forced reading during our formative years) is no easy task.
April 1, 2021
An good brief introduction to the plays termed Tragedies by the First Folio. It seems somewhat trite to say but I would have liked more. But then I love Shakespeare’s Tragedies. As such this didn’t really teach me anything I didn’t already know but as an introduction to Shakespeare’s work of this ‘type’ this is an excellent book
August 7, 2020
Once again, we revisit a title in my favorite source for mainlining quality information on niche topics, Oxford University Press’s “A Very Short Introduction” series of books. These guides are generally between one-hundred and two-hundred pages in length, and provide essential information on a specific topic or discipline without getting bogged down in minutiae or in attempts to be entertaining.
I’ve been reading (/rereading) the tragedies of Shakespeare, and thought the guide might give some insight into the background of the plays and the more obscure shifts in language and meaning. Which it did. I would say more the former than the latter. But it also brought up subjects that I wouldn’t have necessarily given much thought, such as how the nature of the theater of the day shaped the plays – e.g. what could and couldn’t be done and how it influenced the pacing.
The book consists of an introduction, eleven chapters, an epilogue, and the usual backmatter (i.e. references, recommended reading, index.) The introduction and first chapter together set the stage by explaining the nature of tragedy in literature and drama. The introduction deals more generally with the question of what is tragedy, while chapter one deals more specifically with theatric tragedies in Shakespeare’s time. The question of which of Shakespeare’s plays are tragedies, versus the other two genres of the day – comedies and histories, might seem straightforward, but it’s not. Some of Shakespeare’s tragedies are quite historical (e.g. “Julius Caesar”) and some of his comedies are fairly bleak (e.g. “The Winter’s Tale” and “Troilus and Cressida”) and his tragedies generally have comedic elements and language (e.g. see: “Hamlet.”)
Having established differed approaches to defining tragedies, the remaining ten chapters each take on one of Shakespeare’s tragedies in what is believed to be chronological order: “Titus Andronicus,” “Romeo & Juliet,” “Julius Caesar,” “Hamlet,” “Othello,” “MacBeth,” “King Lear,” “Timon of Athens,” “Anthony & Cleopatra,” and “Coriolanus.” For each play, the author discusses things such as how what was going on at the time and where Shakespeare was in his career play into the character of the plays. However, much of the page space is occupied by laying out each story. In that sense, this guide is probably most useful for someone who has minimal experience with these plays. However, one will learn about how the plays were received at the time and subsequently, a little about the modern retellings (i.e. film, mostly,) and a little bit about how these works fit in the context of Shakespeare, his contemporaries, and those he borrowed from.
Having recently read Bart van Es’s “Shakespeare’s Comedies: A Very Short Introduction,” I was thinking about which organizational scheme I preferred, between the two. Instead of organizing chapters by the play, as Wells does, van Es has chapters that are topically arranged -- covering subjects like setting, language, characters, the role of time, etc. It should be noted that there is a good reason for this difference in approach. There are more comedies (18, by some -- but not all -- counts) and some of them are “more comedic” than others, and so the topical arrangement is more sensible for a short book (i.e. it wouldn’t make sense to have 18 or more chapters in a book designed to be concise, and it wouldn’t be the best use of space to have full chapters to cover “problem comedies” or “tragi-comedies.”) Ultimately, I don’t know that I have a preference. Both clearly have advantages, and I thought each approach was sensible for its subject.
A brief epilogue delves into why we are even interested in reading tragedies – Shakespearean or otherwise. As might be expected of an epilogue in such a concise guide, the author doesn’t bother arguing for a decisive answer, but rather presents a few alternatives in basic outline. The book has a few plates of artwork that take their subjects from the works of Shakespeare, notably paintings by the poet / artist William Blake.
I’d recommend this book as an accompanying guide for those reading through Shakespeare’s tragedies. It may prove slightly more beneficial for readers with limited experience of the works. However, even those who’ve read, watched, and reread the plays are likely to learn something new.
I’ve been reading (/rereading) the tragedies of Shakespeare, and thought the guide might give some insight into the background of the plays and the more obscure shifts in language and meaning. Which it did. I would say more the former than the latter. But it also brought up subjects that I wouldn’t have necessarily given much thought, such as how the nature of the theater of the day shaped the plays – e.g. what could and couldn’t be done and how it influenced the pacing.
The book consists of an introduction, eleven chapters, an epilogue, and the usual backmatter (i.e. references, recommended reading, index.) The introduction and first chapter together set the stage by explaining the nature of tragedy in literature and drama. The introduction deals more generally with the question of what is tragedy, while chapter one deals more specifically with theatric tragedies in Shakespeare’s time. The question of which of Shakespeare’s plays are tragedies, versus the other two genres of the day – comedies and histories, might seem straightforward, but it’s not. Some of Shakespeare’s tragedies are quite historical (e.g. “Julius Caesar”) and some of his comedies are fairly bleak (e.g. “The Winter’s Tale” and “Troilus and Cressida”) and his tragedies generally have comedic elements and language (e.g. see: “Hamlet.”)
Having established differed approaches to defining tragedies, the remaining ten chapters each take on one of Shakespeare’s tragedies in what is believed to be chronological order: “Titus Andronicus,” “Romeo & Juliet,” “Julius Caesar,” “Hamlet,” “Othello,” “MacBeth,” “King Lear,” “Timon of Athens,” “Anthony & Cleopatra,” and “Coriolanus.” For each play, the author discusses things such as how what was going on at the time and where Shakespeare was in his career play into the character of the plays. However, much of the page space is occupied by laying out each story. In that sense, this guide is probably most useful for someone who has minimal experience with these plays. However, one will learn about how the plays were received at the time and subsequently, a little about the modern retellings (i.e. film, mostly,) and a little bit about how these works fit in the context of Shakespeare, his contemporaries, and those he borrowed from.
Having recently read Bart van Es’s “Shakespeare’s Comedies: A Very Short Introduction,” I was thinking about which organizational scheme I preferred, between the two. Instead of organizing chapters by the play, as Wells does, van Es has chapters that are topically arranged -- covering subjects like setting, language, characters, the role of time, etc. It should be noted that there is a good reason for this difference in approach. There are more comedies (18, by some -- but not all -- counts) and some of them are “more comedic” than others, and so the topical arrangement is more sensible for a short book (i.e. it wouldn’t make sense to have 18 or more chapters in a book designed to be concise, and it wouldn’t be the best use of space to have full chapters to cover “problem comedies” or “tragi-comedies.”) Ultimately, I don’t know that I have a preference. Both clearly have advantages, and I thought each approach was sensible for its subject.
A brief epilogue delves into why we are even interested in reading tragedies – Shakespearean or otherwise. As might be expected of an epilogue in such a concise guide, the author doesn’t bother arguing for a decisive answer, but rather presents a few alternatives in basic outline. The book has a few plates of artwork that take their subjects from the works of Shakespeare, notably paintings by the poet / artist William Blake.
I’d recommend this book as an accompanying guide for those reading through Shakespeare’s tragedies. It may prove slightly more beneficial for readers with limited experience of the works. However, even those who’ve read, watched, and reread the plays are likely to learn something new.
October 28, 2024
Analytically bare, intellectually shallow, weighed down by numbing lengthy synopsis and overquotation, plagued by turns full of banal bardolatry.
The whole of Wells' Shakespeare's Tragedies reads like a school literary analysis essay, with all its fetters of formal structure and proof-through-quotation requirements. (This is not a compliment. It is also its one redeeming feature; I can see it being of great use to students in a hurry.)
The prefaces in Oxford's Clarendon Press's The Complete Works manage to do the same job in greatly fewer words - bizarrely, considering Wells co-edited them.
It's unreasonable to expect great and challenging depths from any of the Very Short Introductions, by their nature. Yet, as a minimum, one espects a cohesiveness of vision, the take of an impassioned professional in the field summarizing and narrating - something that can be intellectually enriching, even if it happens to be a rehash of known information. This is not that.
Also, I am not going to trust anyone who puts Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet in their list of recommended film adaptations.
The whole of Wells' Shakespeare's Tragedies reads like a school literary analysis essay, with all its fetters of formal structure and proof-through-quotation requirements. (This is not a compliment. It is also its one redeeming feature; I can see it being of great use to students in a hurry.)
The prefaces in Oxford's Clarendon Press's The Complete Works manage to do the same job in greatly fewer words - bizarrely, considering Wells co-edited them.
It's unreasonable to expect great and challenging depths from any of the Very Short Introductions, by their nature. Yet, as a minimum, one espects a cohesiveness of vision, the take of an impassioned professional in the field summarizing and narrating - something that can be intellectually enriching, even if it happens to be a rehash of known information. This is not that.
Also, I am not going to trust anyone who puts Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet in their list of recommended film adaptations.
May 22, 2022
3.5 rounded down.
Thought I’d read this before my Tragedy exam on Monday as a refresher. Decent introduction to Shakespeare’s tragedies with some insightful comments and context, but would have benefited from more time devoted to the Bard’s conception of the ‘tragic’ rather than predominantly just going over his plots.
Thought I’d read this before my Tragedy exam on Monday as a refresher. Decent introduction to Shakespeare’s tragedies with some insightful comments and context, but would have benefited from more time devoted to the Bard’s conception of the ‘tragic’ rather than predominantly just going over his plots.
July 17, 2021
While Shakespeare's Tragedies was easier to understand than Shakespeare's Sonnets and Poems: A Very Short Introduction, I didn't find the book extremely helpful in that it didn't provide as much analysis or context as I would have liked.
June 6, 2018
Good for what it is. I assigned a chapter for my students to become familiar with Romeo and Juliet, and it was right for the task.
April 24, 2024
A great reference for anyone wanting to learn more about Shakespeare’s tragedies
May 16, 2024
solid
sometimes wrong
sometimes wrong
July 16, 2025
4.5 stars ✨
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews