The Transition From Plot To Character
In the tragic plays of Sophecles and Shakespeare we witness a shift in the emphasis from plot to character respectively. In Ancient Greek tragedy the emphasis is placed on dramatic action and plot to which the element of character is necessarily subordinate. In Shakespearean tragedy we witness not merely a shift but a reversal of this trend. Critics have all but unanimously treated Shakespeare as a genius of character development. Indeed, one modern critic has gone as far as to attribute to Shakespeare an extended role in the development of the modern individual (i.e. Bloom in Shakespeare and the Invention of the Human). The switch in emphasis from plot to character over the centuries is exhibited in Sophecles Oedipus and Shakespeare’s Hamlet. This paper will address this shift in emphasis as it is presented in the respective plays and will also offer speculation as to why the shift in emphasis from plot to character took place over the centuries.
A now famous piece of critical scholarship on Shakespeare named Shakespeare our contemporary. Indeed, the plays of Shakespeare and especially Hamlet have a modern feel that is undeniable. Modern audiences feel close to Hamlet and his problems of selfhood. As Shakespearean scholarship evinces, it is easy to confuse Shakespeare’s characters with actual people. Some critics have gone as far as to confuse themselves with the character of Hamlet, i.e. Coleridge. However, when we step into the world of Greek tragedy we step into a world that is quite different from ours. We feel the breadth of the centuries that separate us from this culture. In order to approach Greek tragedy we have to forget or at least attempt to bracket our modern emphasis on the psychology of the individual. Our modern emphasis on character is perhaps out of place when we enter the world of Greek Tragedy: “Modern audiences, brought up on post-Romantic literatu...