A comparative study of Euripides’s Alcestis, Sutherland’s Edufa and Soyinka’s death and the king’s horseman in the light of Aristotle’s definition of tragedy

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2000-02-05
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Abstract
Aristotle’s Poetics is a literary discourse which explores the ingredients of a good work of literature. Consequently, therefore, the Poetics did not die with its author but has lived through marked literary epochs and is still of immense importance and value to the world of literature. Aristotle’s pre-occupation in his Poetics is with drama and its sub-divisions, namely, comedy and tragedy. The Aristotelian concept of tragedy was first handed down to the Greeks, especially to renowned Greek playwrights like Sophocles, Euripides, Aeschylus and others. However, with time, this concept has been utilised in different ways by various generations and cultures. It must be noted, however, that in all generations and cultures, the tragic situation is attained by skillfully putting together the tragic action in order to achieve the tragic feelings of pity and fear. This thesis is an exercise in comparative literature which compares Greek and African literature; specifically Greek and African tragedy, in the light of Aristotle’s concept of tragedy. It looks at the extent to which these two traditions, namely, Greek and African, adhere to or deviate from the concept of tragedy as given by Aristotle. The thesis further throws some light on the post classical period to see to what extent the post classical tragedy conform to Aristotle’s concept of tragedy. Marlowe and Shakespeare are used for this purpose. The major finding of this comparative analysis is that whether consciously or unconsciously, tragedy of all times owes some degree of allegiance to Aristotle’s concept of tragedy. The thesis reinforces the argument that the classical idea, even though it may have undergone several mutations with time, continues to date. Various exercises in comparative literature may have been done but the plays that have been selected studied and analysed in this thesis have not been so analysed by any other author yet. Herein lies the originality of this work.
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A thesis submitted to the Board of Postgraduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of Master of Arts Degree in Comparative Literature, 2000
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