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Tragedy Worksheets, Examples & Definition

A tragedy is both an event that causes sadness or disaster, and a tragedy is a kind of story that deals with unhappy endings and sad events.

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A tragedy is both an event that causes sadness or disaster, and a tragedy is a kind of story that deals with unhappy endings and sad events. In tragedies or tragic stories that deal with unhappy events, the main character usually goes through a considerable amount of suffering and then dies at the end of the story.

The tragedy was very popular with the Greeks, who put on plays about powerful people with happy lives. In these Greek plays that were tragedies, these powerful characters went through hardships and became poor. The Greeks idea of the play helps us understand how we understand tragedies in writing.

In literature, the term literary tragedy has a very specific set of rules, characteristics, and features. A literary tragedy must be a written piece of work or a story. This tragedy must also have noble characters who face or struggle against powerful obstacles.

These obstacles or hurdles to overcome came either be other people, situations, or things; however, these obstacles can also come from within the character, meaning from their own mind or emotions. If there is a major event that presents a challenge to the character, we mark this point of the story as a reversal of fortune, which also can be thought of as a change in luck.

For example, imagine that your day starts off wonderfully. The sun is shining. You get a good grade on your quiz, and someone gives you candy. Suddenly, it starts to rain. You find out that the teacher mixed up your quiz and you actually got a zero on the quiz, and the candy makes you sick. From this example, you can see the reversal of fortune, or how your luck changes from good to bad.

It is common for the main character in a tragedy to have what is called a tragic flaw. The tragic flaw is a weakness that causes the character’s downfall or death. This tragic flaw could be pride, greed, uncontrollable rage, indecisiveness, or jealousy. The flaw almost always contributes to the tragic character’s sad ending. Hubris, or extreme pride, is a very popular tragic flaw found in the main characters of tragedies.

Tragedies have a heartbreaking ending. While many tragic stories end in death, a tragic story does not always have to end in death. These kinds of stories can end in chaos or destruction. However, in many cases, the main character accepts the fact that he made a mistake and caused many of the sad events throughout the story. This is usually referred to as self-awareness. The tragic main character is aware of what he has down and his tragic flaw(s).

Unlike older tragedies, the modern-day tragedy is a little different. While modern tragedies still have characters who face challenges and have a flaw that contributes to their downfall, modern tragedies do not have to have a main character who is rich or from a noble family. Tragedies now can show everyday people. These modern tragedies still show suffering, pain, and character flaws.

Examples of tragedies:  

–The Hunchback of Notre Dame

-Romeo and Juliet

-Titanic

-Hamlet

-A Series of Unfortunate Events

-Frankenstein

-The Hunger Games

-The Great Gatsby

-The Lovely Bones

-The Time Traveler’s Wife

-Braveheart

Tragedy Worksheets

This bundle contains 5 ready-to-use Tragedy worksheets that are perfect to test student knowledge and understanding of A tragedy which is both an event that causes sadness or disaster, and a tragedy is a kind of story that deals with unhappy endings and sad events.

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These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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