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[I]f the exaltation of tragic action were truly a property of the high-
bred character alone, it is inconceivable that the mass of mankind should cherish tragedy above all other forms, let alone be capable of understanding it.

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I believe that the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as
kings were.

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[T]he tragic
feeling is evoked in us when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay
down his life, if need be, to secure one thinghis sense of personal dignity.

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Tragedy, then, is the
consequence of a man's total compulsion to evaluate himself justly.

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The Flaw:  an Unwillingness to Remain Passive

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The Flaw:  an Unwillingness to Remain Passive

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The flaw, or crack in the characters, is
really nothing and need be nothing, but his inherent unwillingness to remain passive in
the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity, his image of his rightful
status.

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From
this total questioning of what has previously been unquestioned, we learn.

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The quality in such plays that does shake us, however, derives from the underlying
fear of being displaced, the disaster inherent in being torn away from our chosen
image of what and who we are in this world. Among us today this fear is strong, and
perhaps stronger, than it ever was. In fact, it is the common man who knows this fear
best.

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Self-destruction:  The Result of Addressing Evil

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Self-destruction:  The Result of Addressing Evil

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Now, if it is true that tragedy is the consequence of a man's total compulsion to
evaluate himself justly, his destruction in the attempt posits a wrong or an evil in his
environment.

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The wrong is the condition which suppresses man, perverts
the flowing out of his love and creative instinct.

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The revolutionary questioning of the stable environment
is what terrifies.

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Tragedy:  Requiring Fearless Questioning

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Tragedy:  Requiring Fearless Questioning

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No tragedy can therefore come about when its author fears to question absolutely everything, when he regards any institution, habit or custom as being either everlasting, immutable or inevitable.

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Tragedy: Risking Everything for One's Rightful Place 

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Tragedy: Risking Everything for One's Rightful Place 

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The commonest of men may take on that stature to the extent
of his willingness to throw all he has into the contest, the battle to secure his rightful
place in the world.

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The commonest of men may take on that stature to the extent
of his willingness to throw all he has into the contest, the battle to secure his rightful
place in the world.

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Optimism:  Believing in Human Perfectibility

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Optimism:  Believing in Human Perfectibility

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In [tragedies], and in them
alone, lies the beliefoptimistic, if you will, in the perfectibility of man.