Synthesis #3 Want a Frye?

Northrop Frye wrote about the definitions of comedy and tragedy.  While many people have defined comedy and tragedy, Frye defined the two in a very simple diagram.  Using a circle, Frye depicts the rise or fall of a hero.  A tragic hero starts at the top of the circle as nobility, then slowly falls until he realizes his flaw.  Unfortunately this epiphany is too late and the tragedy ends with the death of the hero at the bottom of the circle.  A comedy follows the opposite path; the hero begins at the bottom of the circle as a commoner.  The hero climbs the circle and the social ladder as the play continues, and ends with the hero at the top of the circle.  

This simple visual really make comedy and tragedy simple to understand.  However Arthur Miller had to shake things up.  He says that since society has changed, and so has tragedy. Miller asserts that tragedy is now a common man struggling against his societal place and failing.