tragedy
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While tragedy, according to the Merriam Webster's dictionnary is defined as a
"medieval narrative poem or tale typically describing the downfall of a great man", has evolved
throughout time and has become more modern. This form of litterature is an evolution of the
classical tragedy which changed because of many modifications in society.Therefore, such
novels are called modern tragedies. For instance, "One Flew over the Cuckoo's nest " by Ken
Kesey can be categorized as this kind of piece of litterature. However, what makes this novel a
modern tragedy and not a classical one? The differences between these two types of tragedies
will be develloped in the following paragraphs with the use of Ken Kesey's novel as an
example.
First of all, even though both classical and modern tragedies have some similarities,
many other characteristics differ one to another. In "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest", the
story is a modern tragedy, and we know this based upon a set of characteristics and events that
occur. In a modern tragedy, the death of the hero is predicted and does not come as a surprise
to the reader. In this story, McMurphy is responsable for his death , the falling action of the
novel when he is lobotomized...