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By Root 5289 0

is in some way dissatisfied, frustrated or incomplete. They then fall under the shadow of the dark power: except that this is not presented as something threatening to them but in the form of a Temptation, which arouses and gives dominance to the dark part of themselves. As in other types of story, the true nature of the dark power is not immediately apparent (the Dream Stage). But as the action unfolds, again as in other types of story, the real horror of the darkness finally comes clearly into view. Amid a mounting sense of threat, the story winds up to the familiar nightmare climax, that decisive confrontation between dark and light which culminates, as in the other plots, in the overthrow of the dark power and the final release which marks the ending of the story.

But because we are now seeing this familiar drama through the eyes of its chief dark figure, Tragedy focuses more intimately than the other plots on two things. First it shows us how someone is turned into a dark figure in the first place; and secondly we see just why the dark power eventually leads those who have passed under its spell to destruction. As we saw in Chapter Nine, The Divided Self, the tragic hero or heroine possessed by some fantasy of power or passion is trying to achieve something which cannot ultimately resolve into reality. Made heartless and blinded by the force of their egocentric obsession, they become more and more cut off from other people and from the reality of the world around them, until they are so far at odds with the entire context of their existence (including their own deeper selves) that the bubble of make-believe can no longer be sustained. And as we see happening to Othello or Dorian Gray, Stavrogin or Dr Jekyll, Anna Karenina or Emma Bovary, eventually the hero or heroine can tolerate the strain of this irresolution no longer. So disintegrated are they, inwardly and outwardly; so far has their original dream proved an illusion; so far off the rails has their blinkered vision taken them; so horrified has part of them become at what the dark component in their personality has led them to that, in self-disgust, they turn their violence suicidally on themselves. Thus do we see at the heart of Tragedy how the dark power, in rebellion against the whole, in the end works to bring about its own destruction.

In other tragedies we see how the hero possessed by darkness provokes his own destruction at the hand of others. In the early stages, as in other types of story, the chief dark figure seems to be getting his own way, just as does the monster in the early stages of an Overcoming the Monster story. But increasingly this drives the light figures into the shadows cast by his darkness. And as the action unfolds we gradually see a crucial polarisation taking place. 'Above the line' in the story is the dark figure, still dominant, but passing further and further into the grip of darkness and increasingly isolated. Meanwhile, in the shadows `below the line', the forces of light are constellating in opposition to this unruly power which weighs so heavily on them all. This is the kind of situation we see so often in other plots, as in Overcoming the Monster stories, or in many comedies, such as The Marriage of Figaro. Eventually this polarisation leads to the climax of the story, the decisive confrontation. Just as in other plots, the power of darkness is finally overthrown, the shadows are lifted. And for those who have won the day and emerged into the light, this is a moment of victory. The irruption of darkness which had blighted all their lives has passed away. Peace and wholeness are restored. Life can begin to flow again. Even though this is a Tragedy, we recognise it as a situation very similar to that which we see at the end of other types of story.

An obvious example of this type of tragedy is Macbeth? We see the hero drawn into the grip of the dark power. As he becomes more and more dark, in his `upper realm', so an ever growing number of those around him fall victim to his blind and deadly egotism. But for each of the chief