The Revenge Epic Of Blood And Tears

The word tragedy was invented by western people, and they have formed a complete system of tragic theory. In ancient China there was no concept of tragedy or tragic theory. Although there is no obvious concept of tragedy, there are many Chinese traditional dramas with elements of tragedy, which means that different countries and nations share similarities in thoughts, emotion, morality and honor, and express them in similar artistic forms. These similarities make it possible to study Chinese traditional drama from the perspective of Western theory of tragedy. Due to different understanding of tragedy, some scholars do not think that Chinese tragedies can be regarded as real tragedy from the perspective of Western theory of tragedy. With the development of studies about Chinese drama, more scholars think that it is not reasonable to use the Western theory of tragedy as a standard to measure whether a certain Chinese play is a tragedy or not.The Orphan of Zhao is a historical story widely known by Chinese people. It has been put on the stage since it was composed in the12th century and has been adopted as Beijing Opera, modern drama, opera, as well as film. As the first play introduced to the West, it has been warmly accepted as a brilliant Chinese tragedy in the West and it was adopted by playwrights from different countries and performed on the stage. Many scholars have studied this drama from the perspective of Western theory of tragedy and got the conclusion that The Orphan of Zhao is not a good tragedy, and there was no tragedy in China. Some people believe that they have not used correct method to analysis traditional Chinese tragedies. Through analysis of the play from the perspective of Western theory of tragedy, this thesis intends to get following results. Firstly, Western theory of tragedy emphasizes simple plot, and arrangement of the plot should be concentrated. The plot in The Orphan of Zhao intersects happiness and sadness, but its arrangement is concentrated. Secondly, Western theory of tragedy shapes heroes with internal conflict. Heroes in The Orphan of Zhao are always suffered by internal conflicts. Thirdly, Western tragic ending should be sad, it express ruin of heroes. Although the ending of The Orphan of Zhao is traditional Chinese "God’s mill grinds slow but sure", the sadness of heroes’death and inner wounds of the living cannot be overcome. Lastly, Western theory of tragedy praises highly "submit" of a tragedy to realize its tragic value. The" submit" has been embodied in The Orphan of Zhao, and the theme of revenge brings the audience great sorrow. The whole tragedy creates a revenge epic of blood and tears. In the thesis Western theory of tragedy is utilized to analyze The Orphan of Zhao and a conclusion is drawn that this tragedy can be analyzed reasonably with Western theory of tragedy from the perspectives of tragic plot, tragic hero, tragic ending, as well as tragic value.