Tragedy (literary, oral and motion picture genre)

Genre usually found in literature and in theatre that evokes a serious examination of human events such as birth, death, decay, obsolescence, disaster, love, marriage, and family encountered by individuals or groups. Originating in ancient Greece, the genre developed in a strict format featuring a chorus, a heroic character, myths, and pontification of universal morals or themes. Historically, the criterion of what is tragic has changed, with the idea of psychological corruption, disillusionment, isolation, and individual accountability defining tragedy in the 19th and 20th centuries.