Final answer:
Traditional and modern tragedies in drama aim to evoke fear and pity, leading to catharsis, while challenging the audience's perspectives by presenting relatable and complex characters. Modern plays, particularly, focus on realism and personal stories to invoke a profound connection with the audience.
Step-by-step explanation:
Tragedies have long served as a mirror to our society, showcasing the realities of our world, evoking deep emotions and prompting introspection. Traditional tragedies, as articulated by Aristotle, focus on complex characters who are neither purely virtuous nor wholly villainous. These characters typically experience a fall from grace due to a tragic flaw or error in judgment, known as hamartia. This fall stimulates fear and pity in the audience, leading to a cathartic experience. Modern dramas take this further by grounding stories in relatable, contemporary settings, making the themes more personal to the audience.
Great playwrights like Arthur Miller have transformed the genre to reflect the realism of the times, drawing parallels between characters' lives and our own. The purpose of such plays extends beyond entertainment; they aim to challenge the audience’s complacency, confront taboo topics, and offer a reflection on humanity's existential struggles within an often absurd and chaotic world. This effectively pushes audiences out of their comfort zones, compelling them to reflect on bleak realities while also exploring the possibility of liberation through the understanding of these harsh truths.
Theatre has also been a platform to explore sociopolitical issues and critique historical events, such as war, that have shaped our society, asking audiences to consider perspectives beyond the prevailing narrative. The tragic genre continues to evolve, but its core remains the same: to imitate actions that invoke catharsis through stirring pity and fear, and to reflect the human condition in its full complexity.