Monday, November 19, 2012

On Tragedy and Farce

In an article in The Guardian last Friday, Giles Fraser, reflecting on the situation in Gaza, concluded,

"Poets understand tragedy better than politicians. For what makes tragedy tragic is not that the situation is sad (there are other words for that) but that it is where the sloganising binaries of right and wrong no longer function as a useful guide. Which is why making peace means leaving the protected place where we are right."

A farce is where no one is fully right, and no one gets hurt.  A tragedy is where no one is fully right, but everyone gets hurt.

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