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tragedy

(Encyclopedia)tragedy, form of drama that depicts the suffering of a heroic individual who is often overcome by the very obstacles he is struggling to remove. The protagonist may be brought low by a character flaw ...

dithyramb

(Encyclopedia)dithyramb dĭthˈĭrăm [key], in ancient Greece, hymn to the god Dionysus, choral lyric with exchanges between the leader and the chorus. It arose, probably, in the extemporaneous songs of the Dionys...

Lee, Nathaniel

(Encyclopedia)Lee, Nathaniel, 1653–92, English dramatist. After failing as an actor, he turned to writing plays. Lee confined himself entirely to tragedy, turning often to the classical historians for the backgro...

Jodelle, Estienne

(Encyclopedia)Jodelle, Estienne ātyĕnˈ zhôdĕlˈ [key], 1532–73, French poet of the Pléiade (see under Pleiad). He was the author of Cléopatre captive (1553), the first French tragedy that departed from med...

Tourneur, Cyril

(Encyclopedia)Tourneur, Cyril tûrˈnər [key], 1575?–1626, English dramatist and poet. Little is known of his life. The Transformed Metamorphosis (1600), an allegorical satire, was his first published work. His ...

Kyd, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Kyd or Kid, Thomas, 1558–94, English dramatist, b. London. The son of a scrivener, he evidently followed his father's profession for a few years. In the 1580s he began writing plays. His literary fa...

Gorboduc

(Encyclopedia)Gorboduc gôrˈbədək [key], legendary early British king mentioned by Geoffrey of Monmouth. In his lifetime he divided his kingdom between his sons Ferrex and Porrex, thereby creating great civil st...

Otway, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Otway, Thomas, 1652–85, English dramatist, educated at Winchester and at Oxford. After failing as an actor, Otway wrote his first play, Alcibiades, produced in 1675. Later plays include the rhymed h...

Cenci, Beatrice

(Encyclopedia)Cenci, Beatrice bāˌätrēˈchā chānˈchē [key], 1577–99, Italian noblewoman, tragic figure of the late Renaissance. Her father, Francesco Cenci (1549–98), was a Roman noble noted for his vici...

Barnes, Djuna

(Encyclopedia)Barnes, Djuna jo͞onˈə [key], 1892–1982, American author, b. Cornwall, N.Y. She is best known for her modernist novel Nightwood (1936), which, in its sense of horror and decay, was likened by T. S...