The following is an essay I submitted at Purdue University for SCLA 101: Transformative Texts.
Tragedy, whether as a genre or a noun, is an abstract term that is difficult to pin down. The subjectivity of the concept lends itself to having several interpretations, none of which are inherently ‘incorrect’. It is an ever-evolving construct, growing and changing as society has done over time. It takes different forms as new generations arise with unique ideals and outlooks on the equally, if not more, abstract concept of life. It is no longer a question on if tragedy is malleable or not, it is a question of to what degree.
“When the English began to write plays also called tragedies, the problem of the theorist became more difficult than it had been, for the English tragedies differed wildly from the Greek” (McCollom, 1957, p. 1). Ignoring cultural difference, the tragedies of today take a different form that classic tragedies in the vein of Macbeth; even so, there are many commonalities shared between Macbeth and relatively new depictions on the concept of a ‘tragedy’ like Tokyo Ghoul which I will be analyzing for the purposes of this paper.
Tragedies are all about making the consumer feel more connected to the piece of media and emotionally superimpose themselves into the scenario and feel a sense of empathy or pity for the character portrayed; tragedies can even evoke the feeling that the person “deserved what was coming to them”. These are all common reactions from consumers of tragic media, but something that, at first, may seem counter-intuitive to this effect but can bolster the emotional impact, are supernatural elements. Supernatural elements are used to increase the emotional stakes by giving something in the story a more tangible form i.e., the existence of ghouls in Tokyo Ghoul or the ghost and floating daggers in Macbeth. These supernatural elements tend to also play a key part in either the whole story or pivotal plot points, and they shape the essence of it regardless of the sparsity of its appearance. “Hamlet without the ghost is as unthinkable as Hamlet without the Prince himself” (Whitmore, 1971, p. 3).
Macbeth is a tale following the titular character, Macbeth, who is stricken with greed after hearing a prophecy about himself saying he was to be king. Henceforth, he takes every step regardless of morality to guarantee that this future comes to pass. Macbeth murders his would-be allies and their families to make certain his lineage can remain royalty after his death. Macbeth is a tale of a man who does everything in his power for his own selfish desire, going so far as murdering individuals who would have considered him their friend; eventually his lying and scheming catches up to him and he pays for it with his life. The story of Macbeth is a tragedy.
“Tragedy contrasts what is substantial and great with negative consequences of this greatness” (Roche, 1998, p. 49). In the world of Tokyo Ghoul written by Ishida Sui, there are beings known as ghouls – creatures identical to humans aside from their extraordinary physical prowess and their inability to eat anything but the flesh of humans. These beings are, of course, persecuted, hated, and hunted. Our main character in this story is Ken Kaneki who in the first chapter goes on date with Rize, a woman who turns out to be a ghoul, he is saved from this otherwise fatal encounter by a mysterious set of falling beams which kill Rize and wound Kaneki. Her organs are transplanted into him to save his life and his body starts to turn into that of a ghoul. Ordinary food begins to taste disgusting, and he soon learns that only human flesh will placate this hunger. Tokyo Ghoul’s tragedy can be synopsized into one quote, “To live is to devour others” (Ishida, 2011-2014, np).
According to The Elements of Tragedy by Dorothea Krook, the universal elements of tragedy follow a path of shame-suffering-knowledge-affirmation. “The four elements [of tragedy] are easily named. The first I call the shame or horror” (Krook, 1969, p. 8). This element refers to the inciting incident of all the tragedy present in the story. It is the first domino to fall that causes them all to topple. In Macbeth, it is the murder of Macdonwald, a rebel leader, and his encounter with the witches, that sets the titular Macbeth on the path that leads to his early demise at the hands of Macduff. In Tokyo Ghoul, the inciting incident is when Kaneki and Rize first speak to each other, finally climaxing in the falling of the steel beams which then leads to his fight against the world to protect those he cares about.
“The second of the universal elements of tragedy is the suffering itself. This is only properly tragic, if and only if it generates knowledge, in the sense of insight into, understanding of, man’s fundamental nature or the fundamental human condition. Knowledge in this sense is therefore the third universal element of tragedy.” (Krook, 1969, p. 8). This part draws the reader into the equation, it states that for the suffering to truly be read as suffering, the reader must have knowledge and understanding of why the depicted acts can be seen as tragic. Without a reader, stories go unheard, thus it makes sense of the four universal elements to incorporate the empathy a reader can generate. In deciding which tragedy would generate more sympathy, Tokyo Ghoul comes out ahead; it depicts a far closer to home variation of tragedy: a young man in an accident that changes his whole life is far more tangible than a greedy nobleman who murders for his own sake. However, Macbeth was a product of its time and here is where we first see the idea of a “malleable tragedy”, as society evolves, tragedy takes on different forms.
“But the knowledge is not properly tragic unless it tissues in some kind of affirmation, or reaffirmation, of the dignity of the human spirit and the worthwhileness of human life. This affirmation or reaffirmation is accordingly the fourth and the last element of tragedy.” (Krook, 1969, pp. 8-9). The final element of tragedy is rather morbid. It states that tragedy springs from our acceptance of the fact that the suffering and all its consequences were a necessity, this, supposedly, in turn, “[reaffirms] the supremacy of the universal moral order” (Krook, 1969, p. 17). Consequently, through this reaffirmation, we also “express and affirm the dignity of man and the value of human life” (Krook, 1969, p. 17). Acceptance being regarded as a necessity refers to the cohesiveness of the text itself; a tragedy can only be tragic if it deemed unavoidable by the reader, if the reader can plot an alternative route that would avoid the tragedy of the piece, it renders the story far less effective in its delivery. A good tragedy is an airtight one. The four elements work in tandem to create a symphony that is the tragedy. All of them are present in both Macbeth and Tokyo Ghoul. In this way, we can define tragedy as a reimbursement, and the initial act of shame as the debt needed to be paid. Even so, one more ingredient that is on the chopping block in our meal of tragedy still, are the supernatural elements present in both works.
“[Supernatural] manifestations appeal to an interest deeply rooted in human nature, however much it may be ignored during certain periods, or in our own professed attitude” (Whitmore, 1971, p. 3). These ingredients of tragedy can be thought of as a chili: perhaps not every dish needs it, but those that use it to its full potential can be ever greater for it. The ghost of Banquo and the floating knives in Macbeth and the entirety of the ghoul species in Tokyo Ghoul both add something which defines the story, if to different extents. Greek tragedies such as Aischylos, Sophokles and Euripdes all bear significant supernatural elements; “[Greek tragedy] fully bears out our principle that the supernatural in drama must be represented as a power, whose effects are manifested in action” (Whitemore, 1971, p. 95). This holds true in Macbeth and Tokyo Ghoul, proving that tragedy, while evolves over time, retains some of what first made it a noteworthy genre.
In Macbeth, it is the supernatural that drives Macbeth to murder Duncan, “the most terrifying source of the supernatural in the play is the human-made image that duplicates nature internally.” (Süner, 2019, p. 1). In the quotation, “nature” refers to the chaotic and intangible existence of cosmic events as well as the revelations within humanity; it is this inherent idea, this drive that is given physicality by the supernatural that makes Macbeth’s lust in this scene so visceral. Without it the scene would not be quite as effective. In a similar instance, Macbeth see’s the ghost of his friend, Banquo, whom he murdered. If the daggers were a manifestation of Macbeth’s bloodlust, the ghost can be decrypted as a manifestation of his guilt. Once again, the supernatural element heightens the emotional impact of the scene, in watching Macbeth reach a breaking point in his unrelenting journey to be king, it humanizes him which makes him even more tragic a figure. There are few things more tragic to see than a broken man.
In the other story we are examining, the ghouls are the primary supernatural presence, unlike Macbeth which has selective noteworthy moments, ghouls are the linchpinin Tokyo Ghoul. “To live is to devour others” (Ishida Sui, 2014, np). They give the intangible idea of sacrificing for gain, a physical and horrific form; they are the personification of an ugly truth, and co-existing with that truth is difficult. The essence of being a ghoul is antithetical to Kaneki’s main philosophy as a character: “It’s better to be hurt than to hurt others. Nice people can be happy with just that” (Ishida Sui, 2011-2014, np).
In this sense we see another clear gap between the way Macbeth and Tokyo Ghoul handles tragedy: action versus circumstance. Macbeth sees that tragedy is a consequence of an action, to grab that floating dagger in front of you. “Tragedy is an action in which the hero’s greatness leads inexorably to suffering” (Roche, 1998, p. 49) Within Tokyo Ghoul, however, tragedy is a matter of simply living in an unjust world as you fight against the riptide of life.
Furthermore, for something to be perceived as tragic, it needs to be inside an audience’s latitude of understanding, as referred to in the third element of tragedy discussed earlier. “As the tragic action unfolds, it speaks to the audience of a concept they may have grasped intuitively, although it is capable of a reasoned defense. The play bodies forth the existence, the surpassing importance, the continual jeopardy, the victories, and defeats of human freedom. Freedom is the tragic theme.” (McGollem, 1957, p. 83). The freedom of choice, or the lack there of, is an idea that can strike a chord with anyone; and it is often the overarching theme, whether intended or not. “If tragedy dramatizes human choice, it also demonstrates the conflicts between choice and the variety of forces undermining or negating free decision. These forces include influences described by terms such as “fate”, “chance”, “fortune”, “necessity” and “inevitability”. (McCollom, 1957, p. 84). “Freedom” is par for the course for any story, as a character must do something or take actions for it to be branded a story, but it takes a new form in tragedies. Even stories not classified under the label can be viewed as tragic through this lens, such as the firemen in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 or the thought police in George Orwell’s 1984. Both these forces encroach on people’s freedom of thought and expression, tragic in the sense people are restrained from being who they are; one like Tokyo Ghoul in that respect.
We can see that the idea of tragedy has shifted since the days of Shakespeare, or the Greek tragedies that I mentioned above. The definition is malleable and trying to pin it down is an impossibility; the way we view tragedy now might as well have changed in the next 10 or so years. Many of the stories of past dealt with tragedy because of one’s actions, whereas the more recent stories such as Fahrenheit 451, 1984 and Tokyo Ghoul deal with tragedy in terms of the world. Whether that makes the world an antagonistic force in the grand scheme of the mentioned works or something else entirely is up to debate. As the tragedy in Tokyo Ghoul is prefaced, “The world isn’t wrong, it just is” (Ishida S. 2011-2014).
Bibliography
Frigerio, C., (2021), To Live is to Devour Others: Food Ethics and Tragedy in Tokyo Ghoul. The Journal of Anime and Manga Studies, 2, 218–242. https://doi.org/10.21900/j.jams.v2.814.
Krook-Gilead, D., (1969). Elements of tragedy. Yale University Press.
Roche, M., (1998). Tragedy and comedy: a systematic study and a critique of Hegel. State University of New York Press.
McCollom, W., (1957). Tragedy. The Macmillan Company.
Whitmore, C., (1971). The supernatural in tragedy. P.P. Appel.
Süner, A., (2019). Air, Bubble and the Horrid Image: The Representation of Fear and the Supernatural in Macbeth. Neophilologus, 103(4), 591–605. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11061-019-09604-x
Ishida, S., (2011-2014), Tokyo Ghoul: Vol 1-14.
Saye Kamal 