A friend of mine had a movie recommendation for me, a reputed tear-jerker with a tell-tale name: Kyon Ki- its fate. I realized she wanted to rewatch it not in spite of but because of the tragic end. That made me ponder over why melancholy and heartbreak hit differently in art, why lovesick songs are more popular than the happy-go-lucky ones and why examples of love are usually Romeo Juliet or Heer Ranjha. This article tries to understand that masochist part of our hearts which deliberately goes towards the tragic. One perspective is that love is like an organic being, it is born then matures and finally dies to be kept in a ventilator by social institutions like marriage and parenthood. When such lovers die they get immortalized in the prime of this youthful stage of love and that is why people prefer rewatching it; cause fossils are pretty.
Tragedies are exploration of the extremes in human beings, mostly ambition like the classic Macbeth. But ambition is not only about one’s profession, it can be an obsession with social acceptance of love like Romeo and Juliet or being the most intelligent like in Dr Faustus. The only universally acceptable characteristic of a tragedy is that it is “very sad” so why do people still want to see it? Due to the fact that it is mentally comforting as it provides a ‘catharsis’ of emotions that are plaguing the mind and a cue to act or not act on complex desires by showing possible repercussions. It usually has violence and death or other irreparable damage, which brings focus on the mortality of human life which is known to all but seldom thought about in general. Descriptive tragedies achieve this aesthetically by showing blood and gory deaths, the suffering body serving as a means of the futility of certain battles (the question of you won but at what cost?) Dead bodies and other motifs that would invoke disgust in real life appear alluring in a piece of art due to their novelty and the fact that they are at a distance where the circle of morality of personal action and opinion does not extend thereby allowing one to spectate and think.
For instance, there are more than five famous paintings about Judith beheading Holofernes but Artemisia Gentileschi’s version remains the most popular due to its explicit depiction of the process. The message of the artist when they choose this minor incident from the Bible is to remind the audience of the instance when the oppressed finally overthrew the oppressor. Knowing the story when one sees the scene, the bloodshed seems like the hope of a better future.This contributes to people remembering it more vividly than two people holding hands and walking into the sunset. The events of happy lives resemble each other due to the limitations of possible events in a life but a sad death can be in endless varieties. Normative ones offer a better look at circumstances and the trajectory of the characters is more visible. By experiencing the suffering of tragic characters, we are able to confront and process our own fears, anxieties, and sorrows in a controlled setting.
Tragedy allows us to vicariously experience extreme emotions without real-life consequences, offering a release that is both therapeutic and enlightening. The permanent loss of something that was once the most essential thing in someone’s life stays with us long after we have finished reading or watching that piece. It brings us back to the question of fate and free will, the idea that many essential aspects of our lives are predestined is also something that draws people. For instance, the classic Devdas where two childhood sweethearts are parted and end up pining for each other throughout their lives which is a short one for Devdas who gives in to alcoholism and dies of neglect of his health. While the intensity of their love is certainly a factor, the striking one is whether the circumstances that caused them to turn away at a critical moment were fated or could they have acted such that their union became possible regardless. A follow up to that is if their actions are an extension of their personalities and social standing in general then is it fated for the two of them to fall in love with each other. It leads one to a contemplation of the extent of one in comparison to the other and despite a catharsis of emotions, this one question is always kept open to interpretation.
The question was asked more poetically by Mehboob in the song Tadap Tadap Ke
Agar mile Khuda to puchunga Khudaya
Jism mujhe deke mitti ka sheeshe sa dil kyu banaya
Aur is pe diya firat ke woh karta hai mohobbat
Wah re wah teri kudrat, wah re wah teri kudrat
Us pe de diya kismat, kabhi hai milan kabhi furqat
The tragic stories stay with us longer as they are unfinished and visiting them again prompts a recollection of all the facets that are not in one’s control. As an audience, it takes that vestigial part away which still seeks to find an answer to the question “What could I have done differently” by taking some of the responsibility of the events and dumping it on the infamous fate.