How often do we hear the expression "twists and turns of fate" and the like! It is found both in spoken language and in books. But only a few know what the ups and downs come from. We will fill the gap in education.
Origin of the word
Let us turn to the roots of this word. What is the ups and downs in the ancient Greek language? Translated, this word means "unexpected, sudden turn." In literary criticism, this concept is familiar from the very inception of this science. In the treatise "Poetics" Aristotle wrote that this is an unexpected change of action to the opposite. That is how in ancient times the plot of the tragedy was complicated and made it more interesting for the spoiled public.
The twists and turns in ancient drama
To understand what the vicissitudes are, let us turn to examples from ancient Greek literature. We will find the classic use of this technique in the tragedy of Sophocles "Oedipus Rex." A shepherd comes to the king to reveal to him the secret of origin. He seeks to dispel the fear of the ruler, but achieves the opposite effect. Some researchers see the similarities of ups and downs and tragic irony.
Tragic irony as an analogue of ups and downs
Reflecting on the question of what ups and downs, literary scholars drew analogies with tragic irony. The theoretical comprehension of this technique occurred only in New time. In another way she was called the “irony of fate." The hero of such a work was sure of the correctness of his own actions, but it was they who brought his death closer.
The textbook example of the “irony of fate” we have already examined - this is the tragedy of “King of Oedipus”. In modern times, a good example is the play by F. Schiller's Wallenstein. The tragedy takes place during the Thirty Years War. The protagonist is the great commander Wallenstein. In the final part, astrologers predict the military commander a successful outcome of his endeavors, but they are not destined to come true. The main character dies. And the predictions of the stargazers, as we see, do not come true.
The main features of ups and downs
Defining the meaning of the word “ups and downs,” Aristotle spoke of such features: it is a point of higher tension, after which the action turns into a catastrophe. Similar tricks speak of an early denouement of history. In comedies, no one excludes the presence of this element. It can mean an unexpected turn in action.
The ups and downs in modern drama
It’s difficult to talk about modern drama. In the era of postmodernism in literature, the traditional idea of the plot is erased. Sometimes (as it happens in the theater of the absurd), it is simply difficult to somehow comprehend and describe it to an unprepared viewer. Some works are built on the anti-peripetia technique. As you know, in ancient dramatic art this concept was also a philosophical category, an awareness of a single cosmic order. Modern people deny this order.
In some dramas, the ups and downs with the approximation of the text to the narrative exist. They denote the power of fate. But the classical understanding of this expression in the spirit of the Renaissance does not fit here. It rather speaks of unrealized situations voiced by the author-hero himself or the use of various forms of improvisation on stage.