Based on the articles by Friedrich Nietzsche(Birth of Tragedy), Sigmund Freud( On Oedipus Rex and Hamlet) and Robert B. Hailman (Melodrama)
Where do artists, or in this case playwrights, get their ideas? The simplest answer may be that there is a source of inspiration. A triggering factor that demands to be written and that plagues the writer with ideas. In Sigmund Freud's article however, inspirations from everyday scenes and events are not the only sources of ideas. Perhaps some of them come from primal urges that have long been suppressed because tradition tells us that such an idea, or desire, are unacceptable. And it is only through art that these secret hopes and fears are realized. Perhaps this is why Oedipus Rex had such an impact on ancient Greeks and the generations that have read Sophocles' masterpiece.
Friedrich Nietzsche once said that "artistic creativity, like all creativity, is an expression of power; it is the overcoming of passion. Without passion, without frenzy, there would be no creativity". For him, our lives are filled with tragedies. Art alone can confront the terrors. It can transform any experience into beauty and transforms these tragedies in such a way that they can be contemplated with enjoyment. The thought of killing one of your parents and marrying the other is a horrible idea no matter how Freud and psychoanalysis explains it. But the point here is that even what may be considered as bad can be beautiful.
People love dramas and intrigues, which is precisely why our favorite t.v. series were conceived in the first place. What is unacceptable in reality, but can possibly happen, are fully realized through art.
Where do artists, or in this case playwrights, get their ideas? The simplest answer may be that there is a source of inspiration. A triggering factor that demands to be written and that plagues the writer with ideas. In Sigmund Freud's article however, inspirations from everyday scenes and events are not the only sources of ideas. Perhaps some of them come from primal urges that have long been suppressed because tradition tells us that such an idea, or desire, are unacceptable. And it is only through art that these secret hopes and fears are realized. Perhaps this is why Oedipus Rex had such an impact on ancient Greeks and the generations that have read Sophocles' masterpiece.
Friedrich Nietzsche once said that "artistic creativity, like all creativity, is an expression of power; it is the overcoming of passion. Without passion, without frenzy, there would be no creativity". For him, our lives are filled with tragedies. Art alone can confront the terrors. It can transform any experience into beauty and transforms these tragedies in such a way that they can be contemplated with enjoyment. The thought of killing one of your parents and marrying the other is a horrible idea no matter how Freud and psychoanalysis explains it. But the point here is that even what may be considered as bad can be beautiful.
People love dramas and intrigues, which is precisely why our favorite t.v. series were conceived in the first place. What is unacceptable in reality, but can possibly happen, are fully realized through art.
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