Tragedy and the Witness

This book examines the difficulties of bearing witness to anguish, atrocity, and madness, as these are presented in tragic drama. Taking its cue from Hamlet's plea to Horatio to 'report me aright ... tell my story', It focuses on the relationship between the tragic protagonist and the onlooker or witness, exploring how the tragic figure, often viewed as alien or culpable or strange, struggles to be understood. Centred on Shakespeare, its comparative approach also brings in works by the Greeks, Racine, Ibsen, Kafka, Beckett, Kane, and others. The discussion intersects with trauma studies and with psychoanalytic theory, especially around how subjective experiences are 'held' by others. The task of entering into such difficult experience is seen as reflected in the challenge of offering hospitality to the foreigner or stranger, picking up broader questions of xenophobia. The author also looks at how tragedy represents madness, and how far such states of mind may be shared with an audience, particularly through the lens of King Lear. Written in an accessible style, this volume connects the tragic theatre with matters that resonate in common experience, from mental breakdown and the need to be heard to debates around witnessing, trauma, and the ethics of storytelling.