Pierre Corneille's Cinna: Tragedy and Comedy or "Tragicomedy"

Tragedy, then, is a representation of an action that is worth serious attention, complete in itself, and of some amplitude; in language enriched by a variety of artistic devices appropriate to the several parts of the play; presented in the form of action, not narration; by means of pity and fear bringing about the purgation of such emotions. (Aristotle)

In Corneille's Cinna, we are presented with a situation that, for all intents and purposes, begins on a path to tragedy. Cinna, Maximus, and others plot to kill the emperor Augustus, revenging the families of both Cinna and his love, Emilia, whom Augustus has raised as a daughter. Augustus shows sincere gratitude and kindness to the two, his closest and most trusted friends, even putting his own fate as emperor in the hands of their advice.

As the suspense builds and true battle-lines are drawn, we, familiar with tragic convention, expect deaths, retribution, and drawn-out soliloquies lamenting foolishly squandered lives, but Corneille does not deliver what we expect. In Cinna's end there is no tragedy at all, rather, we are given the happiest ending possible, with not one person dying, or even suffering punishment, and the benevolent Augustus surrounding by his smiling, grateful, friends. He even announces the wedding of Cinna and Emilia. While this play begins in a way that leads us to expect tragedy, it certainly does not end in a tragic way, so it cannot be, in the Aristotelian sense or any other, regarded as a proper tragedy.

Beginning in the first act, we are given a situation common to tragedy: the murder plot. Cinna and Emilia, along with Maximus and others, plot to kill Augustus, because he had, as Octavius, before he was emporer, caused the deaths of Cinna's and Emilia's respective parents. In addition to this Cinna is the grandson of Pompey, while Augustus is descended from Julius Caesar, adding further motivation for Cinna's vengeance. We see that Cinna and Emilia, who is, once again, essentially Augustus' daughter, have been keeping their love affair, and plans for marriage, a secret from Augustus, and the emperor has no clue whatsoever that this union is to be celebrated upon his death. Add to this the fact that Cinna and Maximus are Augustus' closest friends, so trusted that, in Augustus' time of crisis, when he on the verge of relinquishing his throne, it is these two alone with whom he consults. Here we have prime ingredients for a tragedy: a murder plot, a secret love affair, a betrayal by one's closest friends.

In addition to the plot, Aristotle also regards "amplitude", or magnitude, as quite important in defining tragedy, and by this he is referring to the social stature of the characters, particularly the central one, involved. A beggar's death would not be considered tragic in this light, no matter how heart-wrenching it may be, because it does not involve a considerable "fall" from a high position into absolute misery or death. The figures involved should be of high rank in society, either of royal blood or well-known for other reasons; Oedipus, King Lear, and Pentheus are excellent examples of tragic characters. In Cinna, the magnitude of the characters cannot be disputed, as they are as high as one could possibly be in Roman society - the emperor, his closest friends and advisors, and his daughter. In this regard we are certainly set up with a "fall of the mighty" situation, and no matter who eventually died it would have been tragic in this regard because all of the characters are of high standing.

If we look at some basic concepts from Aristotle's Poetics, taken from the online essay Aristotle on Tragedy, it is clear that Corneille's intention is to present a tragic situation. Aristotle states that "tragedies should not be episodic", in that all of the action must be connected to the central plot, and in the case of Cinna this is certainly true. In the case of plot, it should be complex, including recognitions and reversals; we have both here, as Cinna, Emilia, and Maximus recognize the error of their ways, and so their feelings, particularly those of Emilia, are reversed from hate to love. Their social standings, however, and qualities of life, which one would expect to fall in a tragedy, actually improve at the end, with Maximus' appointment as Governor of Sicily, and Cinna's marriage to Emilia and appointment to the Consulate.

This brings us to the point of both "suffering" and "pity and fear", which Aristotle saw as essential to tragedy. While the characters certainly go through some mental turmoil and fear, we certainly cannot say that there is any suffering involved, and no real pity can be felt for either Augustus, who was quite brutal in earlier times, or Cinna, who is caught red-handed trying to kill the man who gave him everything he has in life. We see elements of tragedy definitely present here, in all scenes but the final one, but the essential elements of suffering, sadness, and, above all, death, are not only absent, but completely reversed to provide the happiest ending possible.

In Cinna's almost comic ending, we are presented with a situation similar to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, only in reverse. Shakespeare's play begins as a comedy would, but, with Mercutio's slaying of Tybalt, it takes an irreversible turn toward tragedy. The same thing happens in Cinna, but in reverse; the play is set up for tragedy, yet it ends just a comedy would, with happiness, reconciliation, and even a wedding pronouncement. Thus, Cinna is not a tragedy proper, rather, it is a fusion of the two genres of tragedy and comedy, containing elements of both, but not complete by the standards of either.

Works Cited

Corneille, Pierre. The Cid, Cinna, The Theatrical Illusion. Trans. John
Cairncross. Penguin Books, Ltd. 1975: New York.

Aristotle on Greek Tragedy. Available online at:
http://ise.uvic.ca/Library/SLTnoframes/drama/aristotle.html

Aristotle on Tragedy. Available online at:
http://www.onlineessays.com/essays/literature/lit111.php