Tragedy and Myth in William Shakespeare’s MACBETH (1606) and Thomas Mofolo’s CHAKA (1925)

Abstract

The following research paper aims at analyzing and comparing William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth (1606) and Thomas Mofolo’s novel Chaka (1925), by referring to Aristotle’s theory put in his famous work Poetics (335BC). The present research is divided into three chapters. The first chapter deals with the tragic plot structure as it is explained in Aristotle’s theory of Tragedy. The second chapter treats Shakespeare and Mofolo’s tragic heroes. While the last chapter is devoted for the mythical dimension in both works. Finally, we reached the conclusion that both Macbeth and Chaka are two literary works that match with the Aristotelian tragic plot, and that the use of myth along with tragedy gives an accentuated sense for the tragic events, and this renders the reader overflowed emotionally, but more convinced and closer to them.