August Wilsons Fences
It is easy to make the case that August Wilson's play Fences is a tragedy and that Troy Maxson is its tragic protagonist. Few comedies end with a funeral, and there is no denying that Troy's character and life are the stuff of tragedy. But Wilson's vision is much larger than Troy's heroic side, his deeds and omissions. Troy, for all his strengths, is flawed humanity in need of grace and forgiveness. Such grace and forgiveness are the spirit of true comedy, and a case can be made for viewing Fences as a comedy or, perhaps, a metacomedy. The term is taken from Christopher Isherwood, who took it from Gerald Heard: "I think the full horror of life must be depicted, but in the end there should be a comedy which is beyond both comedy and tragedy. The thing Gerald Heard calls 'metacomedy' [...]" (421). Metacomedy, then, is a vision that transcends the immediately comic or tragic. It is not evasive and it has room for pain, for heartache, for alienation, even for death, because it affirms the values of mercy, forgiveness, and sacrifice, which adversity calls forth. For a religious person, metacomedy is what Christopher Fry called a "narrow escape into faith" and a belief in "a universal cause for delight" (17). Fry's metaphor f
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Troy Maxson, August Wilson, St Peter, Africa Wilson, August Wilson's, Raynell Cory's, Christopher Fry, Gerald Heard, Gabe Chretien, African Americans, troy maxson, august wilson, book life, atavistic signature, august wilson's, universal cause delight, sane normal, universal cause, grace forgiveness, war ii, signature ritual, sane normal mind, form ed robert, world war ii, meaning form ed,
Approximate Word count = 1851
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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