Exploring the Classical Western Tragedy in Terms of the Peak-End Rule
The peak-end rule reveals the differences between the world of experience and the world of memory:in the world of experience,the pain that people actually sensed in ten minutes is naturally much less than the same amount of pain plus additional ten minutes of decreasing pain,but in the world of memory,people believe that the latter is more endurable,because memory concentrates on the peak and end evaluation.As an imitation of the world of memory,tragedy always focuses on a unified action and usually touches the audience's heart at the outset.Then,it gradually escalates the pain until it reaches the climax near the end of the play,but it tries to sustain the climax as long as possible in order to maximize the peak-end effect,thus easily securing the high praise from the audience and the critics as well.Given their high but sustainable sensitivity toward pain,people can easily remain in an excited state for approximately two hours and hype up their interest until the climax.As compared to other genres,tragedy may offer an aesthetic experience that is clearly much more superior in inten-sity,duration,and unity.Therefore,it has been favored by critics all along.
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