A play that moves the audience to pity and fear is a ____________

Step 1: Analyze the question The question asks which type of play arouses pity and fear in the audience.

Step 2: Explain the concept This idea comes from Aristotle's Poetics. He defined tragedy as a serious drama that arouses pity (for the suffering hero) and fear (as we realize the same could happen to us). The result is catharsis, an emotional cleansing or release.

Step 3: Examine each option

• A. Comedy: Light-hearted, amusing, and usually ends happily. It aims to entertain and provoke laughter, not pity and fear.
• B. Farce: An exaggerated, absurd kind of comedy built on slapstick and ridiculous situations. It aims to provoke laughter.
• C. Pantomime: A play or entertainment that uses mime, gestures, music, and spectacle, often humorous and family-oriented. It does not aim at pity and fear.
• D. Tragedy: A serious play in which a noble or admirable hero suffers a downfall, often because of a flaw (hamartia) or fate. This arouses pity and fear.

Step 4: Answer The correct option is D. Tragedy.

Examples: Oedipus Rex (Sophocles), Macbeth and Othello (Shakespeare), and The Gods Are Not to Blame (Ola Rotimi), which is a Nigerian example.

Tip: Link the keywords: pity + fear = tragedy (Aristotle's catharsis). Laughter points to comedy or farce, and mime and music point to pantomime.