Of the widow's countless death-duties there is really just one that matters: on the first anniversary of her husband's death the widow should think I kept myself alive.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
Tragedy is the highest form of art.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Tragedy reveals deep truths about the human experience and is therefore considered a profound artistic expression.
Joyce Carol Oates suggests that tragedy transcends other forms of art due to its ability to delve into the complexities of human existence and evoke powerful emotions. By presenting suffering, loss, and despair, tragedy allows audiences to confront and contemplate essential truths about life, ultimately elevating it to a significant artistic form.
Themes
TragedyArtHuman ExperienceExpressionEmotion
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on the significance of art in literature, this quote can highlight the impact of tragic narratives.
More from Joyce Carol Oates
All quotes βI never really knew I wanted to 'be' a writer, but I was always writing from a very young age. It became more conscious as an ideal when I was in my twenties.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
I'm drawn to write about upstate New York in the way in which a dreamer might have recurring dreams. My childhood and girlhood were spent in upstate New York, in the country north of Buffalo and West of Rochester. So this part of New York state is very familiar to me and, with its economic difficulties, has become emblematic of much of American life.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
My writing is often a way of 'bearing witness' for others who lack the education and the opportunity to tell their own stories, so I hope that my writing won't be affected too much by my personal life.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
The worst cynicism: a belief in luck.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
. . . there is a wish in the heart of mankind to be distracted and confused. Truth is but one attraction, and not always the most powerful.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
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When one wants to write, one writes. If one is condemned to write, one writes.
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The job of a storyteller is to speak the truth. But what we feel most deeply canβt be spoken in words alone. At this level, only images connect. And here, story becomes symbol; symbol is myth. And myth is truth.
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Your first book is the only one that matters. Perhaps a writer should write only that one. That is the one moment when you make the big leap; the opportunity to express yourself is offered that once, and you untie the knot within you then or never again.
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I'm very happy to hear that my work inspires writers and painters. It's the most beautiful compliment, the greatest reward. Art should always be an exchange.
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