Introduction
In my essay I am going to be discussing ‘Tragic Ballets ‘and ‘Heroines’. As a child I spent a brief period studying ballet and on a visit to Prague, in February 2013, I enjoyed watching the Russian Ballet perform 'Giselle' at the Prague State Opera House. I have often wondered why so many ballets and the female heroines in them end in tragedy. My essay will discuss the issues that female heroines face and the events that eventually bring them to their fate. I will also discuss the origins and definitions of ‘heroine’ and ‘tragedy’.
In order to examine my chosen themes I started my investigation by watching, analysing and comparing the films ‘Black Swan’, ‘The Red Shoes’ and the ballet ‘Giselle’. I read the feminist writings of Marina Warner on the portrayal of women, the Catholic Church and also her book on ‘Joan of Arc. In my essay I will be discussing the themes of love, conquest, devotion, deception, spirituality and how they play a role in altering the lives of the female protagonists in various different situations and offer my own opinions on how the tragedies are formed. I will begin my comparison of the female heroines that I will be discussing, with Giselle. Figure 1'Giselle and Count Albrecht' The Russian Ballet

Giselle is a poor peasant’s daughter who falls in love with Count Albrecht. Count Albrecht’s character plays the main part in the protagonist Giselle’s downfall during the ballet, as he breaks her heart when she learns that he is betrothed to another higher socially standing figure.
The fact that Count Albrecht has ultimately deceived and abandoned Giselle, raises questions of morality and courtship between the classes and also fair play in love and romance. If it had not been for Count Albrecht’s deceit would Giselle have fallen for him in the first place? Given the fact that he lied to her regarding his intentions and identity. He posed as a villager named ‘Loys’ in order to lead her to believe that he was one of the villagers, not a Count, in order to get his way with her.
Though out the play we see that Giselle is well loved and popular among her kind and already has a male admirer, a young peasant boy. It seems more of a tragedy that her life could have had a happy ending, had Count Albrecht not have intervened as an imposter, out for his own gain and taking advantage of the situation. Nevertheless, Giselle’s spirit lives on in the sense that after the Willes (a group of Ghostly ladies who all died in similar circumstances) target Count Albrecht for death. Giselle frees him from their grasp, showing the strength in her character which is forgiving, selfless, loving and strong in the face of the ultimate revenge temptation offered by the Willes. Figure [ 2 ]'The Willes' Giselle the Ballet

The traits of a heroine are an important factor in the cycle of these ballets, films and in real life, as I will further investigate in my essay. In a sense the innocence of the heroines could ultimately be their downfall, as they are open to deception, jealousy, abuse of social standing and greed. I feel there is a certain sense of vulnerability in the characters as they are led astray from their vision, goals and chosen pathways.
Nina’s (Black Swan) vision was to become a famous Ballerina dancing the lead role in Swan Lake at the Ballet Company she worked for. Figure [ 3 ]'Black swan'

We see throughout the film that Nina works hard and studies hard to obtain her goal, yet she is again led astray, this time by a deceitful female colleague. Her colleague also has her sights set on the lead role and will do anything in her power that is underhand to obtain it. After enticing Nina away from her possessive mother, she slips ecstasy into her drink at a nightclub. Nina is late for rehearsals the next day, adding to the pressure.
Nina’s tutor appears to have his own agenda in the sense that he pushes her too far at times, making her feel that she will never be good enough or right for the part of the Black swan. However, when she desperately goes to him and begs him for the part he kisses her and she bites him. This changes his mind as he sees that she has a dark side and picks her for the part. Although I find the power dynamics between Nina and her tutor at times turbulent and passionate, at other times it is cold and calculating. He ultimately plays and manipulates Nina in order to fulfil his own desires. Figure 4'The Black Swan'

Under the pressure Nina can’t cope and breaks down mentally, experiencing psychosis and disturbing visions which eventually lead to her death at the end of performing her true desire,‘ Swan Lake’. Here we can draw a comparison to Vicky Page in ‘Red shoes’. She too is pushed to the edge of reason, this time by Impessario Lermontov, owner of the ballet company, who wishes to control her every move. Figure 5'The Red Shoes'

Loosely based on the Hans Christian Anderson tale ‘The Red Shoes’ is said to have been inspired by the real-life meeting of Sergei Diaghilev with the British ballerina Diana Gould. Diaghilev asked Diana to join his company, but he died before she could do so. As in ‘Black Swan’, the film addresses the issues of love, destiny, temptation, career, choices, pressure and seduction. The film also addresses the themes of conflicting emotions and loyalties between her love of ballet and her love for her husband which eventually destroys her. Figure 6'The Red Shoes'

Vicky is destined for tragedy as soon as she dons the red ballet shoes which are synonyms to the ultimate temptation in the garden of Eden, like Nina in ’Black Swan’ and ‘Giselle’, she is torn between normality and immortality. Here, questions of loyalty and greed also arise, as we can see a tormented young women being used for her talents by a ballet owner who is greedy and possessive. His control dynamic and lack of compromise make him appear out for his own gain entirely.
Feminist writer Marina Warner writes in the ‘Guardian’ about her perception of tragedies both in real life and theatre.

Figure 7'Marina Warner'

‘The agony of others and the brutality of their tormentors have become staples of the news, and it's shaming, everyone admits, how we go on crunching our muesli regardless. Ever more graphic blood and gore on stage attempts to overcome this numbness, to "remake the violence of reality itself", as the artist Francis Bacon said. Obscure Jacobean dramas of furious savagery seem to speak with new eloquence: John Ford's ‘Tis Pity She's a Whore’, includes ferocious scenes that draw on internet pornography, commercialised orgiastic sex and the traffic in bodies – women's and children's . (The Guardian) I think that here Warner is discussing voyeurism in real life and theatre, and the historic and contemporary social tragedies that are played out before our eyes on a daily basis, that we have become inured to. So what part does the voyeur have to play in these tragedies? We are all mortal and undeniably only flesh and blood and so there is a sense of ‘safety zone scenario’ as we, the voyeurs of the tragic or dying heroine, can only watch in disbelief and helplessness as the encapsulation of everything we truly love and admire is destroyed before our very eyes. The dramatic outcome is ultimately social control through the employment of propaganda. Are we the ones who contribute by allowing these things to happen, or are we innocent bystanders, not able to play a hand in their fate, but only able to feel compassion for their suffering and derive inspiration from their existence? I believe it is the basis of the human will to survive. Possibly, what sets a heroine apart is that they ultimately feel so passionately about their goal that they are willing to die for it. Female liberation plays a powerful part in this factor. The desire to have the same careers, money, respect and liberties as men can often impact on our lives, making it seem like an endless hurdle. Spirituality too can play a big part in this power dynamic, where men and women have been portrayed in biblical or historic contexts. This plays a large part in the philosophies that we are taught from and form our eventually established views which are not always from a feminist perspective. For Example in the bible it was ultimately Eve who took a bite from the forbidden fruit and not Adam, therefore the blame lay on her shoulders. Marina Warner has written many books including ‘Joan of Arc’ and ‘The Cult of the Virgin Mary’, but what stands out about her writing are themes relating to what the dichotomy of the expectations of women really are, that in a sense there is no half way and that the female is expected to be a pure untouchable vessel as the Virgin Mary was. ‘ What human words can make you realise such a life as this, a life on the borderline between human and celestial nature? That nature should be free of human weakness is more than can be expected from mankind, but these women fell short of the angelic and unmaterial only in so far as they appeared in bodily form, were contained in a human frame, and were dependant on the organs of sense’ SAINT GREGORY OF NYSSA, De Vita Sanctae Macrinae 1 These expectations put on women in society are sometimes beyond reason and we are asked to carry the Christian torch for humanity in all walks of life. Marina’s Book ‘Joan of Arc, The image of Female Heroism’ gives us insight as to what sets the female heroine apart from her counterparts and the way that the Catholic Church would punish women who were not deemed pure. Marina Warner’s concept here I feel is a reflection of the ‘human conditions’ search for Nirvana through the embodiment of virtue. However, one man’s meat is another man’s poison. As Marina quotes from her book, ‘Heroines are often the result of our most flattering illusions, that sometimes the ideals they embody are questionable, however brave and loyal and true they themselves are in pursuit of their aims’. Figure 8 Joan interrogated in her prison cell by the Cardinal of Winchester. By Hippllye Delaroche 1824.Musee des Beaux-Arts ,Rouen France Joan who was devoted to her country France, said she saw visions of the Archangel Michael, Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret telling her to support Charles VII and lead France to victory in the Hundred years war against the English who had invaded France. The French won the battle against the English, but Joan was captured by the English-Burgundian faction and put on trial as a heretic and a cross dresser among other charges. Joan wore men’s clothing on the battlefield to protect her from being raped. She was found guilty by the Bishop of Beauvais, Pierre Cauchon. She was burned at the stake on the 30 May 1431 aged 19 years old.
‘She was soon dead and her clothes all burned. Then the fire was raked back, and her naked body shown to all the people and all the secrets that could or should belong to woman, to take away any doubts from people’s minds. When they had stared long enough at her dead body bound to the stake, the executioner got a big fire going again around her poor carcass, which was soon burned, both flesh and bone reduced to ashes.’
Bourgeois
Twenty-five years after her execution Joan was declared a Saint by the Catholic Church who pronounced her innocent. Joan has inspired many great works of art, sculpture, theatre and film. It is ironic that in Joan of Arc’s case sometimes man’s efforts to preserve what is good and pure, often results in destroying something or someone who is exactly that.

Figure 9'Heroine origin'

Use over time for: heroine

As you can see in the graph above the use of the word ‘Heroine’ peaked during World War I and World War II. Whether this is because acts of Heroines were recorded more often due to courageous acts during the war or due to female liberation or the suffragette movement and feminism taking off in the 20th century, is not certain, but it does seem to peak at times where these events took place. Therefore we can determine that acts of Heroines or displays of true courage are more likely during volatile, oppressive or conflictive periods.

We live in a world in which some countries and societies women are still persecuted and treated like possessions and objects. Instead of being encouraged, they are punished for their ambition. When this type of oppression occurs, there will always be a subversive rebellion going on. The female versus male power dynamics will probably never be properly understood, although judging from the above ballets and tragedies they seem to play a large part in the protagonists downfall, as the women always seem to be in the wrong, in the eyes of the men, no matter how endearing their traits may be. It is always the women that seem to suffer in the end. The characteristics of women in general are that they are intuitive, maternal, caring and kind, the child bearers, the homemakers ,also they are physically built weaker than men, although men do not appear to possess these female qualities on the whole. Men are to be brave and strong and noble, yet the Heroine could be both. Maybe the man feels threatened by the women and tries to control or use her, or maybe he does not deem these noble traits appropriate and challenges her motives. Also the evidence could be related to background circumstances but there is no set common denominator as these Heroines have all come from a variety of backgrounds. Nina was from a dysfunctional family, Giselle a poor peasant girl, Vicky Page a well to do background and Joan of Arc, a humble farmers daughter, yet they all have similar characteristics in common, the will to succeed, determination, courage, talent, purity, vision and physical beauty. These traits are very desirable and it seems to me that the attitude from their lesser counterparts was that’ If I cannot have you then no one can’, therefore the destruction ensues.
Aristotle gives an interesting view on where the concept of Tragedy arose from. Writing in 335 BCE (long after the Golden Age of 5th-century Athenian tragedy), Aristotle provides the earliest-surviving explanation for the origin of the dramatic art form in his Poetics, in which he argues that tragedy developed from song sung and danced in praise of Dionysus(the god of wine and fertility), which could be brought back to the ritual sacrifice of a goat that was the prize in a competition. Is the death of a Heroine in a tragedy a sacrifice to ensure that we all remain fruitful and diligent, learning from their mistakes or the mistakes of others involved with the Heroine? In order to stay alive we must stay fit and healthy but the traits of a Heroine or Hero can be portrayed as so magnificent that we may find it humbling to be in their presence. The Heroine may have additional conquests to overcome. She may have to deal with not only the issues of love, faith, desire and conflict but also the sins of mortals, greed, envy and lust. She then becomes immortal and lives on as a heroic character in the form of art, theatre, music and dance, being eternally celebrated and remembered.

During the middle ages many innocent women were persecuted and executed as witches but not many men. The female victims of these non-sense ritual sacrifices were usually targeted, as they were either gifted visionaries or stood out from the crowd in some way or form, just as Nina, Joan of Arc, Giselle and Vicky did. Therefore they were unfairly persecuted and manipulated for their vision. In contrast, men were seen as the protectors, the warriors and the breadwinners throughout the ages. It is only in the last century that women have been able to have the same rights as men. Women being given the right to vote and being able to take up prominent roles in the church played a big part in this. However, this was not gained without the Heroines who had the strength to stand up for their beliefs and convictions. Heroines will always have their roles to play in this ever changing cycle of life and that there is ultimately no good without the bad. I also believe that it is through practice and error that enlightenment has come about dispelling ignorance from tired and oppressive ways. My reflection on this is that it all goes back to how men and women relate to each other. One interesting idea about how we connect is Yin and Yang.

Philosophy behind the Yin Yang Figure [ 10 ] yin yang In Chinese philosophy, yin and yang, describes how apparently opposite or contrary forces are actually complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another. Many tangible dualities (such as light and dark, fire and water, and male and female) are thought of as physical manifestations of the duality of yin and yang. So therefore leading me to my final conclusion that men and women will always have their roles to play whether complementary, tragic or not. The circle of life and learning through our knowledge, wisdom or our mistakes will always be an ongoing journey for us in this ever changing world.

References
Aristotle, Poetics, section 1449b, Tufts
Smith, Marian (2000), Ballet and Opera in the Age of "Giselle", Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press,ISBN 978-0691049946
Barnes, Clive (1 January 2003). "Obituary:Diana Gould Menuhin". Dance Magazine. "'Black Swan' director Darren Aronofsky likes a challenge". Los Angeles Times. December 9, 2010
Black Swan (2010);Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
Brockett & Hildy 2003, p. 13. of Naucratis, Athenaeus, The deipnosophists, Wisc Janko 1987, p. 6. Aristotle, Poetics, section 1449b, Tufts
"Direct Effect Season 1, Episode 7 Darren Aronofsky of BLACK SWAN".Fox Movie Channel Originals. TV Guide. October 8, 2011
DeVries, Kelly (1999). Joan of Arc: A Military Leader. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-1805-5. OCLC 42957383.
Lucie-Smith, Edward (1976). Joan of Arc. Bristol: Allen Lane. ISBN 0-7139-0857-2.
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Horace, Epistulae, II, 3, 220: "Carmino qui tragico vilem certavit ob hircum".
Joan of Arc: The Image of Female Heroism Marina Warner (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1981) Marina Warner ‘There's method in theatre's blood and gore’ Marina Warner the Guardian 12 May 2014
Sarah Street, Transatlantic Crossings: British Feature Films in the USA, Continuum, 2002 p 110
Smith, Marian (2000), Ballet and Opera in the Age of "Giselle", Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press,ISBN 978-0691049946
Oliphant, Mrs. (Margaret) (November 2003) [1896]. Jeanne d'Arc: Her Life and Death. Heroes of the Nations. IndyPublish.com. ISBN 978-1404310865.
Pernoud, Régine; Marie-Véronique Clin (1999). Joan of Arc: Her Story. translated and revised by Jeremy duQuesnay Adams; edited by Bonnie Wheeler. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9780312214425. OCLC 39890535.
Zeljka Marosevic, "Critical Thinking #5: Marina Warner", Prospect, 8 May 2014.
Porkert (1974). The Theoretical Foundations of Chinese Medicine. MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-16058-7

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