Shakespeare: Tragedy Class 101 If you were to walk out onto a street and get hit by a car, people might think this is a tragedy, referring to the common usage of the word as meaning anything bad that happens to a person or society. But in the days of Shakespeare, the word tragedy had on more significant meanings; it meant a drama having a disastrous or fatal ending brought about by the character's inevitable and uncontrollable fate or conflicts within himself, or with his fellowmen ("Tragedy" 305). To better understand what tragedy truly means, we must examine the key elements of tragedy: seriousness, magnitude, u