Abstract

KIRSH MINSAAS examines the role of tragedy in Rand's fiction. Rand tended to dismiss tragedy, finding it incompatible with her doctrine that art should serve as a kind of inspirational fuel. But her own fiction often makes use of tragedy in ways that transcend her theory and that reveal its inadequacy as a basis for interpreting her works. A satisfactory comprehension of the meaning and function of the tragic occurrences in Rand's works, Minsaas argues, requires engagement with such conceptual frameworks as Aristotle's catharsis theory, Nietzsche's attack on pity, the Prometheus myth, and the Stoic idea of heroic calm