What Is The Difference Between Tragedy, Comedy And A Tragi-comedy?

To trace down the difference between tragedy, comedy and a tragi-comedy, we will first have to see what these terms mean. Tragedy is probably one the most debated issues in literature. No critic in the history has ever been able to define "tragedy" in an absolute way. Aristotle's definition of tragedy seems to fail now in modern times. The formative elements described by Aristotle have been rejected by many of the modern writers. For example, for Aristotle, Organic plot is the best suitable plot for a tragedy but in the modern and post modern era of literature we have seen a number of writers who have strongly disagreed with Aristotle. His definition has also been rejected.
However, for the sake of a general understanding, we can say that tragedy is a play, which has an unhappy ending. It is not necessary that there must be some bloodshed at the end of the play. We can even have an unhappy ending without any kind of blood shed.
On the contrary, a comedy is generally a play that has a happy ending and there are no losses in the play. A common understanding of comedy is that it is a play that brings smile to your faces. This is not a correct understanding of comedy.
Thirdly, a tragi-comedy is a play that has a happy ending but we have some irreparable losses in the play. For example, in Shakespeare's "A Winter's Tale", we have a happy ending but the deaths of certain characters and golden time lost by the queen Hermione cannot be called back. Hence, it has got somewhat an element of tragedy in it but the ending is a happy one.

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