Back during the times of the Ancient Greeks, there were Tragedies and Comedies.
What kind of story it is comes from the architecture of the story:
Structure of a Tragedy: "They're going to win, they're going to win, they're going to win--they lose."
Structure of a Comedy: "They're going to lose, they're going to lose, they're going to lose--they win."
As you see, it is the reversal that makes the story pattern.
Great example: In 1840, Charles Dickens was writing the serial novel "The Old Curiosity Shop". It was published in weekly serial installments over 88 weeks. Dickens was writing it as it was being published. The story is about a Grandfather and his granddaugter Little Nell. The grandfather owes a huge amount money to a loan shark Quilp. Quilp says pay me by giving me Little Nell.
The story is about the flight of the old man and little girl across the London countryside with Quilp in pursuit.
As Dickens was writing the story (and published two chapters a week), his friend John Forster said: "You know you're going to have to kill her." Dickens was horrified because he realized he had been writing a Tragedy--which had to end in "they lose".
In the famous account, when oceanliners crossed the Atlantic Ocean with copies of the 88th and final installment, a crowd of 100,000+ were waiting on the docks of Boston harbor, all yelling the same thing to the debarking passengers: "Is Little Nell dead?" She was.
"Fiction is not interior decorating--it's architecture"--Ernest Hemingway.
Antigone can be better characterized as following the 5 act structure that Shakespeare used:
I. Introduction
II. Growth
III. Climax
IV. Fall
V. Catastrophe
The best example of Shakespeare's structure is in Macbeth
I. Introduction. The three witches tell Macbeth that after three things happen, he will be king.
II. Growth. The first two of the three happen
III. Climax. Macbeth himself kills King Duncan, fulfilling the third prophesy.
IV. Fall. Duncan's people figure out that Macbeth committed the murder.
V. Catastrophe. They kill Macbeth for the murder.
This structure shows that no event is finished until we see the backlash.
I also tracked down the original, which comes from the magnificent book "Dickens' Working Notes for his Novels" which I read in college and eventually bought my own copy:
"Another important impact of Dickens's episodic writing style was his exposure to the opinions of his readers. Since Dickens did not write the chapters very far ahead of their publication, he was allowed to witness the public reaction and alter the story depending on those public reactions.
A fine example of this process can be seen in his weekly serial The Old Curiosity Shop, which is a chase story. In this novel, Little Nell and her Grandfather are fleeing the villain Quilp. The progress of the novel follows the gradual success of that pursuit. As Dickens wrote and published the weekly installments, his good friend John Forster pointed out to Dickens: "You know you're going to have to kill her, don't you."
Why this end was necessary can be explained by a brief analysis of the difference between the structure of a comedy versus a tragedy. In a comedy, the action covers a sequence "You think they're going to lose, you think they're going to lose, they win." In tragedy, it's: "You think they're going to win, you think they're going to win, they lose". As you see, the dramatic conclusion of the story is implicit throughout the novel. So, as Dickens wrote the novel in the form of a tragedy, the sad outcome of the novel was a foregone conclusion. If he had not caused his heroine to lose, he would not have completed his dramatic structure. Dickens admitted that his friend Forster was right and, in the end, Little Nell died. Dickens himself admitted that he did not want to kill Nell, but he was a novelist and he had to complete the novel's structure. See: Dickens' [sic] Working Notes for His Novels."
Structure of a Tragedy: "They're going to win, they're going to win, they're going to win--they lose."
Structure of a Comedy: "They're going to lose, they're going to lose, they're going to lose--they win."
As you see, it is the reversal that makes the story pattern.
Great example: In 1840, Charles Dickens was writing the serial novel "The Old Curiosity Shop". It was published in weekly serial installments over 88 weeks. Dickens was writing it as it was being published. The story is about a Grandfather and his granddaugter Little Nell. The grandfather owes a huge amount money to a loan shark Quilp. Quilp says pay me by giving me Little Nell.
The story is about the flight of the old man and little girl across the London countryside with Quilp in pursuit.
As Dickens was writing the story (and published two chapters a week), his friend John Forster said: "You know you're going to have to kill her." Dickens was horrified because he realized he had been writing a Tragedy--which had to end in "they lose".
In the famous account, when oceanliners crossed the Atlantic Ocean with copies of the 88th and final installment, a crowd of 100,000+ were waiting on the docks of Boston harbor, all yelling the same thing to the debarking passengers: "Is Little Nell dead?" She was.
"Fiction is not interior decorating--it's architecture"--Ernest Hemingway.