This analysis of the nature of tragedy uses the literary theory of Polish phenomenologist Roman Ingarden (1893-1970) as a point of departure. By formulating the concept of the tragic as a metaphysical quality, this work balances an attention to textual detail with an awareness of the role of the reader in concretizing a literary work of art. The significance of this concept is demonstrated in its application to readings of a Classical Greek and two twentieth-century French versions of the Electra myth, readings which pay particular attention to the interplay of the moral and aesthetic elements in these literary masterpieces.