  The sublime plays a significant role in Schopenhauer’s theory of tragedy and his solution to the ‘rationality problem’ of tragedy, namely, how can we rationally take pleasure in witnessing terrible scenes and feeling the painful emotions of fear and pity that are integral to an experience of tragic drama? In addition to the high cognitive value of this genre, Schopenhauer regards the pleasure of tragedy as the highest degree of the feeling of the dynamically sublime (WWR II: 433). These two facets of Schopenhauer’s account of tragedy help explain the rationality of engaging with tragic drama as well as the often-noted ethical significance of the genre (see  section 5.2.4 for more on tragedy).  