Travesty and Tragedy

here are some interesting links about the difference between tragedy and travesy

this one is hilarious: http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/tragedy.html

how about the definitions?
clearly they are very different. apparently travesty is related to burlesque and transvestites, "En travesti (literally "cross-dressed") was the conventional theatrical portrayal of women by male actors in drag. Up to the late 17th Century this was necessary because the law considered performance on stage by actual women to engender immorality."

travesty-
1.a literary or artistic burlesque of a serious work or subject, characterized by grotesque or ludicrous incongruity of style, treatment, or subject matter.
2.a literary or artistic composition so inferior in quality as to be merely a grotesque imitation of its model.
3.any grotesque or debased likeness or imitation: a travesty of justice. –verb (used with object)
4.to make a travesty on; turn (a serious work or subject) to ridicule by burlesquing.
5.to imitate grotesquely or absurdly.



and the encyclopedia entry on travesty: http://www.reference.com/search?q=travesty

tragedy:
1.a dramatic composition, often in verse, dealing with a serious or somber theme, typically that of a great person destined through a flaw of character or conflict with some overpowering force, as fate or society, to downfall or destruction.
2.the branch of the drama that is concerned with this form of composition.
3.the art and theory of writing and producing tragedies.
4.any literary composition, as a novel, dealing with a somber theme carried to a tragic conclusion.
5.the tragic element of drama, of literature generally, or of life.
6.a lamentable, dreadful, or fatal event or affair; calamity; disaster: the tragedy of war.

and the etymology of tragedy shows that its roots come from Greek "trag" - a goat song
http://www.reference.com/search?q=tragedy