Anthony Kubiak’s Agitated States and Terry Eagleton’s Sweet Violence share several themes, in particular the analysis of dramas of violence as well as the ethics of tragedy in everyday life. Their points of view, however, differ. Whereas Kubiak takes a poststructural stance by examining the contrast between the actual event and its artistic representation (in both fiction and reality), Eagleton posits a recuperation of tragedy’s moral and aesthetic value. Taken together, the books provide an enlightening and varying perspective on violence, loss, and tragedy in theatre and drama.