Cruel in example sentence
The sadness was normally due to the innocent victim (who was usually a beautiful woman) being murdered in an unjustified fashion, such as Desdemona in 'Othello'; the anger would have been directed towards the villain in the play whose dastardly deeds had resulted in the deaths of heroes and heroines - here we have Iago, arguably the most evil character in the history of literature ('Othello' again); sympathy was not for the devil, but for the poor people who had overcome the denouement but had to deal with its consequences (Horatio perhaps in 'Hamlet', or maybe Father Laurence in 'Romeo and Juliet'); and lastly relief was felt because the audience had survived the play's violence and could thank their lucky stars that they did not have to live in a world so cruel.