Aristotle’s Poetics

How the audience enters the play

"The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead."

• Aristotle’s Poetics, written at about 335 BCE, is considered to be the first systematic critical theory in the world. For nearly 2,000 years it has inspired the thoughts of writers, philosophers and critics.

Aristotle’s Definition of Tragedy

• “Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its katharsis of such emotions. . . . Every Tragedy, therefore, must have six parts, which parts determine its quality—namely, Plot, Characters, Diction, Thought, Spectacle, Melody.”

1st - Plot

• Upon reading a play the events of the story, the setting and the action unfold to reveal the circumstances of the play and its problems or conflict.

• “imitation of an action.” mimesis, not narrative.

• “complete” Unity of action—no extraneous events.

• “of a certain magnitude”—not too short

Aristotle on Plot

• A story must have a beginning, middle, and end. (see pyramid)

• Events of the plot must relate to each other causally. “Necessary and probable.”

• Must arouse the “fear and pity” of the audience.

• Plot is the “arrangement of incidents.”

NO!

Gustave Freytag’s Pyramid

Aristotle’s plot devices

• Peripeteia—reversal of intention• Obstacle• Anagnorisis—Discovery, or change from

ignorance to knowledge• Catastrophe—a change of fortune. The

simplest, worst plots have only this.

2nd - Character

• As the plot unfolds we get to know and understand the characters as they reveal their personalities through their actions and interactions with one another.

Requirements of Characters

• “good or fine”• “fitness of character,” i.e., true to type• “true to life” (realistic)• “consistency” (true to themselves)• “necessary or probable” (logically constructed

to the world of the play)• “true to life and yet more beautiful”

(idealized, ennobled)—i.e., like us, only better

3rd – Idea or Theme

• As we follow the course of the plot and the characters involvement with it, certain ideas or themes will arise – the play is focusing on power or love or family.

• The ideas begin to form and at the conclusion of the play we can decide upon which ideas were most dominant.

Aristotle on Thought

• “Where something is proved to be or not to be”

• What Aristotle said about thought is mostly lost, but we can assume he meant “theme.”

4th – Language (Diction)

• As the characters speak we learn about their personalities through the type of language they use. We learn about their social level, education, decorum and if they change their language with other characters. What they say tells us a lot about who they are.

• When reading a play, we must imagine what the voices sound like.

• “…the greatest thing by far is to have a command of metaphor; . . . it is the mark of genius, for to make good metaphors implies an eye for resemblances.”

• Diction refers to the choice of words of the characters.

5th – Music

• Music does not only refer to music we may hear, but also the tempo of the play. Some scenes move quickly, such as an argument, while some unfold more deliberately. The pace of the speeches is also music.

6th – Spectacle

• The setting, costumes, lights and sound effects work together to finish the dramatic product.

• As readers we need to imagine these elements as they are often not described in detail. This is the last element we imagine.

Aristotle's Catharsis

• Briefly touched on in Poetics• Stirring up pity and fear, then dispelling

them is the function of tragedy• Promised a fuller explanation, but was

probably lost to history with his book on Comedy.

Viewing goes in Reverse

Spectacle – Before the play begins we can see visually elements of setting, idea and even character.

Music – Before we understand where the plot is going we hear the tempo of the play. We understand the feeling of the characters through their pace.

Language – As the characters speak and we hear their voices their personalities develop before us. We hear the differences in the classes.

Idea – Before the plot has concluded we can see some themes emerging in the story. We discover what drives characters though we do not know why.

Character - Upon the conclusion of the play we have an understanding of the characters and their complete personalities, complimented by the visual and audible contributions of the designers and the actors.

Plot - The plot of the play is finally complete as we see how all the events tie together and have focused on one conflict.