Aristotle: The Poetics
Plot. Plot. Plot.
“The most beautiful colours, laid on
confusedly, will not give as much
pleasure as the chalk outline of a
portrait.” (Aristotle)
-In this vein Aristotle stresses that the life
of tragedy lies in the construction of its
plot.
- The importance of an exceptional plot
supersedes that of exceptional actors.
- The plot must not be a narrative but
rather an imitation, a mimetic
representation, of life of life.
-By the same token episodic plots, despite
their natural flow, are unacceptable and
are rendered as the most base poetic art
Let us take the analogy of a beautiful tapestry. It
if even that. must be woven together in such a way that it is not
- Mechanical succession detracts from the disjointed and offensive to the eye but also in
manner that combines beauteous and unexpected
catharsis of emotion, the ultimate goal of design to create a striking, unified piece.
tragic poetic expression.
Core Concepts...
Protagonist
“Character must be true to life: for
this is a distinct thing from
goodness and propriety, as here
described.” (Aristotle)
- The protagonist must neither be a
man of great virtue nor one of great
vice.
- His misfortune is brought on by circumstantial
failings that could happen to any man.
- Also important to remember that the plot
should not revolve around unity of the
protagonist but unity of the action or segment
of life which is to be imitated. Therefore it is not
necessary to encompass all that occurred in the
life of the protagonist.
For instance, Macbeth is brought down by an error in judgement
brought on by a combination of ambition and the lure of power. The
tragedy herein is that the circumstance made him a doomed villain
rather than preexisting vice. The universal nature of conditions beg the
audience to wonder if they too are capable of achieving such ill-
fortune.
Core Concepts Cont...
Unity of Action
- The action must be clearly constructed into three
distinguishable components:
”A beginning is that which does not itself follow
anything by causal necessity, but after which
something naturally is or comes to be. An end, on
the contrary, is that which itself naturally follows
some other thing, either by necessity, or as a rule,
but has nothing following it. A middle is that which
follows something as some other thing follows it.”
(Aristotle)
- This is another component that adds to
the notion that allowing the story to flow in
a manner that optimizes the natural
imitation of life.
- The events that occur need to occur in accord
with the premise of probability and necessity.
- The events in a tragedy need not be in exact
accord with history. They must occur in a manner
that seems natural or “probable.”
- How a tragedy ends is the most important aspect
of this framework because it ultimately affects the
catharsis of emotion.
Core Concepts Cont...
Epic vs. Tragedy
- The Epic may include: - The tragedy must include:
- unity of time
- unity of action
- narration based
- imitation based
- no single culmination
- a definable end, culmination of action
Views on Comedy
Comedy vs. Tragedy
Comedy is the “lesser of the two.”
Comedy “constructs the plot on the lines of
probability, and then inserts characteristic
names.” This is not unlike modern satire.
Tragedians on the other hand utilize the real
names as to present a complete imitation of
life. (Aristotle)
It presents less serious situations
that are of vastly smaller
magnitudes than tragedy.
It presents a plot in which “no one slays
or is slain.” (Aristotle)
The Influence
Early History Where can you find it?
- Shakespeare’s Works: The themes of the Poetics
are obvious is Hamlet and Macbeth.
- The fundamental construction of many a silver-
- The fate of the Poetics immediately following screen production.
Aristotle’s death is shrouded in obscurity.
- The works of Ovid, Seneca, Roman Comedy, and
- The ideas trickled throughout history in the works Virgil.
of writers such as Neoptolemus who is thought to
have borrowed many of Aristotle’s ideas.
- Horace’s Ars Poetica, the inspiration for much
Renaissance drama was a neo-classical version of
the original Poetics which further disseminated
Aristotle’s ideas.
Shakespeare Ovid
Works Cited
Photos
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