Aristotle's Poetics

ARISTOTLE’SPOETICS

MANNRENTOY

Bornin384BCDied322BC.

AristotleenteredtheAcademybutleftwhenPlatodied

MENTORofAlexandertheGreat

SchoolinAthens,theLyceaum,wasfoundedin335BC.

Responsibleforthefirstsystematicworkofliterarycriticism.

Aristotle (c. 384-322 B.C.E. )

• Founder of literary criticism

• Dante called him “the master of those who know”

• Plato referred to Aristotle as “the mind’’

physics,biology,zoology,metaphysics,logic,ethics,aesthetics,poetry,theater,music,rhetoric,linguistics,politicsandgovernment

Aristotle’s‘ThePoetics’

*Introductory remarks on poetry and its classification.*Tragedy.*Poetic diction.*Narrative poetry and Tragedy .*Epic is compared with Tragedy.*Objections are answered.

6 Parts of “Poetics”

Twenty-sixchapters.

a kind of covertreply to his greatmaster.

a systematicexposition of thetheory andpractice ofpoetry.

DifferencesbetweenAristotleandPlato�Plato considered

imitation merely as mimicry or a servile copy of nature.

�Plato compared poetry to painting.

�Aristotle interpreted it as a creative process.

�Aristotle compared it to music.

DifferencesbetweenAristotleandPlato� Poetry presents a copy of

nature as it is. Poetry is twice removed from reality and it’s a ‘shadow of shadows’.

� Plato takes up the cudgel on behalf of philosophy and shows that philosophy is superior to poetry.

� Poetry may imitate men as they are, or better and worse. Poetry gives us idealized version of reality.

� He takes up the cudgels on behalf of poetry and effectively brings out its superiority.

OverallSummaryof“Poetics”

Hedefinespoetry

asameansofmimesis, orimitation

bymeansoflanguage,rhythm,andharmony

TRAGEDY

Dionysus,Thousands,Thirty-Three

Aeschylus,Sophocles,Euripides

Tragedyservestoarousetheemotionsofpityandfearandto

effectakatharsis(catharsis)oftheseemotions

sixdifferentpartsofTRAGEDY:(1)mythos,orplot,(2)character,(3)thought,(4)diction,(5)melody,and(6)spectacle.

firstessentialtocreatingagoodtragedyisthatitshouldmaintainunityofplot

Theplotcanalsobeenhancedbyanintelligentuseof

peripeteia,orreversal,andanagnorisis,orrecognition

Themiseryshouldbetheresult

ofsomehamartia,orerror,onthepartofthehero.

Aristotlediscussesthoughtanddictionandthenmovesontoaddressepicpoetry

Afteraddressingsomeproblemsofcriticism,Aristotlearguesthattragedyissuperiortoepicpoetry.

IMPORTANTTERMSofAristotle

Hamartia - thewordtranslatesalmostdirectlyas"error,"thoughitisoftenrenderedmoreelaboratelyas"tragicflaw."

Tragedyinvolvesthedownfallofahero,effectedbysomeerror.Thiserrorcouldbeasimplematterofnotknowingsomethingorforgettingsomething.

Anagnorisis - "recognition"or"discovery."

Thatmomentwhenthehero,orsomeothercharacter,passesfromignorancetoknowledge.Thiscouldbearecognitionofalonglostfriendorfamilymember,oritcouldbeasuddenrecognitionofsomefactaboutoneself

Mythos -usuallytranslatedas"plot,"butunlike"plot,"mythos canbeappliedtoallworksofart.

Notsomuchamatterofwhathappensandinwhatorder,mythos dealswithhowtheelementsofatragedy(orapainting,sculpture,etc.)cometogethertoformacoherentandunifiedwhole.

Theoverallmessageorimpressionthatwecomeawaywithiswhatisconveyedtousby

themythos ofapiece.

Katharsis - ThiswordwasnormallyusedinancientGreecebydoctorstomean"purgation"orbyprieststomean"purification."

Intragedy,Aristotleusesittotalkaboutapurgationorpurificationofemotions.

Presumably,thismeansthatkatharsis isareleaseofbuiltupemotionalenergy,muchlikeagoodcry.

Peripeteia - Areversal,eitherfromgoodtobadorbadtogood.Peripeteia oftenoccursattheclimaxofastory,oftenpromptedbyanagnorisis.

- theclimaxofastory:theturningpointintheaction,wherethingsbegintomovetowardaconclusion.

Lusis - Literally"untying,"thelusis isalltheactioninatragedyfromtheclimaxonward.Alltheplotthreadsthathavebeenwoventogetherinthedesis areslowlyunraveleduntiltheconclusion.

Desis - Literally"tying,"thedesisisalltheactioninatragedyleadinguptotheclimax.

- threadscraftilywoventogethertoformamoreandmorecomplexmess.

Aristotle’s‘ThePoetics’

“scientificstudyoftheconstituentpartsofpoetryanddrawingconclusionsfromthoseobservations”

He lists the different kinds of poetry: epic poetry, tragedy, comedy, dithyrambic poetry, and most flute-playing and lyre-playing

Next, he classifies all of these kinds of poetry as mimetic, or imitative, but that there are significant differences between them.

Mimesistheactofcreatinginsomeone'smind,throughartisticrepresentation,anideaorideasthatthepersonwillassociatewithpastexperience.Roughlytranslatableas"imitation,”

Howcanwedifferentiatethetragedyfromotherpoeticforms?

Manner Of

imitation

objects

medium

first kind of distinction is the

means or medium they employ. Just as a painter employs paint and a sculptor employs stone, the poet employs language, rhythm, and harmony, either singly or in combinations.

The second distinction is the objects that are imitated. All poetry represents actions with agents who are either better than us, worse than us, or quite like us.

tragedy and epic poetry: characters are better than us

comedy and parody: characters are worse than us.

The third distinction is with the manner of representation: the poet either speaks directly in narrative or assumes the characters of people in the narrative and speaks through them.

Objects,Manner,andMediumofImitationinTragedy

Objects Serious action

mannerRepresent

through action

medium Verse in dialogue

We are by nature imitative creatures that learn and excel by imitating others, and we naturally take delight in works of imitation.

Evidence: fascinated by representations of dead bodies or disgusting animals even though the things themselves would repel us.

*welearnbyexaminingrepresentationsandimitationsofthings

*learningisoneofthegreatestpleasuresthereis

*Rhythmandharmonyalsocomenaturallytous,sothatpoetrygraduallyevolvedoutofourimprovisationswiththesemedia.

Tragedyandcomedyarelaterdevelopmentsthatarethegrandestrepresentationoftheirrespectivetraditions:

**tragedyoftheloftytradition

**comedyofthemeantradition

Four innovations in the development from improvised

dithyrambs toward the tragedies of his day.

Dithyrambs were sung in honor of Dionysus, god of wine, by a chorus

of around fifty men and boys, often accompanied by a narrator.

1st Innovation: Aeschylus reduced the number of

the chorus and introduced a second actor on stage, which made

dialogue the central focus of the poem

2nd Innovation:Sophocles added a third actor

and also introduced background scenery.

3rd Innovation:Tragedy developed an air of seriousness, and the meter

changed from a trochaic rhythm, which is more suitable for dancing,

to an iambic rhythm, which is closer to the natural rhythms of

conversational speech.

4th Innovation:Tragedy developed a plurality of

episodes, or acts.

tragedy and epic poetry: characters are better than us

comedy and parody: characters are worse than us.

comedy deals with the ridiculous which he defines as a kind of ugliness that does no harm to anybody else.

very sketchy account of the origins of comedy, because it was not generally treated with the same respect as tragedy and so there are fewer records of the innovations that led to its present form.

Tragedy and epic poetry deal with lofty subjects in a grand style of verse

Three significant differences:

First, tragedy is told in a dramatic, rather than narrative, form, and employs several different kinds of verse while epic poetry employs only one.

Second, the action of a tragedy is usually confined to a single day, and so the tragedy itself is usually much shorter than an epic poem.

Third, while tragedy has all the elements that are characteristic of epic poetry, it also has some additional elements that are unique to it alone.

Aristotle now narrows his focus to examine tragedy exclusively. In order to do so, he provides a definition of tragedy that we can break up into seven parts

(1) it involves mimesis; (2) it is serious; (3) the action is complete and with magnitude; (4) it is made up of language with the "pleasurable accessories" of rhythm and harmony;

(5) these "pleasurable accessories" are not used uniformly throughout, but are introduced in separate parts of the work, so that, for instance, some bits are spoken in verse and other bits are sung;

(6) it is performed rather than narrated; and (7) it arouses the emotions of pity and fear and accomplishes a katharsis (purification or purgation) of these emotions.

DefinitionofTragedy

Actionmustbecomplete

Beginning

Middle

End

Completeness:-

UnityofAction:(ProbabilityandNecessity)

There must be a causal connection

between the various events and

incidents.

They must follow each other

naturally and inevitably.

No incident or character should be

superfluous.

The events introduced must be such as are probable

under the circumstances.

Aristotle emphasizes Unity of Action ; he is against plurality of action as it weakens the final effect of Tragedy.

Imitationofanaction,serious,completeandofacertainmagnitude…….

magnitude thought length

It must be long enough to permit an orderly development of action to a catastrophe. Too short an action cannot be regarded as proper and beautiful, for its different parts will not be clearly visible, as in the case of a very small living creature.

It must be an ‘organic’ whole.

Andanotherimportantwordisembellishment:-

Verse and song beautify and decorate and give pleasure, but Aristotle does not regard them as essential or indispensable for the success of a tragedy.

Diction and StyleDiction is the choice and arrangement of words and

images in a literary composition.

Six types of words• Current or ordinary words • Foreign terms borrowed or dialects• Metaphors• Ornamental periphrasis • Invented words• Not invented, but made new lengthening

or shortening

Songs is the pleasurable addition to a play. In a tragedy, song is provided by the Chorus. The quantitative sections of tragedy are ;vProloguevChoric song vEpisodevExode

SONGS OR MELODY

AboutCatharsis:-#In the Poetics, while defining tragedy, Aristotle writes that the function of tragedy is to arouse the emotions of pity and fear, and in this way to affect the Katharsis of these emotion.

#Further the Greek word Katharsishas three meanings:-

Purgation purification clarification

All agree that Tragedy arouses fear and pity, but there are sharp differences as to the process, the way, by which the rousing of these emotions gives pleasure.

Havingexaminedthedefinition,natureandfunctionof‘Tragedy,Aristotlecomestoitsformativeparts.

Six formative elements of a

tragedy

Plot

Character

Diction Thought

Spectacle

Song

TwokindsofPlots:simpleandcomplex� Simple:� Plot is simple when the

change in the fortunes of the hero takes place without peripety and discovery.

� Complex:� The plot is complex

when it involves one or the other or both. The Peripety is the change in the fortunes of the hero and the Discovery is a change from ignorance to knowledge.

Aristotle prefers complex plot, for it startles and captures attention.

ComplexplotsarethosewhichhavePeripetyandAnagnorisis orDiscoveryorRecognition� Peripeteia :� Peripeteia means that

human actions produce results exactly opposite to what was intended: it is working in blindness to one’s own defeat.

� It is a false step taken in the dark.(e.g., Macbeth)

� Anagnorisis:� Anagnorisis or

recognition is the realization of truth, the opening of the eyes, the sudden lightning-flash in the darkness.

Characterization:-

Showing a perfectly good man passing from happiness to

misery

Such kind of plot will not inspire pity

and fear it will be simply odious or

horrible

Showing a bad man rising

from misery to happiness

It is not tragic at all

Showing an extremely bad

man falling from happiness to

misery

It will move us neither to pity nor

fear.

“A man who is not eminently good and just yet whose misfortune is not brought by vice or depravity but by some error of frailty”.

FurtherTraitsofCharacters:-The

characters must be good

They must be appropriate

They must have likeness

They must have

consistency

Aristotle means that they must be true to type, slave should behave as slaves are generally known to behave. There must be no sudden and unaccountable change in

character.

TheIdealTragicHero:-

He should neither be perfectly good not

utterly bad .

He should be a man neither of a blameless

character nor a depraved villain.

He is a man of ordinary weaknesses and virtues, like our selves, leaning

more to the side of good than of evil.

Suffering, not because of some deliberate villainy but because of some error of judgment.

“Hamartia”

Ignorance Hasty or careless view

Decision taken voluntarily

Oedipus Othello Hamlet

It may be accompanied by normal imperfection, but it is not itself a moral imperfection, and in the purest tragic situation the suffering hero is not morally to blame.

TheDramaticUnitiesUnity of Time

#Comparing the Epic and the Tragedy:-“Tragedy tries as far as possible, to live within a single revolution of the sun, or only slightly to exceed it, whereas the epic observes no limits in its time of action”.

About the Unity of Time he merely says in the Poetics that tragedy should confine itself, “as far as possible”, to a single revolution of the sun.

UnityofPlaceAristotle only mentions when comparing the epic and the tragedy, that the epic can narrate a number of actions going on simultaneously in different parts, while in drama such simultaneous actions cannot be represented, for the stage is one part and not several parts, or places.

UnityofActionTight plot – not episodic; events have the logical connectedness

* Unity of plot in epic.* Contrast between epic and tragedy.* Superiority of tragedy over epic.* Tragedy is possible without character but not

without plot.* Epic is of four types : simple and complex, epic

of character, epic of suffering.* Tragedy is of four types : The complex tragedy,

the tragedy of suffering, the tragedy of character, the tragedy of spectacle.

EPIC AND TRAGEDY

Types of Tragedy

• Complex tragedyIt consists of reversal and recognition of truth.

• Tragedy of sufferingTragedy depicts suffering.

• Tragedy of characterCharacter more involved than plot.

• Tragedy of spectacleIt depends upon the sensational effects

produced by the actors, the costume designers and other mechanical and artificial devices.

Types of Recognition

Anagnorisis (discovery or recognition of truth)

• Signs or objects, symbols• Author tells himself• Discovery from memory• Process of reasoning• Discovery arising from the false reasoning

Superiority of Tragedy over Epic

• It has all the elements of an epic and has also spectacle and song which the epic lacks.

• Unity of action only in a tragedy not in an epic.• Simply reading the play without performing it is

already very potent.• Tragedy is shorter that is more compact concentrated

effect.