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    Aristotle: The Poetics

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    rmosarla
    - Aristotle stresses that the most important element of tragedy is the plot. The plot must be well-constructed and imitate a segment of life in a way that seems probable and necessary, rather than being a simple narrative. It must have a beginning, middle and end. - The protagonist should be a flawed character whose misfortune comes from circumstantial failings rather than great virtue or vice. Tragedy elicits catharsis through the audience wondering if they too could meet such an ill fate. - Comedy presents less serious situations and its plot constructs names around a probable story, similar to modern satire. It does not involve death or great magnitudes like tragedy. Aristotle's Poetics was highly influential

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    Aristotle: The Poetics

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    rmosarla
    406 views8 pages
    - Aristotle stresses that the most important element of tragedy is the plot. The plot must be well-constructed and imitate a segment of life in a way that seems probable and necessary, rather than being a simple narrative. It must have a beginning, middle and end. - The protagonist should be a flawed character whose misfortune comes from circumstantial failings rather than great virtue or vice. Tragedy elicits catharsis through the audience wondering if they too could meet such an ill fate. - Comedy presents less serious situations and its plot constructs names around a probable story, similar to modern satire. It does not involve death or great magnitudes like tragedy. Aristotle's Poetics was highly influential

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    - Aristotle stresses that the most important element of tragedy is the plot. The plot must be well-constructed and imitate a segment of life in a way that seems probable and necessary, rather than being a simple narrative. It must have a beginning, middle and end. - The protagonist should be a flawed character whose misfortune comes from circumstantial failings rather than great virtue or vice. Tragedy elicits catharsis through the audience wondering if they too could meet such an ill fate. - Comedy presents less serious situations and its plot constructs names around a probable story, similar to modern satire. It does not involve death or great magnitudes like tragedy. Aristotle's Poetics was highly influential

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    406 views8 pages

    Aristotle: The Poetics

    Uploaded by

    rmosarla
    - Aristotle stresses that the most important element of tragedy is the plot. The plot must be well-constructed and imitate a segment of life in a way that seems probable and necessary, rather than being a simple narrative. It must have a beginning, middle and end. - The protagonist should be a flawed character whose misfortune comes from circumstantial failings rather than great virtue or vice. Tragedy elicits catharsis through the audience wondering if they too could meet such an ill fate. - Comedy presents less serious situations and its plot constructs names around a probable story, similar to modern satire. It does not involve death or great magnitudes like tragedy. Aristotle's Poetics was highly influential

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    of 8

    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

    Broadwayworld.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2010. < Texts


    http://www.broadwayworld.com/‌columnpic/‌å0226469409.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg>.
    dreamstime.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2010. Halliwell, Stephen. Aristotle’s Poetics. N.p.: The University of Chicago
    <http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/‌thumb_226/‌120032959385GNIv.jpg>. Press, 1998. Google Books. Web. 3 Feb. 2010. <
    “Macbeth.” Melbourne Cinematheque. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2010. <http http://books.google.com/‌books?id=oKDuNBbNUiAC&pg=PA286&lpg=PA286&dq=the+poet
    ://www.melbournecinematheque.org/‌2008/‌films/‌macbeth.html>. >.
    shakespeare2006.net. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2010. <http://shakespea Sampson, Michael. “Universals, Plot and Form in Aristotle’s Poetics.”
    re2006.net/‌wp-content/‌uploads/‌2009/‌11/‌shakespeare1.jpg>. www2.swgc.mun.ca. University of Michigan, n.d. Web. 1 Feb. 2010.
    spx.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2010. <http://www2.swgc.mun.ca/‌animus/‌Articles/‌Volume
    <http://www.spx.org/‌library/‌images/‌7BE68B678D-954A-4173-9FA2- %2013/‌3_Sampson.pdf>.
    0A4060A60ACD7DImg100.jpg>. Stenudd, Stefan. “Aristotle’s Poetics.” stenudd.com. N.p., 2006. Web. 2 Feb.
    theater-masks.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2010. <http://www.theater- 2010. <http://www.stenudd.com/‌myth/‌greek/‌aristotle/‌aristotle-poetics.htm>.
    masks.com/‌i/‌masks/‌comedy-mask-wearable.jpg>.
    theater-masks.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2010. <http://www.theat
    er-masks.com/‌i/‌masks/‌tragedy-mask-wearable.jpg>.
    www.biology.utah.edu. The University of Utah, n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2010.
    <http://www.biology.utah.edu/‌jorgensen/‌images%20for
    %20website/‌Socrates+Aristotle.jpg>.

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