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POETICS BY ARISTOTLE OUTLINE I. Poetry A. Epic poetry and tragedy are all modes of imitation. Epic poetry, tragedy, comedy, and choral hymns sung at the festival of Dionysius are modes of imitation but differ in rhythm, melody, and verse. They differ in the: 1. Means of discussion—rhythm, language, and harmony. 2. Objects discussed. 3. Way they imitate. II. Objects of Imitator A. Objects the imitator represents are actions with characters who are either good or bad men. B. The line between virtue and vice is one dividing the whole of mankind. C. **The characters of tragedy/poetry must be above our own level of goodness (we must admire or respect them) or beneath it and we must be able to evaluate ourselves. D. **Tragedy’s “men” are better than those of present day. III. Character A. Poetry, tragedy, and comedy differ in the means, object, and manner B. Plays are dramas because characters act out the story. C. Characters may remain the same throughout without change. D. Sophocles portrays characters as good men. IV. Imitation A. Imitation is something humans learn from childhood and sets us apart from other animals. B. Humans learn first by imitation. C. **We enjoy imitation and we enjoy painful experience; we delight in seeing things painful to see. D. **We want to feel empathy for characters. E. Review of changes in tragedy: 1. Number of actors increased to two by Aeschylus. 2. Third actor and scenery added by Sophocles. 3. Tragedy acquired its magnitude—became a form of art. 4. Meter changed from trochaic (more musical) to iambic (most speakable). 5. Increased number of episodes or acts (scenes). V. Comedy A. Comedy shows men worse than average (not in all regards but in one fault). B. Comedy includes the “ridiculous”—a mistake or deformity that does not produce pain or harm in others—masks or incites laughter. C. Epic poetry doesn’t have any time limit. It’s one kind of verse in narrative form. D. **Tragedy is an imitation of serious subjects in grand verse. E. **Tragedy usually has a fixed limit of time—usually takes place in one day. F. A judge of good and bad in tragedy is/is not a good person. VI. **Tragedy A. **”Tragedy is an imitation of an action that is serious and having magnitude, complete in itself, is elevated in language (language is pleasurable), is dramatic, not narrative in form, incidents arouse pity and fear, and audience is able to have a cartharsis of the emotions of pity and fear.” B. Agents (characters) have two things—thought and character that lead to their success or failure. C. Thought and character lead to success or failure of the protagonist. D. Thought proves a particular point or says a general truth. E. Six parts to every tragedy: 1. Fable (plot)—combination of events or things in a story. 2. Character—what puts certain morals to the actors.

F. G. H. I. J.

3. Diction—combination of verses. 4. Melody 5. Spectacle—stage appearance of actors. 6. Thought—where the play enunciates a general truth. Tragedy is an imitation of action, life, happiness, and misery. Tragedy is an imitation of people who pass from happiness to misery. The character gives us qualities in actions, but it is what we do that makes us happy or miserable. Plot/fable is the end of purpose of tragedy, and tragedy is impossible without action, but a tragedy may be one without characters. **The most powerful element of tragedy is Peripeties (discoveries) as parts of the plot. Plot comes first; characters come second. The third most important element is thought—the power of saying whatever can be said or is appropriate to the occasion. Character reveals the moral purpose of the agent—what they seek or avoid. Thought is shown when they prove or disprove a point or say a universal proposition.

VII.

Characteristics of Plot A. Tragedy is an imitation of an action that is complete in itself, as whole of some magnitude, for a whole may be of no magnitude to speak of. B. A tragedy should be a length which allows the hero passing by a series of probable or necessary stages from misfortune to happiness or from happiness to misfortune.

VIII.

Plot A. It should be unified—must have actions which are closely connected.

IX. Poet’s job A. Poet’s function is to describe not what has happened but what might happen—what is possible as being probable or necessary. B. A tragedy should show what a man will probably or necessarily do or say. C. The poet should show that which has happened is manifestly possible is it would not have happened in the first place. D. **Simple plots that are episodic are the worst because there is no possibility or necessity in the sequence of episodes. E. **Tragedy is an imitation not only of a complete action but also of incidents arousing pity and fear and are far more effective if they happen unexpectedly as a consequence of one another. X. Simple Plots A. Simple plots occur when a hero’s fortunes change without Peripety or Discovery. The actions or discovery needs to arise out of the plot itself. XI. Peripety A. Peripety is a change from one state of things to its opposite—a discovery from ignorance to knowledge—such as the messenger who is coming to remove fears of Oedipus’ mother but he really reveals the truth. B. Discovery is a change from ignorance to knowledge and thus to either love or hate. C. **A peripety will either arouse pity or fear and will also serve to bring about the happy or unhappy ending. D. Suffering is an action of destructive or painful nature. Parts of a Tragedy (I covered this in the introduction to the play) XII. A. B. C. D.

Prologue Episode Exodos Choral portion (parados and stasismon)

XIII.

Tragedy’s Plot A. **A tragedy’s plot must imitate actions arousing fear and pity. B. A tragedy’s plot should avoid a good man passing from happiness to misery (not fear-inspiring or piteous) or a bad man passing from happiness to misery (does not appeal to pity or fear) or an extremely bad man passing from happiness to misery. C. **Pity is occasionally undeserved misfortune and fear by that of one like ourselves. D. **The hero’s misfortunes must move from happiness to misery and its cause must not lie in some great error of his.

XIV. Tragic Fear and Pity A. **Tragic fear and pity may be aroused by the spectacle or by the structure and incidents of the play. Even by hearing the account of the events, the audience will be filled with horror and pity. B. **What causes pity and fear should be included in the incidents of the story. 1. If enemy hurts enemy, we don’t feel pity. 2. **If the tragic deed is done in a family, that arouses pity and fear. The deed may be done knowingly or in ignorance of his relationship. XV.

**Characteristics of a Tragic Character A. **A tragic character shall be good—what he says or does reveals a certain moral purpose and can be of any socioeconomic level. B. **What the tragic character does should be appropriate. C. A tragic character needs to be realistic (like reality). D. A tragic character needs to be consistent throughout. E. The tragic character should be better than an ordinary man. F. The denouement should arise out of the plot.

XVI. **Types of Discoveries A. Discoveries by signs (considered unartistic). B. Discovery made by poet—put obviously into the play. C. Discovery through memory—consciousness being awakened by something seen. D. Discovery through reasoning—second best E. Discovery arising from bad reasoning on other side of party F. Discovery arising from incidents themselves when suspense comes through a probable incident— this is the BEST type of discovery. XVII. How to Write a Play (tips) A. The poet should put actual scenes as far as possible before the audience. B. The poet should act the story with very gestures of the characters—the actor should feel the emotions. C. The poet should simplify and reduce to the universal form. XVIII. Tips Continued D. Every tragedy is in part complication and part denouement (climax). E. Types of tragedy 1. Complex tragedy—all peripety and discovery. 2. Tragedy of suffering. 3. Tragedy of character. 4. Tragedy of spectacle F. A poet should not write a tragedy on an epic body. G. The chorus should be regarded as one of the actors....