Transcript Aristotle on Tragedy

Aristotle on Tragedy
From his “Poetics”
Teachings – What and How
•Aristotle taught in what later
became known as Peripatetics
meaning to walk about which he
did often as he discoursed
•He is said to be given two type of
lectures one in the morning for a
inner circle of advanced students
and one in the evening for the
general body of lovers of
knowledge
•He taught modern down-to-earth
philosophy, biology, politics, and
the rules of logic
The Poetics
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.
Literature = Poetry (Three Types)
Three types of poetry:
– Comedy
– Epic
– Tragedy (the most
refined type of poetry)
Elements of Literature
• Aristotle defines many key literary
components in the Poetics:
– mimesis (imitation),
– muthos (plot),
– anagnorisis (discovery),
– periperteia (reversal),
– hamartia (misjudgment), and
– catharsis (purifying or relieving of emotions)
Focus on Tragedy
• Tragedy ... is (1) an imitation of an action that
is serious, (2) complete, and (3) of a certain
magnitude; in (4) language embellished with
each kind of artistic ornament, the several
kinds being found in separate parts of the
play; in (2) the form of action, not of narrative;
(5) through pity and fear effecting the proper
catharsis of these emotions.
Mimesis (Imitation)
• Tragedy is the “imitation of an action”
(mimesis). Aristotle indicates that the medium
of tragedy is drama; tragedy “shows” rather
than “tells.” According to Aristotle, tragedy is
higher and more philosophical than history
because history simply relates what has
happened while tragedy dramatizes what may
happen, “what is possible according to the law
of probability or necessity.”
A “Complete” Plot
• The plot must be “complete,” having “unity of
action.” By this Aristotle means that the plot
must be structurally self-contained … with no
outside intervention
• According to Aristotle, tragedies where the
outcome depends on a tightly constructed
cause-and-effect chain of actions are superior
to those that depend primarily on the
character and personality of the protagonist.
“Of a Certain Magnitude…”
• The plot must be “of a certain magnitude”
– quantitatively (length, complexity)
– qualitatively (“seriousness” and universal significance)
• Quality is shown when …
– the more incidents and themes that the playwright
can bring together in an organic unity, the greater the
artistic value and richness of the play
– the more universal and significant the meaning of the
play, the more the playwright can catch and hold the
emotions of the audience, the better the play will be
Complex Plot Preferred
• The plot may be either simple or complex,
although complex is better.
– Simple plots have only a “change of fortune”
(catastrophe).
– Complex plots have both “reversal of intention”
(peripeteia) and “recognition” (anagnorisis)
connected with the catastrophe.
• peripeteia occurs when a character produces an effect
opposite to that which he intended
• an anagnorisis is a change from ignorance to
knowledge
The Tragic Hero
• The protagonist should be renowned and
prosperous, so his change of fortune can be
from good to bad. This change “should come
about as the result, not of vice, but of some
great error or frailty in a character.” Such a
plot is most likely to generate pity and fear in
the audience, for “pity is aroused by
unmerited misfortune, fear by the misfortune
of a man like ourselves.”
Our Hero
• Consistent: Our hero
should repeatedly
show the same traits
through out the play.
• Lifelike: He should
also appear as
humanly as possible
so we can relate to
him.
Our Hero, cont’d.
• Good: The hero would
have to demonstrate
through his speech
and actions that he is
morally sound.
• Appropriate: He would
also have to maintain
society's ideas on
social behaviors (men
should be manly and
so forth).
Hamartia
• Hamartia, often translated “tragic flaw,” has
been the subject of much debate. The
meaning of the Greek word is closer to
“mistake” than to “flaw”
• In the ideal tragedy, claims Aristotle, the
protagonist will mistakenly bring about his
own downfall—not because he is sinful or
morally weak, but because he does not know
enough
The Hero’s Outcome
• Death: Although Aristotle did not feel that the
hero should die (because it would provoke ill
feelings in the viewers), some of the tragic heroes
died.
• Lesson: Aristotle felt that the best outcome for
the tragic hero would be to come out of the
tragedy having realized their error in judgment
and gained a life lesson from it.
And There is Always Suffering
• Hamartia eventually results in significant
suffering. Aristotle argues that the best
tragedies combine peripeteia and anagnorisis
as part of their cause-and-effect chain (i.e.,
the peripeteia <reversal of intention> leads
directly to the anagnorisis <recognition>); this
in turns creates the catastrophe, leading to
the final “scene of suffering”
Catharsis – κάθαρσις
• Medicine - Purgation,
especially for the digestive
system.
• A purifying or figurative
cleansing of the emotions,
especially pity and fear,
described by Aristotle as an
effect of tragic drama on its
audience.
• A release of emotional
tension, as after an
overwhelming experience,
that restores or refreshes
the spirit.
Tragedy’s Function
According to Aristotle, stirring up pity and fear,
then dispelling them is the function of tragedy
•Aristotle believed emotions
important for decision-making
and character (Ethics)
•Example: Too much fear =
cowardly, too little fear =
foolhardy
•Catharsis is not, then,
elimination; it is the reduction
of these emotions from excess
to balance.