The Poetics by #ARISTOTLE (384-322 BC)

Aristotle was born in 384 BC at Stagirus. His father Nichomachus was court physician to the Macedonian
king, and from this began Aristotle's long association with the Macedonian court, which considerably
influenced his life. At the age of 17 he was sent to Athens, the intellectual centre of the world, to
complete his education. He joined the Academy and studied under Plato, attending his lectures for a
period of twenty years. In the later years of his association with Plato and the Academy he began to
lecture on his own account, especially on the subject of rhetoric. At the death of Plato in 347, the pre-
eminent ability of Aristotle would seem to have designated him to succeed to the leadership of the
Academy. But his divergence from Plato's teaching was too great to make this possible, and Plato's
nephew was chosen instead. Later, he became the tutor of 13 year old Alexander (later world
conqueror).

When Alexander succeeded to the kingship Aristotle returned to Athens, which he had not visited since
the death of Plato. He found the Platonic school flourishing under Xenocrates, and Platonism the
dominant philosophy of Athens. He thus set up his own school at a place called the Lyceum. When
teaching at the Lyceum, Aristotle had a habit of walking about as he discoursed. It was in connection
with this that his followers became known in later years as the peripatetics, meaning "to walk about." He
is said to have given two kinds of lectures: the more detailed discussions in the morning for an inner
circle of advanced students, and the popular discourses in the evening for the general body of lovers of
knowledge. At the sudden death of Alexander in 323 BC, the pro-Macedonian government in Athens was
overthrown, and a general reaction occurred against anything Macedonian. To escape prosecution
Aristotle fled to another city, Chalcis, so that, as Aristotle himself said, "The Athenians might not have
another opportunity of sinning against philosophy as they had already done in the person of Socrates."
In the first year of his residence at Chalcis, in 322 BC, he died of a stomach illness.

The Poetics

Aristotle is the first scientific critic and his literary criticism is largely embodied in The Poetics. The
Poetics is a short treatise of 26 chapters, neither comprehensive nor exhaustive. The Poetics falls into six
parts:

(1) Chapters 1-5—introductory remarks on poetry, classification of poetry into different kinds.

(2) Chapters 6-19—discussion of Tragedy

(3) Chapters 20-22—discussion of poetic diction, style, vocabulary, etc.

(4) Chapter 23—discussion of Narrative Poetry and Tragedy

(5) Chapters 24 & 26—discussion of Epic and comparison with Tragedy

(6) Chapter 25—objections of critics against poetry and Aristotle's reply.

The Poetics is not a coherent treatise of the subject and has some defects.

(i) Disproportionate handling of the subject.

(ii) Lyric poetry has been ignored.

(iii) Descriptive poetry is not dealt with.

(iv) Comedy and Epic are not elaborated in detail.

(v) All aspects of Tragedy are not touched upon.

(vi) Telegraphic and highly concentrated style.

Greatness of The Poetics

Despite the defects, The Poetics is an epoch-making work with continuous and universal significance.

1. Aristotle discards the earlier oracular method (according to which, critical pronouncements were
supposed to be the result of prophetic insight), as well as Plato's dialectic method (use of dialogue /
discussion).

2. He starts from concrete facts (existing Greek poetry) and undertakes a genuine exploration in search
of Truth.

3. He studies poetry in relation to Man. Thus his method is psychological.

4. Aristotle originated the historical method of inquiry and describes the various phases in the history of
Greek poetry.

Aristotle's View of Mimesis

Plato was the first to use the term "mimesis" in connection with poetry, but Aristotle gave it new and
definite meaning. In Aristotelian theory, poetic imitation is not mere mimicry or an act of servile copying,
but an act of imaginative recreation, whereby the poet, drawing his material from the phenomenal
world, makes something new out of it.

In Aristotle's view, imitation is the common basis of all fine arts. While Plato equated poetry with
painting, Aristotle equated it with music—not a servile representation of the surface, but a reproduction
of the higher reality within—of the passions of emotions of men. The painter imitates through form and
colour, while the poet through language, rhythm and harmony. The musician also imitates through
rhythm and harmony. Hence, poetry is closer to music than painting. He also pointed out that different
kinds of poetry differ from one another in their manner of imitation.
Aristotle said that the objects of poetic imitation are men in action (external or internal action), men as
they are and as they ought to be. That is, the poet recreates reality creatively and brings order out of
chaos. Poetry in this sense is superior over history. History tells us what has happened, while poetry tells
us what may / ought to happen. While history represents the particular, poetry represents the universal.
Hence poetry has a permanent appeal. Poetry in this light can be equated with philosophy.

Aristotle's Defense of Art

Crucial to Aristotle's defense of art is his

• Rejection of Plato's Dualism: Man is not an 'embodied' intellect, longing for the spiritual release of
death, but rather an animal with, among all faculties, the ability to use reason and to create.

• Rejection of Plato's Rationalism: We must study humans as we would study other animals to discover
what is their "nature." Look among the species; see who are the thriving and successful and in what
activities do they engage? For Aristotle, this is how to determine what is and is not appropriate for a
human and human societies.

• Rejection that Mimesis is mere mirroring of Nature

Aristotle's vindication of poetry includes the following arguments:

1. Aristotle established that Art is not useless, it is natural. The reasons he provided are:

— It is natural for human beings to imitate.

— Any human society which is healthy will be a society where there is imitative art.

— Nothing is more natural than for children to pretend.

2. Art production and training is a necessary part of any education since it uses and encourages the
imaginative manipulation of ideas

— Nothing is more natural than for human beings to create using their imagination.

— Since art is imitation, it is an imaginative use of concepts; at its heart, art is "conceptual,"
"intellectual."

3. Aristotle also emphasized that good Art is not dangerous or deceptive because

— Artists must accurately portray reality to be successful. For example, Drama must accurately portray
psychological reality in order for characters to be believable and their actions understandable.

— Art teaches effectively and it teaches the truth. Convincing and powerful drama is convincing and
powerful because it reveals some truth of human nature.

— Aristotle argued that sensuous art is not a bad thing.

ii. The only way of acquiring knowledge at all, according to Aristotle, was through the senses and so
developing, exercising and sharpening those senses through art was healthy.

iii. Art was not solely concerned with the sensual pleasures, but rather was/should be an intellectual,
conceptual affair.

4. Aristotle affirmed that good Art is tied to Morality and Truth

— Successful Tragic Drama always teaches morality. When trying to understand how tragedies achieve
their peculiar effect (Pathos), he notes the psychology and morality on which they must be based.

5. Aristotle agreed that art did stir up negative emotions but, he claims it then purged these in a
harmless, healthy way. [Doctrine of "Catharsis"

— Art is neither psychologically de-stabilizing nor politically destructive.

— Art is a therapeutic part of the healthy life of not only the individual, but of the nation.

Aristotle's View of Tragedy

Definition

The Poetics is concerned chiefly with Tragedy, which is regarded as the highest poetic form. Aristotle
defines Tragedy as "the imitation of an action, serious, complete and of a certain magnitude, in language
embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the
play, in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these
emotions."

The definition falls into two parts:

(i) The first part, from "The imitation of an action" to "and not narration" is concerned with the nature of
Tragedy—its objects (serious and complete action of a certain magnitude, not trivial as in Comedy),
medium (language embellished and not simple language as in Lyric), and manner (action, not narration
as in Epic).

(ii) The second part is concerned with the function and emotional effects of Tragedy (Catharsis).

Six constituent elements of Tragedy

Aristotle enumerates six formative elements of a Tragedy, which in the order of their importance, are:
Plot, Character, Thought, Diction, Song, Spectacle. Plot (arrangement of incidents) is the action that
tragedy imitates. Action ensues from Character. Character is moulded by Thought, which reveals itself in
Dialogue or Diction (language embellished with ornaments such as Song). Spectacle (stage presentation),
least connected with Poetry, adds to power of Tragedy.

Plot, according to Aristotle, is the "soul of Tragedy," and consists of a logical and inevitable sequence of
events, which have a beginning, middle and end. Aristotle likens the plot of a tragedy to a living
organism, and says that it should be a complete whole as well of a certain magnitude, like a living
organism. In a successful plot, the various incidents are causally connected to one another, and it is
impossible to remove a single incident without causing injury to the whole action. The artist must
properly select and order his material and thus impart artistic unity to it. The episodic plot, where
incidents are not wholly integrated with the main action, is the worst of all plots. The best tragic plot
shows a good man, but not a perfectly good one, suffering as a consequence of some error of judgement
(Hamartia) on his part.

Simple and Complex Plots: According to Aristotle, plots may be of three kinds—Simple, Complex, and
plots based on the depiction of suffering for their effect. Simple Plots are those which do not have
Peripety (reversal of intention) or Anagnorisis (discovery of truth). Complex plots employ Peripety and
Anagnorisis. Tragedy arises out of human error and Peripety and Anagnorisis—ignorance of truth and
realization of truth—are the essential consequences of human error.

The Unities: There are three unities established in dramatic criticism: (i) Unity of Action, (ii) Unity of Time
and (iii) Unity of Place.

(i) Aristotle stressed that a plot should have Unity of Action. The plot should incorporate into itself only
those actions intimately connected with one another and which appear as one whole; usually actions
concerning one man. Digressions can be introduced, but they should be integral to the plot; it should not
be possible even to shift them from one place to another (transpose them). Aristotle rules out plurality
of Action and is against sub-plots and tragi-comedy.

(ii) Unity of Time is mentioned casually, only once, in The Poetics. This unity implies that the conformity
between the time taken by the actual events of the play and the time taken for their representation on
stage should be a "single revolution of the sun," as against epic action, which has no time limit. It was
believed that spectators would not believe in tragedy and that tragedy would not have the desired effect
if several days or several years (as in Shakespearean tragedy) are crammed into a three-hour play.

(iii) Unity of Place is not mentioned by Aristotle even once. Aristotle merely says that the epic may
narrate several actions taking place simultaneously at different places, but this is not possible in tragedy
which does not narrate, but represents through action. It was the Renaissance and Neoclassical critics
who attributed the Unity of Place to Aristotle. Unity of Place refers to the conformity between the
scenes of the tragic events; the theory that there should be no change of place in tragedy, and even if
the scene changes, it must not be to too great a distance.

Character, according to Aristotle, has four essential elements:

(i) The characters must be good. Some amount of wickedness may be introduced only when required by
the necessities of the plot. Goodness of character, a concept critically debated for many years, might
mean grandeur, courage, uprightness, determination etc.
(ii) The characters must be appropriate. They must be true to type and status, i.e., they must have
characteristics peculiar to their age, profession, sex, social rank and status.

(iii) The characters must have likeness. They must have the joys and sorrows, virtues and weaknesses,
loves and hatreds, of average humanity.

(iv) The characters must be consistent. There should be no sudden change in character. The actions of a
character must be the necessary and probable outcome of his nature.

Tragic Hero: Aristotle's enumeration of the qualities of the tragic hero can be summarized as follows:

(i) The tragic hero is a character of noble stature and greatness. The character must occupy a noble
position in society, but must also have nobility of character.

(ii) Though the tragic hero is pre-eminently great, he is not perfect. Otherwise, the rest of us—mere
mortals—would be unable to identify with the tragic hero. We should see in him someone who is
essentially like us, although perhaps elevated to a higher position in society.

(iii) The hero's downfall, therefore, is partially his own fault, the result of free choice, not of accident or
villainy or some overriding, malignant fate. In fact, the tragedy is usually triggered by some error of
judgment or some character flaw that contributes to the hero's lack of perfection noted above. This
error of judgment or character flaw is known as hamartia and is usually translated as "tragic flaw". Often
the character's hamartia involves hubris (pride, as in the Marlovian hero).

(iv) The hero's misfortunate is not wholly deserved. The punishment exceeds the crime.

(v) The fall is not pure loss. There is some increase in awareness, some gain in self-knowledge, some
discovery on the part of the tragic hero.

(vi) Though it arouses solemn emotion, tragedy does not leave its audience in a state of depression.
Aristotle argues that one function of tragedy is to arouse the "unhealthy" emotions of pity and fear and
through a catharsis (which comes from watching the tragic hero's terrible fate) cleanse us of those
emotions. [Greek drama was not considered merely as "entertainment;" it had a communal function—to
contribute to the good health of the community. This is why dramatic performances were a part of
religious festivals and community celebrations.

Catharsis: The word Catharsis, meaning "purification" in Greek, is a term borrowed from medical
terminology by Aristotle to explain the function of Tragedy. Aristotle states that the purpose of Tragedy is
to arouse "pity and fear" and thereby effect the catharsis of these emotions. The interpretation generally
accepted is that through experiencing fear vicariously in a controlled situation, the spectator's own
anxieties are directed outward, and, through sympathetic identification with the tragic hero, his insight
and outlook are enlarged. Tragedy then has a healthful and humanizing effect on the spectator or reader.
Hamartia

Aristotle saw Hamartia as the lynch-pin of tragedy. Its hero typically is a man largely good (but not wholly
good) of high moral worth. He is propelled into tragedy by his hamartia. What exactly this hamartia is
has been the dispute of centuries. Whether it is hamartia itself is open to question (George Saintsbury
claims that it is not hamartia but amaptia.) The word Hamartia can be translated as "error of
judgement," "mistake," "frailty," "weakness," "tragic flaw" etc. It is this which hurls the otherwise near-
perfect hero into the maelstrom of tragedy. A very common form of Hamartia in Greek tragedy is hubris,
poorly translated as pride or over-confidence. Hubris makes the hero to disregard divine warnings and
violate moral codes. A.C. Bradley has attempted to identify the Hamartia of Shakespearian heroes in the
course of his efforts at applying the concepts of Aristotlean dramatology in Shakespearian Tragedy. It
could be argued that the Hamartia is procrastination in the case of Hamlet, jealousy in the case of
Othello, a surrender to the physical self in the case of Antony. Aristotle sees Hamartia not as a moral sin
but as an error that, despite its terrible consequences, only succeeds in making the hero more human. It
may be an avoidable fault, but it is also more or less excusable. It not deliberate, but born of ignorance
or passion. Oedipus exemplifies the former and Othello and Antony the latter.

Sources of Tragic Pleasure

According to Aristotle, the function of poetry is to give a certain refined pleasure, and in this he counters
the view that the poet is primarily an ethical teacher. Pleasure is essential and moral function is only
incidental. According to Aristotle, tragic pleasure is derived from:

1. Our natural sense of harmony and rhythm.

2. The instinct of imitation.

3. Imitation of the unfamiliar.

4. Catharsis.

5. Involvement of the spectator.

6. Inner illumination.

7. Unity of plot, diction, spectacle, etc.

Plato & Aristotle: A Comparison

Plato

Social reformer Idealist

Art for moral purpose

Emphasis on Ultimate Reality

Mimesis as Imitation
Aristotle

Scientist Realist

Art for aesthetic purpose

Emphasis on Empirical Reality

Mimesis as Re-creation#ARISTOTLE (384-322 BC)

Aristotle was born in 384 BC at Stagirus. His father Nichomachus was court physician to the Macedonian
king, and from this began Aristotle's long association with the Macedonian court, which considerably
influenced his life. At the age of 17 he was sent to Athens, the intellectual centre of the world, to
complete his education. He joined the Academy and studied under Plato, attending his lectures for a
period of twenty years. In the later years of his association with Plato and the Academy he began to
lecture on his own account, especially on the subject of rhetoric. At the death of Plato in 347, the pre-
eminent ability of Aristotle would seem to have designated him to succeed to the leadership of the
Academy. But his divergence from Plato's teaching was too great to make this possible, and Plato's
nephew was chosen instead. Later, he became the tutor of 13 year old Alexander (later world
conqueror).

When Alexander succeeded to the kingship Aristotle returned to Athens, which he had not visited since
the death of Plato. He found the Platonic school flourishing under Xenocrates, and Platonism the
dominant philosophy of Athens. He thus set up his own school at a place called the Lyceum. When
teaching at the Lyceum, Aristotle had a habit of walking about as he discoursed. It was in connection
with this that his followers became known in later years as the peripatetics, meaning "to walk about." He
is said to have given two kinds of lectures: the more detailed discussions in the morning for an inner
circle of advanced students, and the popular discourses in the evening for the general body of lovers of
knowledge. At the sudden death of Alexander in 323 BC, the pro-Macedonian government in Athens was
overthrown, and a general reaction occurred against anything Macedonian. To escape prosecution
Aristotle fled to another city, Chalcis, so that, as Aristotle himself said, "The Athenians might not have
another opportunity of sinning against philosophy as they had already done in the person of Socrates."
In the first year of his residence at Chalcis, in 322 BC, he died of a stomach illness.

The Poetics

Aristotle is the first scientific critic and his literary criticism is largely embodied in The Poetics. The
Poetics is a short treatise of 26 chapters, neither comprehensive nor exhaustive. The Poetics falls into six
parts:

(1) Chapters 1-5—introductory remarks on poetry, classification of poetry into different kinds.

(2) Chapters 6-19—discussion of Tragedy

(4) Chapter 23—discussion of Narrative Poetry and Tragedy

(5) Chapters 24 & 26—discussion of Epic and comparison with Tragedy

(6) Chapter 25—objections of critics against poetry and Aristotle's reply.

Defects of The Poetics

The Poetics is not a coherent treatise of the subject and has some defects.

(i) Disproportionate handling of the subject.

(ii) Lyric poetry has been ignored.

(iii) Descriptive poetry is not dealt with.

(iv) Comedy and Epic are not elaborated in detail.

(v) All aspects of Tragedy are not touched upon.

(vi) Telegraphic and highly concentrated style.

Greatness of The Poetics

Despite the defects, The Poetics is an epoch-making work with continuous and universal significance.

1. Aristotle discards the earlier oracular method (according to which, critical pronouncements were
supposed to be the result of prophetic insight), as well as Plato's dialectic method (use of dialogue /
discussion).

2. He starts from concrete facts (existing Greek poetry) and undertakes a genuine exploration in search
of Truth.

3. He studies poetry in relation to Man. Thus his method is psychological.

4. Aristotle originated the historical method of inquiry and describes the various phases in the history of
Greek poetry.

Aristotle's View of Mimesis

Plato was the first to use the term "mimesis" in connection with poetry, but Aristotle gave it new and
definite meaning. In Aristotelian theory, poetic imitation is not mere mimicry or an act of servile copying,
but an act of imaginative recreation, whereby the poet, drawing his material from the phenomenal
world, makes something new out of it.
In Aristotle's view, imitation is the common basis of all fine arts. While Plato equated poetry with
painting, Aristotle equated it with music—not a servile representation of the surface, but a reproduction
of the higher reality within—of the passions of emotions of men. The painter imitates through form and
colour, while the poet through language, rhythm and harmony. The musician also imitates through
rhythm and harmony. Hence, poetry is closer to music than painting. He also pointed out that different
kinds of poetry differ from one another in their manner of imitation.

Aristotle said that the objects of poetic imitation are men in action (external or internal action), men as
they are and as they ought to be. That is, the poet recreates reality creatively and brings order out of
chaos. Poetry in this sense is superior over history. History tells us what has happened, while poetry tells
us what may / ought to happen. While history represents the particular, poetry represents the universal.
Hence poetry has a permanent appeal. Poetry in this light can be equated with philosophy.

Aristotle's Defense of Art

Crucial to Aristotle's defense of art is his

• Rejection of Plato's Dualism: Man is not an 'embodied' intellect, longing for the spiritual release of
death, but rather an animal with, among all faculties, the ability to use reason and to create.

• Rejection of Plato's Rationalism: We must study humans as we would study other animals to discover
what is their "nature." Look among the species; see who are the thriving and successful and in what
activities do they engage? For Aristotle, this is how to determine what is and is not appropriate for a
human and human societies.

• Rejection that Mimesis is mere mirroring of Nature

Aristotle's vindication of poetry includes the following arguments:

1. Aristotle established that Art is not useless, it is natural. The reasons he provided are:

— It is natural for human beings to imitate.

— Any human society which is healthy will be a society where there is imitative art.

— Nothing is more natural than for children to pretend.

2. Art production and training is a necessary part of any education since it uses and encourages the
imaginative manipulation of ideas

— Nothing is more natural than for human beings to create using their imagination.

— Since art is imitation, it is an imaginative use of concepts; at its heart, art is "conceptual,"
"intellectual."

3. Aristotle also emphasized that good Art is not dangerous or deceptive because
— Artists must accurately portray reality to be successful. For example, Drama must accurately portray
psychological reality in order for characters to be believable and their actions understandable.

— Art teaches effectively and it teaches the truth. Convincing and powerful drama is convincing and
powerful because it reveals some truth of human nature.

— Aristotle argued that sensuous art is not a bad thing.

i. Aristotle did not believe that the mind was one thing and the body was something else and therefore
Aristotle did not have the bias against physical pleasures that Plato did.

ii. The only way of acquiring knowledge at all, according to Aristotle, was through the senses and so
developing, exercising and sharpening those senses through art was healthy.

iii. Art was not solely concerned with the sensual pleasures, but rather was/should be an intellectual,
conceptual affair.

4. Aristotle affirmed that good Art is tied to Morality and Truth

— Successful Tragic Drama always teaches morality. When trying to understand how tragedies achieve
their peculiar effect (Pathos), he notes the psychology and morality on which they must be based.

5. Aristotle agreed that art did stir up negative emotions but, he claims it then purged these in a
harmless, healthy way. [Doctrine of "Catharsis"

— Art is neither psychologically de-stabilizing nor politically destructive.

— Art is a therapeutic part of the healthy life of not only the individual, but of the nation.

Aristotle's View of Tragedy

Definition

The Poetics is concerned chiefly with Tragedy, which is regarded as the highest poetic form. Aristotle
defines Tragedy as "the imitation of an action, serious, complete and of a certain magnitude, in language
embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the
play, in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these
emotions."

The definition falls into two parts:

(i) The first part, from "The imitation of an action" to "and not narration" is concerned with the nature of
Tragedy—its objects (serious and complete action of a certain magnitude, not trivial as in Comedy),
medium (language embellished and not simple language as in Lyric), and manner (action, not narration
as in Epic).

(ii) The second part is concerned with the function and emotional effects of Tragedy (Catharsis).
Six constituent elements of Tragedy

Aristotle enumerates six formative elements of a Tragedy, which in the order of their importance, are:
Plot, Character, Thought, Diction, Song, Spectacle. Plot (arrangement of incidents) is the action that
tragedy imitates. Action ensues from Character. Character is moulded by Thought, which reveals itself in
Dialogue or Diction (language embellished with ornaments such as Song). Spectacle (stage presentation),
least connected with Poetry, adds to power of Tragedy.

Plot, according to Aristotle, is the "soul of Tragedy," and consists of a logical and inevitable sequence of
events, which have a beginning, middle and end. Aristotle likens the plot of a tragedy to a living
organism, and says that it should be a complete whole as well of a certain magnitude, like a living
organism. In a successful plot, the various incidents are causally connected to one another, and it is
impossible to remove a single incident without causing injury to the whole action. The artist must
properly select and order his material and thus impart artistic unity to it. The episodic plot, where
incidents are not wholly integrated with the main action, is the worst of all plots. The best tragic plot
shows a good man, but not a perfectly good one, suffering as a consequence of some error of judgement
(Hamartia) on his part.

Simple and Complex Plots: According to Aristotle, plots may be of three kinds—Simple, Complex, and
plots based on the depiction of suffering for their effect. Simple Plots are those which do not have
Peripety (reversal of intention) or Anagnorisis (discovery of truth). Complex plots employ Peripety and
Anagnorisis. Tragedy arises out of human error and Peripety and Anagnorisis—ignorance of truth and
realization of truth—are the essential consequences of human error.

The Unities: There are three unities established in dramatic criticism: (i) Unity of Action, (ii) Unity of Time
and (iii) Unity of Place.

(i) Aristotle stressed that a plot should have Unity of Action. The plot should incorporate into itself only
those actions intimately connected with one another and which appear as one whole; usually actions
concerning one man. Digressions can be introduced, but they should be integral to the plot; it should not
be possible even to shift them from one place to another (transpose them). Aristotle rules out plurality
of Action and is against sub-plots and tragi-comedy.

(ii) Unity of Time is mentioned casually, only once, in The Poetics. This unity implies that the conformity
between the time taken by the actual events of the play and the time taken for their representation on
stage should be a "single revolution of the sun," as against epic action, which has no time limit. It was
believed that spectators would not believe in tragedy and that tragedy would not have the desired effect
if several days or several years (as in Shakespearean tragedy) are crammed into a three-hour play.

(iii) Unity of Place is not mentioned by Aristotle even once. Aristotle merely says that the epic may
narrate several actions taking place simultaneously at different places, but this is not possible in tragedy
which does not narrate, but represents through action. It was the Renaissance and Neoclassical critics
who attributed the Unity of Place to Aristotle. Unity of Place refers to the conformity between the
scenes of the tragic events; the theory that there should be no change of place in tragedy, and even if
the scene changes, it must not be to too great a distance.
Character, according to Aristotle, has four essential elements:

(i) The characters must be good. Some amount of wickedness may be introduced only when required by
the necessities of the plot. Goodness of character, a concept critically debated for many years, might
mean grandeur, courage, uprightness, determination etc.

(ii) The characters must be appropriate. They must be true to type and status, i.e., they must have
characteristics peculiar to their age, profession, sex, social rank and status.

(iii) The characters must have likeness. They must have the joys and sorrows, virtues and weaknesses,
loves and hatreds, of average humanity.

(iv) The characters must be consistent. There should be no sudden change in character. The actions of a
character must be the necessary and probable outcome of his nature.

Tragic Hero: Aristotle's enumeration of the qualities of the tragic hero can be summarized as follows:

(i) The tragic hero is a character of noble stature and greatness. The character must occupy a noble
position in society, but must also have nobility of character.

(ii) Though the tragic hero is pre-eminently great, he is not perfect. Otherwise, the rest of us—mere
mortals—would be unable to identify with the tragic hero. We should see in him someone who is
essentially like us, although perhaps elevated to a higher position in society.

(iii) The hero's downfall, therefore, is partially his own fault, the result of free choice, not of accident or
villainy or some overriding, malignant fate. In fact, the tragedy is usually triggered by some error of
judgment or some character flaw that contributes to the hero's lack of perfection noted above. This
error of judgment or character flaw is known as hamartia and is usually translated as "tragic flaw". Often
the character's hamartia involves hubris (pride, as in the Marlovian hero).

(iv) The hero's misfortunate is not wholly deserved. The punishment exceeds the crime.

(v) The fall is not pure loss. There is some increase in awareness, some gain in self-knowledge, some
discovery on the part of the tragic hero.

(vi) Though it arouses solemn emotion, tragedy does not leave its audience in a state of depression.
Aristotle argues that one function of tragedy is to arouse the "unhealthy" emotions of pity and fear and
through a catharsis (which comes from watching the tragic hero's terrible fate) cleanse us of those
emotions. [Greek drama was not considered merely as "entertainment;" it had a communal function—to
contribute to the good health of the community. This is why dramatic performances were a part of
religious festivals and community celebrations.
Catharsis: The word Catharsis, meaning "purification" in Greek, is a term borrowed from medical
terminology by Aristotle to explain the function of Tragedy. Aristotle states that the purpose of Tragedy is
to arouse "pity and fear" and thereby effect the catharsis of these emotions. The interpretation generally
accepted is that through experiencing fear vicariously in a controlled situation, the spectator's own
anxieties are directed outward, and, through sympathetic identification with the tragic hero, his insight
and outlook are enlarged. Tragedy then has a healthful and humanizing effect on the spectator or reader.

Hamartia

Aristotle saw Hamartia as the lynch-pin of tragedy. Its hero typically is a man largely good (but not wholly
good) of high moral worth. He is propelled into tragedy by his hamartia. What exactly this hamartia is
has been the dispute of centuries. Whether it is hamartia itself is open to question (George Saintsbury
claims that it is not hamartia but amaptia.) The word Hamartia can be translated as "error of
judgement," "mistake," "frailty," "weakness," "tragic flaw" etc. It is this which hurls the otherwise near-
perfect hero into the maelstrom of tragedy. A very common form of Hamartia in Greek tragedy is hubris,
poorly translated as pride or over-confidence. Hubris makes the hero to disregard divine warnings and
violate moral codes. A.C. Bradley has attempted to identify the Hamartia of Shakespearian heroes in the
course of his efforts at applying the concepts of Aristotlean dramatology in Shakespearian Tragedy. It
could be argued that the Hamartia is procrastination in the case of Hamlet, jealousy in the case of
Othello, a surrender to the physical self in the case of Antony. Aristotle sees Hamartia not as a moral sin
but as an error that, despite its terrible consequences, only succeeds in making the hero more human. It
may be an avoidable fault, but it is also more or less excusable. It not deliberate, but born of ignorance
or passion. Oedipus exemplifies the former and Othello and Antony the latter.

Sources of Tragic Pleasure

According to Aristotle, the function of poetry is to give a certain refined pleasure, and in this he counters
the view that the poet is primarily an ethical teacher. Pleasure is essential and moral function is only
incidental. According to Aristotle, tragic pleasure is derived from:

1. Our natural sense of harmony and rhythm.

2. The instinct of imitation.

3. Imitation of the unfamiliar.

4. Catharsis.

5. Involvement of the spectator.

6. Inner illumination.

7. Unity of plot, diction, spectacle, etc.

Plato & Aristotle: A Comparison

Social reformer Idealist

Art for moral purpose

Emphasis on Ultimate Reality

Mimesis as Imitation

Aristotle

Scientist Realist

Art for aesthetic purpose

Emphasis on Empirical Reality

Mimesis as Re-creation