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Aristotle’s schema of the elements of tragedy
500 words on aristotle poetics
Aristotle’s schema of the elements of tragedy
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What makes a good play or musical? Ask this question to five people and it is likely to yield five very different answers. Different people resonate with different accepts of dramatic expression. The first person to create clear-cut guidelines for analyzing a work was the Greek philosopher Aristotle. He defined what a good drama entails and wrote an outline that clearly delineates which elements good playwright should pay more attention to and which elements should be secondary thoughts. Aristotle’s Poetics put each of these elements into 6 categories; Plot, Characterization, Theme, Diction, Melody, and Spectacle. No matter when a piece was written one should be able to determine how successful or not these elements were executed and included in the work.
Aristotle’s model can also be used to analyze more modern works. Carrie the musical is an adaptation of the Stephen King novel with the same name. It is about school outcast and late bloomer Carrie White, who develops Telekinesis with the onset of her first period. Carrie lives with her religious extremist mother. Thinking she is finally being accepted she agrees to go to senior prom with a popular boy. Unbeknownst to both Carrie and her date they are voted prom king and queen as part of a ruse. While getting their celebratory pictures taken they are doused with a bucket of pig’s blood. In a fit of rage, Carrie uses her powers to take the lives of her fellow prom goers. She then goes home, where her mother, realizing Carrie is dammed, stabs her. With the last of her energy, Carrie kills her mother then she dies. According to Aristotle’s outline to having a successful plot, Carrie’s plot is episodic meaning the events of the musical are spread out over several days’ time. It was ...
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...any the movement of objects when she used her telekinesis, and the crème de la crème a bucket of “pigs’ blood” that soaked two of the characters. The visual and auditory embellishments used in Carrie were well done and added to the dramatic effect of each scene.
Even though this outline has been in existence for thousands of years, one can see it still being put to good use with modern playwrights. One can see what happens when emphasis is misplaced, spending time perfecting Aristotle’s minor elements, like spectacle, and under developing more important ones like characterization. Such is the case with Carrie the musical. It was executed to the best of each actor’s ability, the show simply fell flat. One can conclude there is a direct correlation between the terrible implementation of Aristotle’s guidelines and the lackluster quality of the show and its characters.
I am going to start my essay by looking at the way in which plays were
To be considered a classic tragedy, a story should follow the principles presented by Aristotle in his work, Poetics. A tragedy, in Aristotle's view, concerns the destruction of a person of high social status and strong character. The tragic fall of the individual is brought about by a tragic flaw. Arthur Miller expanded upon the classical definition of a tragedy to include not only those of high social status but also the common man. Using the criteria established by Aristotle and Miller, the plays Julius Caesar, Death of a Salesman, and Oedipus Rex may be considered as tragedies.
"Othello" is a good example of Aristotelian drama. It is simple play and the focus is on a very small cast of characters. It has few distractions from the main plot and concentrates on just a few themes, such a jealousy, prejudice, pride and honesty. Jealousy is the emotion that drives the action of Othello. It has the classical unities of time, place (setting is in Venice in the first act and Cyprus thereafter) and action. Othello's cast is made up of "ordinary" people of moderate rank, and not of heroic stature and the dramatic action is interpersonal rather than universal.
In Chapter VII, Aristotle turns his attention to the proper structure of a poetic piece of work. Aristotle outlines that his Dramatic Structure, which is still used and studied today, is derived from the need for art and all ideas to have an orderly arrangement. Structure provides direction and clarity, which leads to a higher quality product. Having a logically developed order cannot only improve the quality of the text created but also the performance that is then presented to an audience. In addition...
According to Aristotle, the importance of tragedy as a genre is to represent action. Thus unity of action purportedly has the strongest implications for the effectiveness of the work itself. Aristotle posits “a story, since it is the representation of action, should concern an action that is single and entire, with its several incidents so structured that the displacement or removal of any one of them would disturb and dislocate the whole.” (Aristotle 27) and deems this claim imperative. A good plot, and thereby an effective tragedy, does not include events, which are not connected to each other or specifically the main plot. In theory, these unconnected events are distracting from the main action and dissipate the tragic effect. With Aristotle’s definition, no sub-plot should exist in tragedy. For all events to be “necessary or [have] probable connection with each other.” (Aristotle 27) none should exist not directly related to the main action. Again, unity allows for the tragic effect to be concentrated, intending to allow for increased feelings of pity and
Aristotle’s concept of a well written tragedy is that it is “…an imitation of an action that is 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, the form of action, not of narrative, through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions” (McManus). According to Aristotle, the plot is the “soul” of the tragedy from which the other parts such as characters, diction, thought, spectacle, and melody stem (McManus). Shakespeare skillfully applies Aristotle’s concept of tragedy, to Hamlet in various ways, dramatizing what may happen or “what is possible according to the law of probability or necessity (McManus). ”
There is not one person in this world who has the exact same preferences as another person. Everyone has their own unique style, which creates the need for a wider variety of genres. In the Elizabethan Ear, one of the world’s greatest poets emerged. His sonnets, stories, plays were written in such varieties that appealed to the masses, even in today’s society. Of all his works, the most popular styles were comedies and tragedies. These polar opposites appealed to many because of the way they brought the story to life. The same story written in both of these styles could have a completely different effect on the audience based on the style used. Although completely dissimilar, the two styles did have some similarities, which kept them in the Shakespearian style. Shakespeare’s more widely known comedy and tragedy, The Twelfth Night and Macbeth, respectively, are great examples to show the vast differences between the two styles, but since both works are by the same author, similarities can also be seen if one looks carefully.
To this day, Aristotle’s theory of tragedy is used to further dissect a literary work and its components. In order to be considered a tragedy, it must include six parts; those being plot, characters, diction, thought, spectacle, and melody. Plot is considered to be the most important since it is essentially the structure of the play. In a tragedy, plot is referred to as the tragic plot and it is considered to to be both single and complex. There are three steps in a tragic plot, reversal, recognition, and suffering. Ultimately, it is the cha...
In theater, tragedy is an art that many playwrights try to perfect. What makes a perfect tragedy though? Is it the characters? The plot? Or something other than these two cornerstones of theater? According to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, the perfect tragedy consists of a mix of these elements. In his work, Poetics, Aristotle outlines the fifteen elements that create the perfect tragedy. All fifteen of these elements fall into either two main categories, plot and character, or they stand alone, equally as important as the rest. Sophocles’ play, Oedipus Rex uses all fifteen of these elements to create the perfect tragedy. In Oedipus Rex, Sophocles sets the benchmark for future tragedies through Aristotle’s fifteen points of perfect tragedy.
While the genre of some works of literature can be debated, Macbeth written by William Shakespeare seems to fit into a perfect mold. Aristotle’s definition of a tragedy, combining seven elements that he believes make the genre of a work a tragedy, is that mold. Displaying all seven aspects, Macbeth fits the definition precisely.
The Nature of Tragedy:In the century after Sophocles, the philosopher Aristotle analyzed tragedy. His definition: Tragedy then, is an imitation of an action that is 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.Aristotle identified six basic elements: (1) plot; (2) character; (3) diction (the choice of style, imagery, etc.); (4) thought (the character's thoughts and the author's meaning); (5) spectacle (all the visual effects; Aristotle considered this to be the least important element); (6) song.According to Aristotle, the central character of a tragedy must not be so virtuous that instead of feeling pity or fear at his or her downfall, we are simply outraged. Also the character cannot be so evil that for the sake of justice we desire his or her misfortune. Instead, best is someone"who is neither outstanding in virtue and righteousness; nor is it through badness or villainy of his own that he falls into misfortune, but rather through some flaw [hamartia]". The character should be famous or prosperous, like Oedipus or Medea. What Aristotle meant by hamartia cannot be established.
Dramatists are able to relay their message behind their work more effectively when they use real life experience as their themes. They use a combination of imagery, language and symbolism to explore their concerns with certain ideas or issues within their society. People are better to relate to something that they have experience or witness, which helps draws the audience into the turmoil of the plot and characters. The work of dramatists expresses universal themes, as what we have experience in the works of Othello and Oedipus. The characters are at the center of all works of drama and the theme is presented around these characters. They present their themes in an assortment of ways often through the use of different techniques and the themes hint upon problems that are related to human experiences. The themes makes up the message that the dramatist wants to put across to the audience, and the goal of this message is to make the audience see things from a specific point of
Question: Critically analyse the concept of “plot”, according to Aristotle’s Poetics and application of it to William Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Shakespeare followed Aristotle’s guidelines to a perfect tragedy to the letter. Each and every one of the points is represented in Hamlet as well as his other tragedies. Through his rich use of language and plot, Aristotle’s guidelines were revived and will live immortally through Shakepeare’s works.
Aristotle is one of the most important western philosophers in history that has influenced our society in many aspects. Many of Aristotle’s teachings have affected our world for many years and still continue to have such a big impact. Some of the subjects Aristotle has influenced include: logic, physics, government and poetry. Aristotle’s study of poetry mainly focused on the elements to a good tragedy. Some of his elements have been used in Greek tragedies and modern movies. The Greek play, Medea, and the modern movie, No Country for Old Men, use elements from Aristotle philosophy, while using similar and different techniques but both achieving an effective tragedy.