Topic: Aristotle’s
“Poetics”.
Subject: Literary
Criticism.
Name: Gohil Khanjaniba
M.
Class: MA (Part-1).
Semester- 1.
Roll No:
18.
Submitted to :
Dr. Dilip Barad and Heenaba Jhala.
Department of English,
''Poetics'' by Aristotle
Introduction:
Aristotle -the
most distinguished disciple of Plato. He was also critic, scholar, logician and
practical philosopher. In the fourth century BC, Plato was a great disciple of
Socrates, was the first critic who examined poetry as a part of his moral
philosophy. When he examines poetry, his powerful weapon-he believed that the
poetry is rather moral and not aesthetic. He became confused.
Aristotle's ''Poetics'' differentiates many kinds of poetry. He also
explained that the poetry has different structure of a good poem and division
of a poem, it’s component parts. He defines poetry as a 'medium of imitation'
that represents non-real life through character, emotion, or action. He
illustrates poetry in a very profound ways, including epic poetry, tragedy,
comedy, dithyrambic poetry and even some kind of music.
In
other words, as per many documents in the history of philosophy and literary
theory, Aristotle wrote ''Poetics’’. He adopted two major works, they are:
1. Rhetoric.
2. Poetics.
Aristotle
composed it around 330 BCE. The readers also came across that Aristotle's
approach to phenomenon of poetry was quite different in comparison to Plato's
approach. The fact is much misunderstanding is often caused by our attempts to
limit too strictly.
Aristotle's defense to
Plato's theory of 'Mimesis':
In Plato's theory
of 'Mimesis', he says that all art is mimetic by nature. In other words, art is
an imitation of life; it is nearer to ultimate reality. Thus, to explain this
idea he gives an example of a carpenter and a chair. He believed that art is
twice removed from reality. He gives first importance to philosophy, because it
deals with the ideas and poetry deals with illusion-all these things which are
twice removed from reality. So that he believed that art is twice removed from
reality. In short Plato rejected poetry as it is mimetic in nature on the moral
and philosophical virtues. Aristotle who believes that poetry as it is mimetic
nature. He gives his views that poetry is an imitation of an action, and he
neither in favor of philosophical nor moral.
Aristotle gives the definition of tragedy-a form of art:
''Tragedy, is an
imitation of an action that is serious, complete and of certain magnitude; in
the language embellished each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds
being found in separate parts of the play ; in the form of an action, not of
narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper purgative-catharsis of
these and similar emotions''.
Difference in an
imitation of Arts:
In the groups of art, the means
with them as a whole are rhythm, language and harmony-used, either singly or in
certain combination. A combination of rhythm and harmony. There is further an
art which imitates by language alone, without harmony, in prose or in verse.
Either in one or in a plurality of meters. For a mime of Sophistry or Xenarchus
and Socratic conversation. There are two instances were in 'trimeters' or in
'elegiacs' or some in 'other kind of verse'.
The objects the
imitators represent action with agents who are necessarily either good man or
bad man. This difference between 'tragedy' and 'comedy' also; the one would make
it personage’s worse and other better than the men of the present days.
The third difference in these arts is in the manner in which
each kind of object is represented. In the kind of object for imitation one
may:
(A.) Speak at one moment in narrative
and at another in an assumed character as homer does.
(B.) One may remain the same
throughout, without any such change the imitators may represent the whole story
dramatically, as though they were actually doing the things described.
Six parts of 'Tragedy'
According to Aristotle,
tragedy has been divided into the six parts. Diction is merely, the composition
of the verses; and by 'melody'. The subject represents also is an action and
the action involves agents have their distinctive qualities , they are
'thought' and 'character'.
'The Fable' – the combination
of the incidents or things done in the story. Whereas, ‘the character' is what
makes us ascribe certain moral qualities to the agents.' Thought is shown in
all they say when proving a particular point or it may be enunciating a general
truth. Six parts of tragedy are as under:
PLOT: Plot is the first principle
and as it was the soul of a tragedy. It may be divided into several sub-plots.
CHARACTER: Character is in its
position. The similar fact is seen in painting-thus; tragedy is an imitation of
an action and of the agents’ action reveals moral purpose.
THOUGHT: What is possible in given
circumstances? Where something is proved '' To be or not to be '' (Hamlet's
soliloquies of one written by Shakespeare) or general maxim is enunciated.
DICTION: It means the expression of
the meaning in words and its essence is the same both in verse in prose.
SPECTACLE: Spectacle has an
emotional attraction of its own, but of all the parts. It is the least artistic
and connected least with the art of poetry. As a reader we can say that it is
apart from representation and actors.
MELODY: Melody or song has the
chief place among the embellishments.
The most important of
the six is the combination of the incidents of the story. Tragedy is an
imitation not of persons but of an action and life, and of happiness and
misery. All human happiness or misery takes the form of action. Character gives
us qualities, but it is in our actions. A tragedy is impossible without action,
but there may be one without character, a series of characteristic speeches
ends as regards diction and thought and yet fail to produce the true tragic
effect.
The most powerful
elements of attraction in tragedies are the Peripeties and Discoveries –are the
parts of the plot. Tragedy is primarily an imitation of an action, and that is
mainly for the sake of the action that imitates the personal agents. Melody is
the greatest of the pleasurable accessories of tragedy. The tragic effect is
quite possible without a public performance and actors and also to make up the
spectacle is more a matter for the costumier than the poet.
Construction of the Plot
The proper construction of the Plot
or Fable, a whole is that which has following functions:
1. The beginning.
2. The middle.
3. The end.
Beauty is a matter of size and
order. A story or plot must be of some length to be of some length to be taken
in by the memory. Certain magnitude as ‘a length which allows of the hero
passing by a series of probable or necessary stages misfortune to happiness or
from happiness to misfortune’.
The Unity of
Plot
The poet
must be more the poet of his stories or plots than of his verses, becoming a
virtuous poet, have an imitative element simple plots and actions the episodic
are the worst. Episodic Plot, there is neither probability beyond its
capabilities, twist the sequence of incidents. Tragedy is an imitation, not a
complete action, but also of incidents arouses ‘Pity’ and ‘Fear’.
Plots are either simple or complex, main
character or hero’s fortune takes place without Peripety or Discovery; and
complex.
Peripety
Peripety is the
change from one state of things within the play to its opposite of the kind
described, in the probable or necessary. Peripety and Discovery are on matter
of this sort. A third part is Suffering, which we may define as an action of a
destructive or painful nature such as murders on the stage, tortures, wounding
and the like.
The parts
of tragedy
The parts of tragedy, treated
as formative elements in the whole are mentioned before. The parts from the
point of view of its quantity they are: Prologue, episode, exode and choral
portion and distinguished into Parode and Stasimon, these two are common to all
tragedies.
Plot
In tragedy plot
must be not simple one but complex; that it must imitates actions arousing pity
and fear. Three forms of plot to be avoided, they are:
A good man must be seen passing
from happiness to misery: It is not inspiring or piteous but simply odious to
us.
A good man from misery to help the
most Untragic that can be; it has no one of the requisites of tragedy; it does
not appeal either to the human feeling or to our pity and fear.
The
tragic pity and fear may be aroused by the spectacle; but they may be aroused
by the very structure and incidents of the play- which is better way and sows
the better poet. In the story of ''Oedipus Rex'' which has the effects be
filled with horror and pity at the incidents. They are still obliged,
accordingly, to him resource to the families in which such horrors have
occurred; as we could see in the play ''Hamlet'' written by the most famous
playwright.
In the character there
are four points to aim at. They are:
The first is that they shall be
good; such goodness is possible in every type of personage.
The second point is to make them
appropriate. The character before us may be say manly; but it is not
appropriate in a female character to be manly or clever.
The third is to make them like the
reality, which is not the same as their being good and appropriate, in our
sense of the term.
The fourth is to make them
consistently be part of the man before one for imitation as presenting that
form of character; he should still be consistently inconsistent.
All these rules one
must keep in mind throughout, and further those also for such points of
stage-effect as directly depend on the art of the poet. The corresponding use
of strange words results in a barbarism-a certain admixture, accordingly, of
unfamiliar terms is necessary.
The objection is always that something is:
Impossible.
Improbable.
Corrupting.
Contradictory.
Against technical correctness.
Thus we can say that
Aristotle is powerful critic, philosopher, novelist, writer, playwright of his
time. He is well known for his great interpretation of work of art, especially
in the drama or the play.
Thank
You.
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