Poetics by Aristotle Aristotle Poetics Is the earliest-surviving work of dramatic theory and the first extant philosophical treatise to focus on literary theory 6 Constituent Parts * plot (myth’s) Refers to the “structure of Incidents” (actions). Key elements of the plot are reversals, recognitions, and suffering. The best plot should be “complex” (I. E. Involve a change of fortune). It should imitate actions arousing fear and pity. Thus it should proceed from good fortune to bad and involve a high degree of suffering for the protagonist, usually involving physical harm or death.
Actions should be logical and follow durably from actions that precede them. They will be more satisfying to the audience If they come about by surprise or seeming coincidence and are only afterward seen as plausible, even necessary. When a character is unfortunate by reversal(s) of fortune (peripatetic), at first he suffers (pathos) and then he can realize (misdiagnosis) the cause of his misery or a way to be released from the misery. * character (ethos) It Is much better If a tragically accident happens to a hero because of a mistake he makes (hamster) instead of things which might happen anyway.
That is because the audience is more likely to be “moved” by it. A hero may have made it knowingly (named) or unknowingly (Oedipus). A hero may leave a deed undone (due to timely discovery, knowledge present at the point of doing deed … ). Main character should be ; good – Aristotle explains that audiences do not like, for example, villains “making fortune from misery” in the end. It might happen though, and might make the play interesting.
Nevertheless, the moral is at stake here and morals are important to make people happy (people can, for example, see tragedy because they want to release their anger) * appropriate-if a character Is supposed to be wise, it is unlikely he Is young (supposing wisdom Is gained with age) * consistent-if a person Is a soldier, he Is unlikely to be scared of blood (If this soldier Is scared of blood It must be explained and play some role in the story to avoid confusing the audiences; it is also “good” if a character doesn’t change opinion “that much” if the play is not “driven” by who characters are, but by what they do (audience is confused in case of unexpected shifts in behavior [and its reasons, morals … ] of characters) * “consistently Inconsistent”-elf a character always behaves foolishly It Is strange If otherwise the audience may be confused. If character changes opinion a lot it should be clear he is a character who has this trait, not a real life person – this is also to avoid confusion thought (diamond) spoken (usually) reasoning of human characters can explain the characters or story background * diction (lexis) Refers to the quality of speech in tragedy.
Speeches should reflect character, the moral qualities of those on the stage. * melody (moles) The Chorus too should be regarded as one of the actors. It should be an integral part of the whole, and share in the action * spectacle (poops) Refers to the visual apparatus of the play, including set, costumes and props (anything you can see). Aristotle calls spectacle the “least artistic” element of tragedy, and the “least connected with the work of the poet (playwright). For example: if the play has “beautiful” costumes and “bad” acting and “bad” story, there is “something wrong” with it. Even though that “beauty” may save the play it is “not a nice thing”.
Difference Of Plot to Storyline Plot is a literary term defined as the events that make up a story, particularly as they relate to one another in a pattern, in a sequence, through cause and effect, how the deader views the story, or simply by coincidence while the Storyline is the narrative threads experienced by each character or set of characters in a work of fiction. Difference Of Character to Characterization Character is a person, an animal, or an imaginary creature that takes part in the action of a literary work. There may be major and minor characters in a work. Characters that change little, if at all, are called static characters. Characters who change significantly are called dynamic characters while Characterization is all the techniques a writer uses to create and develop characters. This makes the character(s) “come to life”
