Course :
M.A. English (Sem-1)
Paper no. :
3 – Literary Theory and Criticism
Topic : Six Parts of Tragedy
(Unit-1, Poetics:
Aristotle)
Roll
no. :
27
Year :
2015-2017
Enrollment
no.: PG15101027
Submitted
to: Smt. S.B. Gardi Department of
English
M.K.
Bhavnagar University
v Introduction:
The
most brilliant student in Plato’s academy was Aristotle. Aristotle is known as “the father of Western Criticism”. He was a versatile genius.
Aristotle’s
contribution to the history such as, logic, metaphysics, ethics, politics,
literary criticism, astrology, mathematics and various branches of natural
science and therefore his mind was opened to different branches of knowledge.
Aristotle had this and unquenchable thirst of knowledge.
Aristotle’s
analysis of tragedy is the most well-known section of the poetics. It remained
influential for many centuries and was not seriously challenged until the 18th
century. In this treatment of tragedy that the connection between the forgoing
notion- imitations, action, character, morality and plot-emerge.
v Definition of Tragedy:
Aristotle
has given popular definition of tragedy. Here is Aristotle’s famous definition
of what he calls the ‘essence’ of
tragedy.
“Tragedy then is, an imitation of an action
that is serious, complete and of a certain
magnitude; in the 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- catharsis of these and similar emotions.”
By means of language
enriched with all kinds of ornament, each used separately in the different
parts of the play. It represents men in action and does not use narrative and
through pity and fear it effects relief to these and similar emotion.
According to
Aristotle, tragedy should be more realistic. He says, “Tragedy ‘show’ rather
than ‘tells’.
Aristotle provides a
definition of tragedy that we can break up into seven parts:
1.It involves mimesis ;
2.It is serious;
3.The action is complete and with
magnitude;
4.It is made up of language with the “aesthetic ornaments” of rhyme and
harmony;
5.These “aesthetic ornaments” are not used uniformly throughout, but are
introduce in separate parts of the work, some bits are spoken in verse and
other bits are sung;
6.It is performed rather than narrated;
7.It arouses the emotions of pity and
fear and accomplishes a catharsis of these emotions.
The
thinking of action is central to Aristotle’s view of tragedy because it
underlines the other components and features, which include plot, character,
diction, thought, spectacle and song.
v Formative Element of Tragedy:(Six Parts of Tragedy)
1)
Plot
- (mythos)
2)
Character
- (ethos)
3)
Song
- (Melos)
4)
Diction
- (lexis)
5)
Thought
- (dianoia)
6)
Spectacle
- (opsis)
These
elements include the means of imitation (diction
and song), the manner of imitation (spectacle),
and the object of imitation (action
as arranged in a plot, the character and thought of the actors).
1]: Plot: (Mythos)
According
to Aristotle, “Plot is the soul of
tragedy”. Plot is the ‘first
principle’ and most important element among these six.
Aristotle
defines, plot is an arrangement of incidents, incidents means action and
tragedy is an imitation of action in both way ‘internal’ and ‘external’. therefore
plot is the harmonious combination of incident and action in the story. For
example: not the story itself but the way the incidents are presented to the
audience, the structure of the play.
In
tragedy, tragic effect is part of plot, not of character and therefore there
can be tragedy without character but not without plot. Here there are two kinds
of plots:
1): Simple Plot
2): Complex Plot
In this, plot may be simple or complex, but complex plot is
better than simple plot. Because simple plot have only a “change of fortune” and complex plot have both “reversal of intention”, and “recognition”
connected with the catastrophe.
This
overall dramatic structure the plot is “the
end at which tragedy aims”.
2]: Character: (Ethos)
In a perfect tragedy, character will support plot. Character reveals the
individual motivation of the characters in the play, what they want or do not
want, and how they react to certain situation.
Character should have some qualities:
i.
Character
should be good or fine,
ii.
It
should have fitness of character- (appropriate)
iii.
It
should be true to life- (likeness)
iv.
It
should have consistency- (true to themselves)
v.
It
should have necessary or probable
vi.
It should be idealized
In
first four qualities, we can say that, the character should be good but not too
good or perfect, because what reveals character above all- through the dialogue
or the actions- is ‘choice’. For
example:
Hamlet-
thinker
Othello-
action, hero, proud and
Jealous
Oedipus-
moral of in anger
King
Lear- misplaced love
Macbeth-
ambition
Character depicted should be appropriate because they must be
proving to type. By likeness, Aristotle suggests that character should be “like”. Main character’s life “like realistic” in the tragedy. The ‘like’ may well refer to the need for
characters to be drawn in accordance with traditional portrayals and to be
based on universal characteristics. In consistency- character’s personality and
motivation are established the play.
Another
quality is Necessary or Probable, it
suggests that character must be logically constructed according to “the law of probability or necessity”
that governs the actions of the play.
3]: Song: (Melos)
Song
or lyrical elements is to be found in the tragedy. Song is a simply pleasurable
accessory and therefore it is more important to the tragedy. Song is the
musical component of tragedy; it is used to relieve the tension or tragic
effect in the play.
4]: Diction: (Lexis)
Diction is the medium of language or expression by which characters
reveals their thought and feeling in the play.
In
modern sense, it means- “choice of
words”. Diction- it does not mean that language should be common, simple,
and suitable for the character. But “the
expression of the meaning in words”, it means that language should be
proper and appropriate to the plot, character and end of the tragedy. In the
entire element Aristotle discuss the stylistic element of tragedy; he is
particularly in metaphor;
“But the greatest thing by
Far is to have a command
To metaphor: …………
It
is the mark of genius
For the make good metaphor
Implies an eye for resemblance.
There is lexis which means language and refers to the
language the character use.
5]: Thought: (Dianonia)
Thought
deals on a more universal level with reasoning and general truths. Thought is
the intellectual element in a tragedy and it is an expressed through the speech
of a character. Thought seems to denote the intellectual qualities of an agent
but while character seems to denote the moral qualities of an agent.
So,
thought is power of saying, filtering to occasion. Thought that is the faculty
of saying what is possible and pertinent in given circumstances.
6]: Spectacle: (Opsis)
Spectacle is the pleasure of tragedy. Spectacle is the
overall visual appearance of the stage and the actors. It is pleasurable
accessories but not more important in tragedy than song. A Pretty spectacle can
be arranged without a play, and usually matters of set and costume are not
occupation of the poet anyway. The spectacle has indeed an emotional attraction
of its own, but of all the parts, it is the least artistic and connected with
the art of poetry. For example: If the play has “beautiful” costume and bad
action with the bad story, there is something wrong with it, even though that
beauty may save play it is “not a nice thing”.
Spectacle
related with the stage performance and but he also says that those who on
spectacle create a sense which is not of the terrible.
Although, Aristotle
recognizes the emotional attraction of spectacle, he also argues that superior
poets rely on the inner structure of the play rather than spectacle to arouse
pity and fear; those who rely heavily on spectacle “create a sense, not of the terrible, but only of the monstrous”.
v Conclusion:
In
the conclusion, we can say that in “The
Poetics” Aristotle has given the ideas about tragedy. All this has been the
discussion of Aristotle’s concept of tragedy. In every kind of representational
literature plot has its own important place, characters are bound to be there
though they may be of the different types, it will have a definite central
thought expressed in appropriate diction and technique; similarly, they have
their own thought, way of presentation and spectacle.
We
can also say that, Aristotle studied only Greek tragedy; therefore a theory of
tragedy might have some limitation. Aristotle establishes scientific study of
tragedy. Scott James says:
“In giving this theory of tragedy,
He has given as something very like
A theory of fine art”.
……Thank You……
No comments:
Post a Comment