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Unit 2: Aristotle: The Poetics: Introduction, Tragedy

means that the poet actually sees the scene with his mind’s eye, and this would enable him to keep Notes
out the impossible, the improbable, and the ludicrous from his play. The poet should try to feel the
emotions of his characters, and only then he would be able to write out the speeches which
express those emotions effectively. Not only that, he should also act the parts of his dramatic
personages to see if the speeches he has penned for them are appropriate or not. If he wishes his
audience to weep, he must first feel the sorrow himself. Effective characterisation is possible only
in this way.
Aristotle has been criticised for saying nothing about poetic inspiration. However, he does speak
of, “a touch of madness”, in the poet, which makes him besides himself with emotion. This is his
recognition of poetic inspiration. The poet, he says, must be a specially gifted man, and, if not, he
must be inspired. Poetry may be a craft, but inspiration, too, is often essential.
The poet should first draw the general outline of the plot without any names and in this way
impart universality to his story. The story itself may be either his own invention or traditional
(borrowed from history or legend), but he must fill up the sketch by episodes of his own invention.
This episodizing constitutes the plot, and it is in this respect that the ‘poet’ is really, ‘the maker’.
Thus, as Humphrey House discusses at length, episodizing here is not the derogatory term of
common usage. It has been used in a technical sense for the events and incidents which the poet
invents to lengthen out the story. They are logically connected with each other and are an essential
part of the plot. Indeed, they, constitute the plot. “A failure in the ‘episodising’ produces a series
of isolated episodes not joined to each other by probability or necessity.”
The giving of proper names to the characters is also an important aspect of the process of dramatic
construction. The assignment of names determines whether the drama will be fiction, myth, or
history, and provides guidance in characterisation.
Continuing with his rules for the practical guidance of dramatists; Aristotle emphasises the
significance of complication and denouement. Denouement is more difficult to manage than
complication, and a dramatist must be very careful while working out his denouement.
Four different kinds of tragedy are then listed, according to the four constituent elements of a
tragedy
1. the complex tragedy with reversals (peripety) and (Anagnorisis) recognitions,
2. the tragedy of suffering. This kind of tragedy depicts painful events, such as wounds, deaths, and
the like. It derives its effect from incidents of a pitiable and fearful nature,
3. the tragedy of character. “in which the speeches revealing character are important in themselves
rather than as steps toward the final episode.” “The sense of forward movement will be weak,
and the play will tend to become a series of dramatic monologues”—(O.B. Hardison). Aristotle’s
emphasis on the primacy of plot is well-known and though he recognises a tragedy of character,
he tends to regard it as an inferior kind, and
4. lastly, there is the tragedy of Spectacle. It is the tragedy which depends upon sensational effects
produced by the actors, the costume designer, and other mechancial and artificial devices. The
adventures are fantastic, the figures gigantic, and scene of action is frequently the nether
world.
Each of the four kinds of tragedies owes its effectiveness to a different element, and the dramatist
should try to unite all these varied excellences and interests. Moreover, he should remember that
a tragedy is not an epic, and so he must not overload it with a multiplicity of details and actions.
Such plurality of action is confusing, and it also weakens the tragic effect.
In the end, Aristotle advises the dramatist to mark The Chorus an integral part to his action. It
should participate in the action like the other characters.
Ch. XIX: Thought in Tragedy
In chapter VI, Aristotle analysed tragedy into six parts. He has already discussed Plot and Character
in detail, and touched upon Song and Spectacle. He now comes to Diction and Thought. Thought
is treated in this chapter, and the following three chapters are devoted to the treatment of Diction.

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