Page 35 - DENG501_LITERARY_CRITICISM_AND_THEORIES

Unit 2: Aristotle: The Poetics: Introduction, Tragedy

5. An answer to the charge of contradiction Notes
Only one answer is given. When a passage seems to involve contradictions, we are to consider
all its possible senses and then select the one that seems most probable. Aristotle takes the
occasion to censure critics who assign an impossible meaning to a passage without considering
the alternatives and then attack the poet for writing absurdities.
Ch. XXVI: Epic and Tragedy: The Superiority of Tragedy
The Poetics, as we have it, ends with a comparison of Tragic and Epic poetry. Tragedy has been
criticised as vulgar, because its appeal is to the crowd and acting can easily become theatrical and
exaggerated. But that is not the poet’s fault; besides, epic recitation is sometimes similarly vulgarized.
Moreover, acting is not essential for the effect of tragedy, which can be fully felt even by a reader.
Self-Assessment
1. Choose the correct option:
(i) Tragedy is an imitation of …
(a) an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude.
(b) several kinds being found in separate parts of the play.
(c) in the form of action, not of narrative.
(d) through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation-catharsis of these and similar
emotions.
(ii) Which of the following lines of the definition of tragedy deals with the function of tragedy?
(a) an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude.
(b) several kinds being found in separate parts of the play.
(c) in the form of action, not of narrative.
(d) through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation-catharsis of these and similar
emotions.
(iii) Aristotle classifies various forms of art with the help of ______, ______ and ______ of their
imitation of life.
(a) Words, colours and music. (b) Serious, comic and real aspect of life.
(c) Object, medium and manner. (d) Action, narration and recitation.
(iv) According to Aristotle metre / verse alone is the distinguishing feature of poetry or
imaginative literature in general..
(a) True (b) False
(c) Cannot say
(v) Who summarizes Aristotle’s views in reply to Plato’s charges in brief: “Tragedy (Art)
gives new knowledge, yields aesthetic satisfaction and produces a better state of mind.”
(a) Buwater (b) Scott-James
(c) David Daiches (d) S.H. Butcher
(vi) Aristotle did not agree with Plato in calling the poet an imitator and creative art, imitation.
(a) True (b) False
(c) Cannot say

2.3 Summary

• Tragedy is:
(i) the imitation of an action that is serious, complete and of a certain magnitude;
(ii) in language embellished by artistic ornament;

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