Page 48 - DENG501_LITERARY_CRITICISM_AND_THEORIES

Literary Criticism and Theories

Notes 'imitative,' that is to say, representative of life. This imitative quality fascinates Aristotle. He
devotes much of the Poetics to exploring the methods, significance, and consequences of this
imitation of life. Aristotle concludes that art's imitative tendencies are expressed in one of three
ways: a poet attempts to portray our world as it is, as we think it is, or as it ought to be.
The Standard of Poetic Judgment

Aristotle thinks that this tendency to criticize a work of art for factual errors - such as lack of
historical accuracy - is misguided. He believes that instead we should a judge work according to
its success at imitating the world. If the imitation is carried out with integrity and if the artwork's
'unity' is intact at its conclusion, a simple error in accuracy will do little to blemish this greater
success. Art, in other words, should be judged aesthetically, not scientifically.

Tragedy vs. Epic Poetry
In Aristotle's time, the critics considered epic poetry to be the supreme art form, but to Aristotle,
tragedy is the better of the two forms. Aristotle believes that tragedy, like the epic, can entertain
and edify in its written form, but also has the added dimension of being able to translate on stage
into a drama of spectacle and music, capable of being digested in one sitting.
Tragic Hero

The tragic hero, in Aristotle's view of drama, is not an eminently 'good' man; nor is he necessarily
a paragon of virtue that is felled by adversity. Instead, the hero has some 'frailty' or flaw that is
evident from the outset of a play that eventually ensures his doom. The audience, moreover, must
be able to identify with this tragic flaw.

The Unity of Poetry
Aristotle often speaks of the unity of poetry in the Poetics; what he means by "unity," however, is
sometimes misunderstood. Unity refers to the ability of the best dramatic plots to revolve around
a central axis that 'unites' all the action. Aristotle believes that a unified drama will have a 'spine':
a central idea which motivates all the action, character, thoughts, diction and spectacle in the play.
Self-Assessment

1. Choose the correct option:
(i) Read the definition of Tragedy find which of the following lines substantiate the theory of
catharsis.
(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) The book Tragedy: Serious Drama in Relation to Aristotle's Poetics throws illuminating
light on the theory of catharsis? Who is the writer of this book?
(a) F.L.Lucas (b) W. Macniele Dixon
(c) Ingram Bywater (d) S.H.Butcher
(iii) According to F.L.Lucas, the concept of Catharsis is better translated as:
(a) Purgation (b) Purification
(c) Moderation or tempering

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