Aristotle’s SIX ELEMENTS OF TRAGEDY/PLAYS

1. PLOT
• What happens, in what order, what twists and turns - story is the overview: a woman goes from
a servant to a princess. The plot is HOW is happens. The conquering of the obstacles, the
triumphs and near misses.
2. CHARACTER
• Who: The people and their motivations - their character, and flaws - a tragic flaw is when one
tries to do the right thing, but still causes tragedy because of their destiny or if one’s character
drives one to cause tragedy, even unknowingly.
3. THEME
• What it’s really about - the bigger ideas, though the playwright may not be thinking of that at
the time.
4. LANGUAGE
• What and how it is said: verse, dialogue, soliloquy, etc.
5. RHYTHM
• Timing and pace - read a farce, then read Chekhov!
6. SPECTACLE
• Everything that is seen or heard on stage. Actors,
sets, costumes, lights and sound. NOTE: All
plays have spectacle— some emphasize spectacle more than others.
original list from https://www.bellevuecollege.edu

ARISTOTLE’S THREE UNITIES

Aristotle’s unities refer to his ideas about Time, Place and Action.
The basic idea is:
• The action of the play (what happens/plot) should take place in a short amount of time.
Rather than having a story meander over days, months or years, it could happen within 24
hours.
• The play should take place in one location or a few locations. Shakespeare broke this all
the time, so maybe we don’t care, but many plays take place in one house or even one
room.
• The play should tell one story. This is interesting because it could be one story as in one
plot, or it could be one story as in one theme that tells a bigger story.

Just something to think about and later we’ll find out why these ‘rules’ can be useful.
More about Aristotle and Western tradition theater later…