MAEN LITERARY THEORY AND CRITICISM – I NE Handout 7

ARISTOTLE’S POETICS
These are the summaries of the various parts of the pdf that I found important. As you
read, you’ll see that the theories and concepts of a single topic may be scattered around.
Use this as a reference only. Concepts as a whole will be sent later.

I
- Just as an artist expresses his art through colour and form, the poet does so through
the use or various combinations of rhythm, language and harmony.
- Difference in arts is due to difference in medium of imitation.
II
- Object of imitation: Men In action.
- They can be of a higher or lower type and can be portrayed as better or worse than
real life.
- “The same distinction marks off Tragedy from Comedy; for Comedy aims at
representing men as worse,Tragedy as better than in actual life.”
III
- Mode (or manner) of Imitation- for eg. in the case of tragedy and epic, the medium
and objects are the same but the mode is different. Epic: Narration, Tragedy:
Spectacle/Drama.
IV
- Origin of poetry:
1. Our natural instinct for imitation: a child learns through imitation.
2. Talent/craft/“natural gift”. Not everyone can be a good poet.
- Poetry diverged in two directions:
1. Graver/more serious poets imitated noble actions and praised gods and
famous men (EPICS)
2. Trivial people composed SATIRES.
- Epics evolved into tragedy (drama) (Therefore, tragedy is a higher form of art).
- Satires evolved into comedy.
- Tragedy evolved gradually and stopped when it found its natural form (Potential —>
Actual concept)
V
- COMEDY:
o Origin and development not as well know as that of tragedy.
o Imitation of characters of a lower type
o The characters should have “some defect or ugliness which is not painful or
destructive” eg. Comic mask is ugly but does not imply pain.
- EPIC:
o Similar to tragedy in imitation of characters and verse.
o Differs in form and length.
o “All the elements of an Epic poem are found in Tragedy, but the elements of a
Tragedy are not all found in the Epic poem.”
VI
- Tragedy:
This beautiful, comprehensive definition of tragedy by Aristotle (important terms
highlighted):

Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of

a certain magnitude; in 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 of these emotions.
- 6 parts of tragedy that determine its quality (ranked)
1. Plot
2. Character
3. Thought
4. Diction
5. Song (most important among embellishments)
6. Spectacle
Rest of Part 6, 7, 8, 9 are about plot. I will explain it later in the following pages (concepts part).

X
- Plots can be
1. Simple:
▪ Whole and continuous but without reversal of situation (Peripeteia) and
Recognition (Anagnorisis)
2. Complex
▪ Contains Peripeteia or anagnorisis or both.
▪ However, they must arise from the plot and must be probable.
• This is because there is a difference if an event.incident is propter
hoc (because of) or post hoc (after).
XI
- Three parts of plot that use surprise/astonishment:
1. Reversal os situation
2. Recognition
3. Scene of suffering
- Peripeteia (Reversal of situation):
o “Reversal of the Situation is a change by which the action veers round to its opposite,
subject always to our rule of probability or necessity.”
- Anagnorisis (Recognition)
o “Recognition, as the name indicates, is a change from ignorance to knowledge,
producing love or hate between the persons destined by the poet for good or bad
fortune.“
o “The best form of recognition is coincident with a Reversal of the Situation, as in the
Oedipus.”
o Recognition can happen because of objects or actions. It can be one sided or two
sided. (More discussed later)
- “This recognition, combined, with Reversal, will produce either pity or fear; and actions
producing these effects are those which, by our definition, Tragedy represents.”
- Scene of Suffering:
o “The Scene of Suffering is a destructive or painful action, such as death on the stage,
bodily agony, wounds and the like.”
XII
- Quantitative parts of tragedy:
1. Prologue
▪ Monologue or dialogue preceding the entry of the chorus
▪ Topic of the tragedy
2. Episode
▪ Several parts of a plot
▪ Actors interact with chorus
▪ Terminated by stasimon
3. Exode: Exit ode
4. Choric Song:
a. Parode:
• Entry chants
• Dancing, masks.
• Usually stays on stage
b. Stasimon:
• End of each episode
• Stationary songs
• Comments, reacts to tragedy.
- Commos: joint lamentation of chorus and actors.
XIII
- Perfect Tragedy:
o Complex plot
o Imitate actions that arouse pity and fear
o Object of imitation- protagonist must not be extremely good or bad. Instead, he
must be good, “highly renown, prosperous”, from illustrious family. He must have a
tragic flaw (Hamartia).
o Single principle in the plot.
o Change of fortune from good to bad.
- 2nd ranked tragedy:
o Change of fortune is not from good to bad.
o Eg: Odyssey- double thread plot and end result is not catastrophic.
o This is because “the poet is guided in what he writes by the wishes of his audience”.
o “The pleasure, however, thence derived is not the true tragic pleasure”
XIV
- Fear and pity can be aroused through spectacle as well as through plot/structure of play. The
latter indicates a superior poet.
- A plot must be such that even hearing the story arouses such feelings.
- If an enemy kills an enemy or strangers kill each other, there is not as much emotional
impact as there is when members of a family kills each other (consciously or unconsciously)
XV
- Four Characteristics of a tragic protagonist:
1. Goodness
2. Propriety
3. True to life/probable/relatable
4. Consistency
- He talks condescendingly about women- but put this in context of 4th BCE Greek society.
o Aristotle says a woman can be courageous even though she is an “inferior being”.
o Similarly, a slave can be “good” even if he is “worthless”
- Complications and Unravelling of a plot must be within a plot. Should not be brought about
by Deus ex Machina.
XVI
- 6 kinds of recognition
1. Token: Least artistic
2. Contrived by poet/ reveals themselves: also inartistic (eg: voice of the shuttle)
3. Memory
4. Inference/Reason (clue, deduction): 2nd best
5. False inference
6. Caused by events/plot- emotional impact through probable turn of events: Best
according to Aristotle
XVII
- “… the poet should place the scene, as far as possible, before his eyes. In this way, seeing
everything with the utmost vividness, as if he were a spectator of the action, he will discover
what is in keeping with it, and be most unlikely to overlook inconsistencies.”
- Just as a writer proof-reads the poet must visualise his scenes while constructing the plot.
- “Hence poetry implies either a happy gift of nature or a strain of madness”
o Great poets are either naturally talented or mad.
- Chorus: Must be regarded as one of the actors. “Integral part of the whole” that “shares the
action”.
XIX
- Thought: thought produces speech and action.

XX and XXI will be happily ignored because they are to technical and in the Greek context. They’re
also unimportant for exam.

XXII
- Diction: should be a good mixture of unusual words/metaphors and words of current usage
(everyday language). This is the best according to Aristotle.
- If only metaphors-> riddle and if only unusual words -> jargon.
- “But the greatest thing by far is to have a command of metaphor. This alone cannot be
imparted by another; it is the mark of genius, for to make good metaphors implies an eye for
resemblances.”
o Usage of metaphors requires natural talent.
XXIII
- Plot:
o “It should have for its subject a single action, whole and complete, with a beginning,
a middle, and an end.”
o “It will thus resemble a living organism in all its unity, and produce the pleasure
proper to it.”
o “It will differ in structure from historical compositions, which of necessity present not
a single action, but a single period, and all that happened within that period to one
person or to many, little connected together as the events may be.”

XXIV
- Types of Tragedy:
1. Simple
2. Complex
3. Ethical (Tragedy of character)
4. Pathetic (Tragedy of suffering)
- Iliad- simple and pathetic, Odyssey: complex and ethical.
- Rest is epic vs tragedy.
XXV
- 5 sources of critical objections to poetry:
1. Impossible
2. Irrational
3. Morally hurtful
4. Contradictory
5. Contrary to artistic correctness.
- How to solve/counter these criticisms:
1. If impossibility has been included, it is an error. However, it can be considered
correct if it attains the end of the art itself. If it does not attain end, then the
error is not correct. If possible, there should be no errors.
2. What type of error is it?
a. Committed out of ignorance
b. Incidental error
▪ If a painter paints a bad drawing of a deer, it is better that he drew it
because he has never seen a deer than because he is bad at drawing.
3. If something is criticised as not being true: say that it ought to be true.
4. If something is neither true and also ought not to be, then say that “it is what
people say”.
5. Or else, you may say “it reflects things as it used to be”.
6. Take into account not just moral qualities but also the identity of the speaker or
agent.
7. Through usage of non standard words and metaphors.
8. Reference to pronunciation (Greek context)
9. Using punctuation to solve some problems (Greek context).
10. Ambiguous words.
11. Linguistic usage (Greek context).
12. Consider number of meanings (Greek context).

XXVI
- Question: “whether the Epic or Tragic mode of imitation is the higher.”
- Case against tragedy: the audience of epic poetry is more refined than those of tragedy.
Therefore, Epic poetry must be superior to tragedy.
- Aristotle refutes this through the following points:
1. Gesticulation can be overdone in epic poetry/other poetry too.
2. Not all dancing is bad- there are only bad performers.
3. Tragedy can produce its effect without spectacle, just as well as epic poetry can.
4. Tragedy contains all of epic poetry’s elements along with extra elements of
music and spectacle- thus it produces “the most vivid pleasure”.
5. “the art attains its end within narrower limits; for the concentrated effect is
more pleasurable than one which is spread over a long time and so diluted.”
• Remember- tragedy has limited length.

Therefore, Aristotle concludes:

“Tragedy is superior to Epic poetry in all these respects, and, moreover, fulfils its specific function
better as an art for each art ought to produce, not any chance pleasure, but the pleasure proper to it,
as already stated it plainly follows that Tragedy is the higher art, as attaining its end more perfectly.”