Viii. The Plot Must Be A Unity : VIII. THE PLOT MUST BE A UNITY. Unity of plot does not, as some persons think, consist in the Unity of the hero. For infinitely various are the incidents in one man's life which cannot be reduced to unity; and so, too, there are many actions of one man out of which we cannot make one action. Hence...
Xx. Diction, Or Language In General : XX. DICTION, OR LANGUAGE IN GENERAL. [Language in general includes the following parts:-Letter, Syllable, Connecting word, Noun, Verb, Inflexion or Case, Sentence or Phrase. A Letter is an indivisible sound, yet not every such sound, but only one which can form part of a group of sounds. For even...
Xxii. How Poetry Combines Elevation Of Language : XXII. (POETIC DICTION CONTINUED.) HOW POETRY COMBINES ELEVATION OF LANGUAGE WITH PERSPICUITY. The perfection of style is to be clear without being mean. The clearest style is that which uses only current or proper words; at the same time it is mean:--witness the poetry of Cleophon and of Sthenelus...
Xxv. Critical Objections Brought Against : XXV. CRITICAL OBJECTIONS BROUGHT AGAINST POETRY, AND THE PRINCIPLES ON WHICH THEY ARE TO BE ANSWERED. With respect to critical difficulties and their solutions, the number and nature of the sources from which they may be drawn may be thus exhibited. The poet being an imitator, like a painter or any...
Xi. Reversal Of The Situation, Recogniti : XI. (PLOT CONTINUED.) REVERSAL OF THE SITUATION, RECOGNITION, AND TRAGIC OR DISASTROUS INCIDENT DEFINED AND EXPLAINED. 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. Thus in the Oedipus, the messenger...
Vii. The Plot Must Be A Whole : VII. THE PLOT MUST BE A WHOLE. These principles being established, let us now discuss the proper structure of the Plot, since this is the first and most important thing in Tragedy. Now, according to our definition, Tragedy is an imitation of an action that is complete, and whole, and of a cert...
Ix. Dramatic Unity : IX. (PLOT CONTINUED.) DRAMATIC UNITY. It is, moreover, evident from what has been said, that it is not the function of the poet to relate what has happened, but what may happen,--what is possible according to the law of probability or necessity. The poet and the historian differ not by writing...
Xii. The 'quantitative Parts' Of Tragedy Defined : XII. THE 'QUANTITATIVE PARTS' OF TRAGEDY DEFINED. [The parts of Tragedy which must be treated as elements of the whole have been already mentioned. We now come to the quantitative parts, and the separate parts into which Tragedy is divided, namely, Prologue, Episode, Exode, Choric song; this last...
V. Definition Of The Ludicrous, And A Brief : V. DEFINITION OF THE LUDICROUS, AND A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE RISE OF COMEDY. Comedy is, as we have said, an imitation of characters of a lower type, not, however, in the full sense of the word bad, the Ludicrous being merely a subdivision of the ugly. It consists in some defect or ugliness which is...
Xxi. Poetic Diction : XXI POETIC DICTION. Words are of two kinds, simple and double. By simple I mean those composed of non-significant elements, such as. By double or compound, those composed either of a significant and non-significant element (though within the whole word no element is significant), or of elements...
Xiii. What Constitutes Tragic Action : XIII. (PLOT CONTINUED.) WHAT CONSTITUTES TRAGIC ACTION. As the sequel to what has already been said, we must proceed to consider what the poet should aim at, and what he should avoid, in constructing his plots; and by what means the specific effect of Tragedy will be produced. A perfect tragedy...
Xix. Thought, Or The Intellectual Element : XIX. THOUGHT, OR THE INTELLECTUAL ELEMENT, AND DICTION IN TRAGEDY. It remains to speak of Diction and Thought, the other parts of Tragedy having been already discussed. Concerning Thought, we may assume what is said in the Rhetoric, to which inquiry the subject more strictly belongs. Under Thought...
Xxiv. Further Points Of Agreement With Tragedy : XXIV. (EPIC POETRY CONTINUED.) FURTHER POINTS OF AGREEMENT WITH TRAGEDY. Again, Epic poetry must have as many kinds as Tragedy: it must be simple, or complex, or 'ethical,' or 'pathetic.' The parts also, with the exception of song and spectacle, are the same; for it requires Reversals...
Xxiii. Epic Poetry : XXIII. EPIC POETRY. As to that poetic imitation which is narrative in form and employs a single metre, the plot manifestly ought, as in a tragedy, to be constructed on dramatic principles. It should have for its subject a single action, whole and complete, with a beginning, a middle, and an end. It...
Vi. Definition Of Tragedy : VI. DEFINITION OF TRAGEDY. Of the poetry which imitates in hexameter verse, and of Comedy, we will speak hereafter. Let us now discuss Tragedy, resuming its formal definition, as resulting from what has been already said. Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete...
Xvi. Recognition. Its Various Kinds, With Examples : XVI. (PLOT CONTINUED.) RECOGNITION: ITS VARIOUS KINDS, WITH EXAMPLES. What Recognition is has been already explained. We will now enumerate its kinds. First, the least artistic form, which, from poverty of wit, is most commonly employed recognition by signs. Of these some are congenital,--such...
X. Definitions Of Simple And Complex Plots : X. (PLOT CONTINUED.) DEFINITIONS OF SIMPLE AND COMPLEX PLOTS. Plots are either Simple or Complex, for the actions in real life, of which the plots are an imitation, obviously show a similar distinction. An action which is one and continuous in the sense above defined, I call Simple, when the change...
Xviii. Further Rules For The Tragic Poet : XVIII. FURTHER RULES FOR THE TRAGIC POET. Every tragedy falls into two parts,--Complication and Unravelling or Denouement. Incidents extraneous to the action are frequently combined with a portion of the action proper, to form the Complication; the rest is the Unravelling. By the Complication I...
Xv. The Element Of Character In Tragedy : XV. THE ELEMENT OF CHARACTER IN TRAGEDY. In respect of Character there are four things to be aimed at. First, and most important, it must be good. Now any speech or action that manifests moral purpose of any kind will be expressive of character: the character will be good if the purpose is good...
I. 'imitation' The Common Principle : ARISTOTLE'S POETICS I. 'IMITATION' THE COMMON PRINCIPLE OF THE ARTS OF POETRY. I propose to treat of Poetry in itself and of its various kinds, noting the essential quality of each; to inquire into the structure of the plot as requisite to a good poem; into the number and nature of the parts...
Xxvi. A General Estimate Of The Comparative : XXVI. A GENERAL ESTIMATE OF THE COMPARATIVE WORTH OF EPIC POETRY AND TRAGEDY. The question may be raised whether the Epic or Tragic mode of imitation is the higher. If the more refined art is the higher, and the more refined in every case is that which appeals to the better sort of audience...
Xvii. Practical Rules For The Tragic Poet : XVII. PRACTICAL RULES FOR THE TRAGIC POET. In constructing the plot and working it out with the proper diction, 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...
Xiv. The Tragic Emotions Of Pity And Fear : XIV. (PLOT CONTINUED.) THE TRAGIC EMOTIONS OF PITY AND FEAR SHOULD SPRING OUT OF THE PLOT ITSELF. Fear and pity may be aroused by spectacular means; but they may also result from the inner structure of the piece, which is the better way, and indicates a superior poet. For the plot ought to be so...
Ii. The Objects Of Imitation : II. THE OBJECTS OF IMITATION. Since the objects of imitation are men in action, and these men must be either of a higher or a lower type (for moral character mainly answers to these divisions, goodness and badness being the distinguishing marks of moral differences), it follows that we must...
Iv. The Origin And Development Of Poetry : IV. THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF POETRY. Poetry in general seems to have sprung from two causes, each of them lying deep in our nature. First, the instinct of imitation is implanted in man from childhood, one difference between him and other animals being that he is the most imitative of living...
Iii. The Manner Of Imitation : III. THE MANNER OF IMITATION. There is still a third difference--the manner in which each of these objects may be imitated. For the medium being the same, and the objects the same, the poet may imitate by narration--in which case he can either take another personality as Homer does, or speak in his...
Title Page : THE POETICS OF ARISTOTLE A TRANSLATION BY S. H. BUTCHER London, New York, Macmillan, [1902]
