Put down in detail Aristotle's observations on ' Tragedy

 Aristotle's observations on ' Tragedy '

Ans. Aristotle gives a very high place to tragedy. His definition of tragedy is “a priori assertion of what tragedy ought to be, it is a summary statement of what Aristotle has noted that tragedy actually is.” Defining tragedy he writes : " Tragedy , then , is an imitation 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 .

 " An analysis of this definition reveals that it falls into two broad divisions. The first consists of three clauses, which throw ample light on the nature of tragedy. It consists of the object of imitation, the medium of imitation and the manner of imitation. The second division consists of the function of tragedy that is Catharsis .action the first important thing in tragedy is “an imitation of action.” To Aristotle ' action ' implies an event , or process of events something happening , and this happens by means of , and in the being of , agents , who have a disposition to act . These agents are human beings, and their disposition to act is then character. Scott James succinctly remarks the word ' action ' means “action of rational human beings who think and will. It follows that it is conceded with character and thought, for by these action is determined. “The act must be “complete in itself “. It implies that the action in itself forms a whole It must be “of a certain magnitude”, which means that it is neither too small to be appreciable, nor too large to be taken in, as a whole. But to be whole it must have a beginning, middle and an end. Abercrombie writes: “First, then, the action - that sense of life which the poet thinks of as some characteristic kind of movement of events - the imagined action expresses itself in the plot, or the arrangement of the incidents. The plot is then expressed in characters, the characters in their thoughts and feelings, and these finally in the dialogue or language.

 " Constituent Parts of Tragedy , according to Aristotle , consists of six constituent parts , plot , character and thought , which are objects it imitates or represents ; diction and song , which are the medium it employs to imitate these objects ; and 

  which is its manner of imitating them . In order of importance plot comes first , character next , thought third , diction fourth , song fifth , and spectacle last . 

1. Plot: The plot, which is “the imitation of the action” and means “the arrangement of the incidents”, is the central part of tragedy. Plot is more important than character. In this connection Aristotle writes: “For tragedy is an imitation, not of men, but of an action and of life and life consists in action ...... Now character determines men's qualities, but it is by their actions that they are happy or the reverse. Dramatic action, therefore, is not with a view to the representation of character: Character comes in as subsidiary to the actions. Hence the incidents and plot are the ends of the tragedy; and the end is the chief thing of all. Again, without action there cannot be a tragedy: there may be without character. " He adds : " The plot , then , is the first principle , and , as it were , the soul of a tragedy : Character hold the second place . A similar fact is seen in painting. The most beautiful colors lay on confusedly. Will not give as much pleasure as the chalk outline of a portrait. Thus tragedy is the imitation of an action, and of the agents mainly with a view to the action. 

“Let us know and discuss the proper structure of the plot which is the most important element of tragedy.” Tragedy is an imitation of an action that is complete, and whole, and of a certain magnitude. “A whole is that which has “a beginning, middle, and an end.” A beginning does not itself follow anything by casual necessity, but after which something naturally is or comes to be. The end is that which succeeds all that went before as its necessary and inevitable conclusion. Middle is that which follows something as some other thing follows it. The author who accepts Aristotle's conception of plot construction will not introduce any event, situation or piece of dialogue does not contribute to the development of the dominant motive or the main that tragic effect. So Aristotle writes, “A well constructed plot, therefore, must neither begin nor end haphazardly, but conform to these principles. The plot must not only have an orderly arrangement of parts, but “must also be a certain magnitude; for beauty depends on the magnitude and order.” In it a certain length is necessary, a length “which can be easily embraced by the memory.” Aristotle remarks that “the proper magnitude is comprised within such limits, that the sequence of events, according to the law of probability or necessity, will admit of a change from bad fortune to good or from good fortune to bad.”

 A good plot should have unity of action. Aristotle remarks : " ... so the plot , being an imitation of action , must imitate one action and that a whole , the structural union of the parts being such that , if any one of them is displaced or removed , the whole will be disjointed and disturbed . For a thing whose presence or absence makes no visible difference, is not an organic part of the whole. “It implies that the events comprising the plot will concern only one man and not more. Aristotle does not approve episodic plots because they do not follow the principle of structural unity. He calls a plot episodic “in which the episodes or acts succeed one another without probable or necessary sequence.” Tragedy is an imitation not only of a complete action, but of events inspiring fear or pity. Such an effect, according to Aristotle, is best produced when the events come on us by surprise. This effect is heightened when the events. Arousing fear or pity is presented in a natural manner as “cause and effect”. “Plots, therefore, constructed on these principles, are necessarily the best.” 

Simple and Complex Plots: 

Plots are either simple or complex according to the nature of actions in real life. An action which is one and continuous and in which the change of fortune takes place without reversal of the situation (Peripeteia) and without recognition (anagnorisis) is simple. A plot imitating such actions is simple. In a complex action the change is accompanied by such reversal, or by recognition or by both. They arise from the internal structure of the plot, so that what follows should be the necessary or probable result of the preceding action. Peripeteia (sudden reversal) and anagnorisis (recognition) are pivots of the complex action. Peripeteia “is a kind of irony of up action. Irony of words, so frequent also in Greek tragedy and so telling, occurs when “deeds are caught up by circumstances and charged with a fuller meaning than the speaker meant.” Irony of action occurs when " deeds are caught I out of an agent's grasp and charged with a meaning the very opposite of what was meant. Anagnorisis , when used , as it may be , in close conjunction with peripeteia , the hero's realization of truth , the full meaning of the deed done in error ...... Perihelia and anagnorisis are but the due developments and complements of hamartia ; they are the surprising, but natural, aftermath of the partly responsible act of error. The reversal, says Aristotle , should follow its antecedents in a way that is probable or necessary - but it is much better the way is also surprising. If there were no surprise - that is, if the downfall were clearly predictable or acceptable from the start as the only plausible outcome of the protagonist's fault - we should not have hamartia as it may t accurately conceived, but the fully vicious act of the villain. Peripeteia and anagnorisis are requirements for the action or a certain magnitude - an action large enough to exhibit the development of a character through confidence, error, recognition and suffering. These two technicalities are specifications for the kind of moral consequence, crossed by surprise, which makes the cohesive beginning, middle, and end, the whole and unity of Aristotle's formal theory. “[Wimsatt and Brooks: Literary Criticism: A History] A perfect tragedy should be arranged not on the simple but on and the complex plan.

 Emotions of Pity and Fear: 

The plot must contain a powerful appeal to emotions of pity and fear. In order to affect this there must be a change from good to bad fortune, and this change or disaster must be so managed as to enlist the sympathies of the spectator in the highest degree. Explaining this Aristotle says: " It should, moreover, imitate actions which excite pity and fear, this being the distinctive mark of tragic imitation. It follows plainly , in the first place , that the change of fortune presented must not be the spectacle of a virtuous man brought from prosperity to adversity for this means neither pity nor fear ; it merely shocks us . Nor , again , that of a bad man passing from adversity to prosperity , for nothing can be more alien to the spirit of tragedy , it possesses no single tragic quality ; it neither satisfies the moral sense nor call forth pity or fear . Nor again, should the downfall of the utter villain for exhibited. A plot of this kind would, doubtless, satisfy the moral sense, but it would inspire neither pity nor fear; for pity is aroused by unmerited misfortune, fear by the misfortune of a man likes us. Such an event, therefore, will be neither pitiful nor terrible. There remains, then, the character between these two extremes, -that of a man who is not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice or depravity, but by some error of frailty. He must be one who is highly renowned and prosperous, - a personage like Oedipus , Thyetes , or other illustrious men of such families. “A well - constructed plot should, therefore, be simple in its issue, rather than double. The change of fortune should be from good to bad. It should come about as the result not of vice, but of some great error or frailty (hamartia), in a character either such as we have described, or better rather than worse . 

The Three Unities:

 In classical drama, three unities are essential elements of the play. The three unities are the unity of action, the unity of time and the unity of place. According to Aristotle the unity of action is the first requirement of a tragedy. By means of this unity the plot becomes individual and also intelligible. The unity of tragic action is an organic unity, an inward principle which reveals itself in the form of an outward whole. Within the simple and complete action which constitutes the unity of a tragedy, the successive incidents are connected together by an inward and causal bond, -by the law of necessary and probable sequences on which Aristotle is never tired of insisting. If the unity of action is preserved, the other unities will take care of themselves. Aristotle believes that the unity of action is the higher and controlling law of the drama. The unities of Time and Place, so far as they claim any artistic importance, are of secondary and purely derivative value. Aristotle makes a passing reference on the unit of time. “Tragedy”, he says, " endeavors as far as possible, to confine itself to a single revolution of the sun, or but slightly to exceed this limit; whereas the epic action has no limits of time.” The unity of place which was deduced as a corollary from the unity of time is not mentioned at all.

 Division of Plot: 

The plot is divisible into two parts complication and its unravelling or denouement. The former ties the events into the tangled knot, the latter unties it. The complication extends from the beginning of action to the part which marks the turning point to good or bad fortune. The unravelling is that which extends from the beginning of change to the end. The first is commonly called rising action and the second falling action. Aristotle forbids “an epic structure “into a tragedy. It means one that has a multiplicity of plots. 

Importance of Plot: 

Thus plot is of supreme importance in tragedy. Abercrombie remarks: “It is the plot that expresses the action; all the two rest of the dramatist's technique - character, thought and language - embodies the plot. It is by means of the plot that, theoretically considered, the whole mass of drama is held in the unity of the dramatist's inspiration; and it is by means of the plot that, critically considered, the whole mass of the play falls into a unity of effect .

 2. Character: 

Characterization is, in fact, as much a part of the dramatist's expressive technique as the prosody or imagery of his language. Aristotle prescribes four things for character portrayal. “First and most important, it must be now of moral kind will be expressive of character: the character will be good if the purpose is good ..... The second thing to aim at is propriety. There is a type of manly valour, but valour in a woman, or unscrupulous cleverness, is inappropriate. Thirdly, character must be true to life: for this is a distinct thing from goodness and propriety, as here described. The fourth point is consistency: for though the subject of imitation, who suggested the type, is inconsistent, still he must be consistently inconsistent. “The dramatist should Endeavour always after the necessary or the probable in character portrayal. Whatever a person says or does must be the necessary outcome of his character. Aristotle writes “since tragedy is an imitation of persons who are above the common level, the example of good portraiture should be followed. They, while reproducing the distinctive form of the original, make a likeness which is true to life and yet more beautiful. So ton the poet, in representing men who are irascible or indolent, or have other defects of character, should preserve the type and ennoble it. In this way Achilles is portrayed by Agathan and Homer. 19 Aristotle's conception of the tragic hero has already been discussed under the head simple and complex plots. 

3. Thought and Diction: 

Thought is the faculty of saying what is possible and pertinent in given circumstances. Character is revealed through thought. Aristotle remarks: “Character is that which reveals moral purpose, showing what kind of things a man chooses or avoids. Speeches, therefore, which do not make this manifest, or in which the speaker does not choose or avoid anything whatever, are not expressive of character. Thought, on the other hand, is found where something is proved to be or not to be, or a general maxim is cnunciated. “Under thought is included every effect which has to be produced by speech. Proof and refutation are its subdivisions. It includes " the excitation of the feelings, such as pity, fear, anger and the like the suggestion of importance or its opposite.” By diction Aristotle means “the expression of the meaning in words.” He believes that the language of poetry must be enriched especially by the use of metaphor which he pronounces to be the greatest of technical aids and adds that “it is proof of natural ability; for to write good metaphors is to have an eye for analogies.”

4. Song: 

Song holds the chief place among the embellishments. He condemns the practice of introducing songs which are unconnected with the action of tragedy. 

5. Spectacle:

 The spectacle has an emotional attraction of its own. It is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. The production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet. 

The Function of Tragedy:

 Catharsis. In the latter point of the definition Aristotle describes the specific effect, the proper function of tragedy, which is “through pity and fear affecting the proper Katharsis of these emotions. It refutes Plato's motion that art corrupts by nourishing the passions. Aristotle asserts that far from nourishing the passions, it gives them harmless or even useful purgation. By exiting pity and fear in us, tragedy enables us to leave theatre “in calm of mind, all passions spent “. The Greek term Catharsis has been variously defined by critics and thinkers but all of them accept the moral effect which tragedy produces through “the purification of the passions “. According to Aristotle it provides a safe outlet for disturbing passions which is effectively siphons off; and thus it produces a better and healthier state of mind. 

Catharsis is in any case a metaphor, which may allude to religious rites which purify. It may allude to theories of medicine, in which case it means ' purgation ' it seems certain that ' purification ' was not what he himself meant by Catharsis. Perhaps he meant “purgation “. Commenting on the meaning of Catharsis Butcher writes that it is a medical metaphor and ' purgation ' denotes a pathological effect on the soul analogous to the effect of medicine on the body. The thought, as he interpreted it, may be expressed thus. Tragedy excites the emotions of pity and fear - Kindred emotions that are in the breasts of all men and by the excitation affords a pleasurable relief. The feelings called forth by the tragic spectacle are not indeed permanently removed, but are quieted for the time, so that the system can fall back upon its normal course. The stage, in fact, provides a harmless and pleasurable outlet for instincts which demand satisfaction, and which can be indulged here more fearlessly than in real life.

 " Plato said: " Poetry feeds and waters the passions instead of starving them.” He meant that through its tearful moods " it enables the manly temper ; it makes anarchy in the soul by exalting the lower elements over the higher , and by dethroning reason in favor of feeling . Aristotle held that it was desirable to kill or starve the emotional part of the soul, and that the regulated indulgence of the feelings serves to maintain the balance of our nature. Tragedy, he would say, is a vent for the particular emotions of pity and fear. In the first instance, it is true; its effect is not to tranquillize but to excite. It excites emotion, however, only to allay it. Pity and fear, artificially stirred, expel the latent pity and fear which we bring with us from real life, or at least, such elements in them as are disquieting. In the pleasurable calm which follows when the passion is spent, an emotional cure has been wrought”. [Butcher] In his preface to Samson Agonists Milton adopts the pathological theory of the effect of tragedy : Tragedy , as it was anciently composed , hath been ever held the gravest moralist , and most profitable of all other poems ; therefore said by Aristotle to be of power , by raising pry and fear , or terror , to purge the mind of those and such like passions ; that is to temper or reduce them to just measure with a kind of delight stirred up by reading or seeing those passions well imitated . Nor is nature herself wanting in her effects to make good his assertion, furs so, in physic, things of melancholic hue and quality are used against melancholy, sour against sour, salt to remove salt humors. " It means that tragedy is a form of homoeopathic treatment , curing emotion by means of an emotion like in kind , but not identical . Aristotle, it seems, was influenced by Greek medicine, in enunciating the conception of Catharsis. Abercrombic writes: " Aristotle regarded the function of tragedy as something medical: the pity and fear of tragedy were the doses by which the tragic poet homeopathically purged his audience into emotional health.”