Aristotle Concept of Tragedy

Aristotle concept of tragedy:
A tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious, and also as having magnitude, complete in itself
in language with pleasurable accessories, each kind brought in separately in the parts of the work; in a
dramatic form with incidents arousing pity and fear.
The definition clearly falls into two parts.
a)The first part tells us about the nature of tragedy, its object, manner, and medium of imitation.
b)The second part points out the function of tragedy.
The Action: Complete with a Beginning, Middle, and End

Action is the plot, consisting of the logical and inevitable sequence of incidents. The action must
be complete, which means that it must have a beginning, middle and end “The beginning is that which
does not itself come after anything, but after which some other thing does naturally exists or come to
pass.” In one sense, there is nothing that has a beginning or an end. There is a continuous causal
relationship between events.
The Magnitude
Besides being serious, the action must have a certain magnitude. It actually refers to the size. A
tragedy must of a correct length. It must not be so long that it cannot be grasped in its entirety without
confusion. Neither must it be so short that its parts cannot be comprehended properly. Aristotle compares
the tragic plot to a living organism in order to bring out the importance of the correct size. The plot or
action should be of such a size that it allows human memory to encompass the whole of it. It should, at the
same time, be long enough to permit the orderly and natural development in the change of fortune,
leading to the catastrophe. The parts and the whole should form a coherent, complete and intelligible
pattern.
Pleasureable accessories (verse/ embellishment)
Aristotle means verse and song by the term, ‘embellishment’. Tragedy uses different kinds of
‘embelishment’.
Verse is used for the dialogues. Chorus speaks in song. These add beauty and decor to tragedy, and their
end is to please the spectator or reader.
Function :
The Function of tragedy is to arouse Pity and fear.
The Formative elements of Tragedy:

Aristotle gives six formative elements of tragedy—Plot, Character, Thought, Diction Spectacle and Song.
a)Three of these i.e. Plot, Character, and Thought are internal aspects; three, of these i-e Diction,
Spectacle, and Song, are external aspects.
b)Diction and Song are concerned with the medium of imitation
c) Spectacle is concerned with the manner of imitation.
d)Plot, Character, and Thought are concerned with the objects of imitation.
1) Plot:
Aristotle considers plot to be the most important part of tragedy; indeed, it is the very soul of tragedy. Plot
is the arrangement of the incidents in a logical sequence. There are two types of plot.
a)simple plot: The plot having continuous movements and involving no violent changes is called simple
plot.
b) complex plot: the plot involving violent changes arising out of peripity and anagnorisis is calles
comples plot.
(Note: in tragedy, the change in the fortune of hero is called peripety or reversal of fortune……………. &
….in tragedy, the change from ignorance to knowledge is called recognition or anagnorisis)
DRAMATIC UNITY(Included in plot)
There is one Unity which Aristotle stresses upon—theUnity of Action. That the action of the
tragedy be a logical sequence and a coherent whole, directed towards a single end.
As regards the Unity of Time, Aristotle merely states a general observation that tragedies
tended to limit the time to a single revolution of sun or a little more.
The Unity of Place he does not mention.
2) Character:
The ideal tragic hero should not be perfectly good, nor utterly depraved. Ideal tragic hero should be the
mixture of virtue and human frailty.his misfortune should come from about an error of judgement,
and he must fall from a height of glorious position.
3)Thought:
Thought Is the intellectual element in tragedy and it is expressed through character.
4) Diction:
Thought is expressed through diction.
5)spectacle: the spectacle has more to do with stage effects acording to Aristotle. For
instance Pity and fear are produced through spectacle.(mtlb apk samny koi tragedy hvi ha r ap ne dekhi
ha to ye tragedy dekhny se apko khof r dukh hva ha na..to spectacle ka mtlb he dkhna ha).
6)Song : for comic relief …( tragedy mn audience k lyee.. thora stress kum krne k lyee songs
ka use kia jata ha through chorus)…………………..
NEXT TOPIC: 5 consistent 0r Quantitative Elements of

greek tragedy
Tragedy is divided into 5 consistent elements.
1. prologue :in greek tragedy , the part of the play that is
enacted before the chorus makes its first entry is called
prologue.
2.parados: in greek tragedy the part of the play which is
sing at the time when the chorus enters the stage is called
parados.
3. embolima : music interludes b/w the episodes in
gk.tragedy is called embolima.
4.exodos: in gk.tragedy final scene is called exodus.
5. stasimon: in Greek tragedy , stasimon is a stationary song, composed of strophes
and antistrophes and performed by the chorus in the orchestra.. The Greek word stasimon means
"place where the chorus dances".[(jb stage pe group mn chorus enact krta ha..to ik grup chorus ka
left side pe hta ha jse strophe khty r ik rite sie pe jst antistrophe khty hn..during dance wh apni
position chnge krty hn.lft waly rite pr r rite waly lft pe ajaty hn…)( ye topic Aristotle ki poetics
mn tfseel se nhi ha dscuss ..ye bs smjany k lyee btaya ha..poetics mn include nhi)
Next topic:
The four essentials of characterization
According to Aristotle, “Tragedy idealises—imitates men as better
(or higher)—and Comedy caricatures, i.e. shows men as worse (lower)
than they actually are.” The characters in a tragedy should be lifelike,
convincing, acceptable, consistent, reasonable, and impressive. They
should be people of better sort.
The four essentials of characterization as mentioned by Aristotle
Poetics are as follows :—
1. The Characters must be good.
2. The Characters must be appropriate.
3. They must be true to life.
4. The characters must be consistent.
1-A character is good, if his words and actions reveal that his purpose is good. Entirely
wicked characters, even when assigned minor roles, are unfit for tragedy. Wickedness may be
introduced only when required by the necessities of the plot. Wanton or wilful introduction of
wickedness must be avoided; and when introduced even wicked characters must be made good
in some respects. Wickedness must be mixed up with some good as in actual life.
2-The characters must be appropriate, that is, must be true to type or status. For example, a
woman must be shown as womanly and not manly, a slave must be given a character
appropriate to his status, and the king to his kingly status. Manliness would not be appropriate
in a woman, and vice versa. If the characters are taken from some known myth or story, they
must be true to tradition.
3-The characters must be true to life. They must have the virtues and weaknesses, joys and
sorrows, loves and hatreds, likes and dislikes, of average humanity. It is essential to arouse to
feeling of pity and fear in the spectators. If they are not true to life, they would not be able to
arouse fear and pity. The characters must be of an intermediate sort, mixtures of good and evil,
virtues and weaknesses, like us.
4-Fourthly, the characters must be consistent. They must be true to their own natures, and
their actions must be rational, not rash. There should be no sudden changes in character. If the
dramatist has to represent an inconsistent person, then he must be, ‘consistently inconsistent.’
And lastly, “The ideal there must be an intermediate kind of person, a man not primarily
virtuous or just, whose misfortune, however, is brought upon him not by vice or depravity, but
by an error of judgement.” Furthermore, he must be a man of’reputation and prosperity’.
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Aristotle concept of tragedy:

The Action: Complete with a Beginning, Middle, and End

The Formative elements of Tragedy:

NEXT TOPIC: 5 consistent 0r Quantitative Elements of

1. The Characters must be good.

2. The Characters must be appropriate.

3. They must be true to life.

4. The characters must be consistent.

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