Outline of Aristotle's Theory of Tragedy

in the 
POETICS
Definition of Tragedy: “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; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to
accomplish its katharsis of such emotions. . . . Every Tragedy, therefore, must have
six parts, which parts determine its quality—namely, Plot, Characters, Diction,
Thought, Spectacle, Melody.” (translation by S. H. Butcher; click on the context links
to consult the full online text)

The treatise we call the Poetics was composed at least 50 years after the death
of Sophocles. Aristotle was a great admirer of Sophocles’ Oedipus the King,
considering it the perfect tragedy, and not surprisingly, his analysis fits that play most
perfectly. I shall therefore use this play to illustrate the following major parts of
Aristotle's analysis of tragedy as a literary genre.

Tragedy is the “imitation of an action” (mimesis) according to “the law of

probability or necessity.” Aristotle indicates that the medium of tragedy is drama,
not narrative; tragedy “shows” rather than “tells.” According to Aristotle, tragedy is
higher and more philosophical than history because history simply relates
what has happened while tragedy dramatizes what may happen, “what is possibile
according to the law of probability or necessity.” History thus deals with the
particular, and tragedy with the universal. Events that have happened may be due to
accident or coincidence; they may be particular to a specific situation and not be part
of a clear cause-and-effect chain. Therefore they have little relevance for others.
Tragedy, however, is rooted in the fundamental order of the universe; it creates a
cause-and-effect chain that clearly reveals what may happen at any time or place
because that is the way the world operates. Tragedy therefore arouses not only pity
but also fear, because the audience can envision themselves within this cause-and-
effect chain (context).

Plot is the “first principle,” the most important feature of tragedy. Aristotle

defines plot as “the arrangement of the incidents”: i.e., not the story itself but the way
the incidents are presented to the audience, the structure of the play. According to
Aristotle, tragedies where the outcome depends on a tightly constructed cause-and-
effect chain of actions are superior to those that depend primarily on the character and
personality of the protagonist. Plots that meet this criterion will have the following
qualities (context). See Freytag's Triangle for a diagram that illustrates Aristotle's
ideal plot structure, and Plot ofOedipus the King for an application of this diagram to
Sophocles’ play.

1. The plot must be “a whole,” with a beginning, middle, and end. The beginning,
called by modern critics the incentive moment, must start the cause-and-effect
chain but not be dependent on anything outside the compass of the play (i.e., its
causes are downplayed but its effects are stressed). The middle, or climax,
must be caused by earlier incidents and itself cause the incidents that follow it
(i.e., its causes and effects are stressed). The end, or resolution, must be caused
by the preceding events but not lead to other incidents outside the compass of
the play (i.e., its causes are stressed but its effects downplayed); the end should
therefore solve or resolve the problem created during the incentive moment
(context). Aristotle calls the cause-and-effect chain leading from the incentive
moment to the climax the “tying up” (desis), in modern terminology
the complication. He therefore terms the more rapid cause-and-effect chain
from the climax to the resolution the “unravelling” (lusis), in modern
terminology the dénouement (context).
2. The plot must be “complete,” having “unity of action.” By this Aristotle means
that the plot must be structurally self-contained, with the incidents bound
together by internal necessity, each action leading inevitably to the next with no
outside intervention, no deus ex machina (context). According to Aristotle, the
worst kinds of plots are “‘episodic,’ in which the episodes or acts succeed one
another without probable or necessary sequence”; the only thing that ties
together the events in such a plot is the fact that they happen to the same
person. Playwrights should exclude coincidences from their plots; if some
coincidence is required, it should “have an air of design,” i.e., seem to have a
fated connection to the events of the play (context). Similarly, the poet should
exclude the irrational or at least keep it “outside the scope of the tragedy,” i.e.,
reported rather than dramatized (context). While the poet cannot change the
myths that are the basis of his plots, he “ought to show invention of his own
and skillfully handle the traditional materials” to create unity of action in his
plot (context). Application to  Oedipus the King.
3. The plot must be “of a certain magnitude,” both quantitatively (length,
complexity) and qualitatively (“seriousness” and universal significance).
Aristotle argues that plots should not be too brief; the more incidents and
themes that the playwright can bring together in an organic unity, the greater
the artistic value and richness of the play. Also, the more universal and
 significant the meaning of the play, the more the playwright can catch and hold
the emotions of the audience, the better the play will be (context).
4. The plot may be either simple or complex, although complex is better. Simple
plots have only a “change of fortune” (catastrophe). Complex plots have both
“reversal of intention” (peripeteia) and “recognition” (anagnorisis) connected
with the catastrophe. Both peripeteia and anagnorisis turn upon surprise.
Aristotle explains that a peripeteia occurs when a character produces an effect
opposite to that which he intended to produce, while an anagnorisis “is a
change from ignorance to knowledge, producing love or hate between the
persons destined for good or bad fortune.” He argues that the best plots
combine these two as part of their cause-and-effect chain (i.e.,
the peripeteia leads directly to the anagnorisis); this in turns creates
the catastrophe, leading to the final “scene of suffering” (context). Application
to  Oedipus the King.

Character has the second place in importance. In a perfect tragedy, character will
support plot, i.e., personal motivations will be intricately connected parts of the cause-
and-effect chain of actions producing pity and fear in the audience. The protagonist
should be renowned and prosperous, so his change of fortune can be from good to
bad. This change “should come about as the result, not of vice, but of some great error
or frailty in a character.” Such a plot is most likely to generate pity and fear in the
audience, for “pity is aroused by unmerited misfortune, fear by the misfortune of a
man like ourselves.” The term Aristotle uses here, hamartia, often translated “tragic
flaw,” has been the subject of much debate. The meaning of the Greek word is closer
to “mistake” than to “flaw,” and I believe it is best interpreted in the context of what
Aristotle has to say about plot and “the law or probability or necessity.” In the ideal
tragedy, claims Aristotle, the protagonist will mistakenly bring about his own
downfall—not because he is sinful or morally weak, but because he does not know
enough. The role of the hamartia in tragedy comes not from its moral status but from
the inevitability of its consequences. Hence the peripeteia is really one or more self-
destructive actions taken in blindness, leading to results diametrically opposed to
those that were intended (often termed tragic irony), and the anagnorisis is the
gaining of the essential knowledge that was previously lacking (context). Application
to  Oedipus the King.

Characters in tragedy should have the following qualities (context):

1. “good or fine.” Aristotle relates this quality to moral purpose and says it is
relative to class: “Even a woman may be good, and also a slave, though the
woman may be said to be an inferior being, and the slave quite worthless.”
 2. “fitness of character” (true to type); e.g. valor is appropriate for a warrior but
not for a woman.
3. “true to life” (realistic)
4. “consistency” (true to themselves). Once a character's personality and
motivations are established, these should continue throughout the play.
5. “necessary or probable.” Characters must be logically constructed according to
“the law of probability or necessity” that governs the actions of the play.
6. “true to life and yet more beautiful” (idealized, ennobled).

Thought is third in importance, and is found “where something is proved to be

or not to be, or a general maxim is enunciated.” Aristotle says little about thought,
and most of what he has to say is associated with how speeches should reveal
character (context 1; context 2). However, we may assume that this category would
also include what we call the themes of a play.

Diction is fourth, and is “the expression of the meaning in words” which are
proper and appropriate to the plot, characters, and end of the tragedy. In this
category, Aristotle discusses the stylistic elements of tragedy; he is particularly
interested in metaphors: “But the greatest thing by far is to have a command of
metaphor; . . . it is the mark of genius, for to make good metaphors implies an eye for
resemblances” (context). Application to  Oedipus the King.

Song, or melody, is fifth, and is the musical element of the chorus. Aristotle argues
that the Chorus should be fully integrated into the play like an actor; choral odes
should not be “mere interludes,” but should contribute to the unity of the plot
(context).

Spectacle is last, for it is least connected with literature; “the production of

spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of
the poet.” Although Aristotle recognizes the emotional attraction of spectacle, he
argues that superior poets rely on the inner structure of the play rather than spectacle
to arouse pity and fear; those who rely heavily on spectacle “create a sense, not of the
terrible, but only of the monstrous” (context 1; context 2).
The end of the tragedy is a katharsis (purgation, cleansing) of the tragic emotions
of pity and fear. Katharsis is another Aristotelian term that has generated
considerable debate. The word means “purging,” and Aristotle seems to be employing
a medical metaphor—tragedy arouses the emotions of pity and fear in order to purge
away their excess, to reduce these passions to a healthy, balanced proportion. Aristotle
also talks of the “pleasure” that is proper to tragedy, apparently meaning the aesthetic
pleasure one gets from contemplating the pity and fear that are aroused through an
intricately constructed work of art (context).

We might profitably compare this view of Aristotle with that expressed by Susanne
Langer in our first reading (“Expressiveness in Art,” excerpt from Problems of Art:
Ten Philosophical Lectures, New York, Scribner, 1957):

A work of art presents feeling (in the broad sense I mentioned before, as everything
that can be felt) for our contemplation, making it visible or audible or in some way
perceivable through a symbol, not inferable from a symptom. Artistic form is
congruent with the dynamic forms of our direct sensuous, mental, and emotional life;
works of art . . . are images of feeling, that formulate it for our cognition. What is
artistically good is whatever articulates and presents feeling for our understanding.
(661-62)