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Aristotle's Poetics

Aristotle's Poetics c. 335 BCE is the earliest surviving work of dramatic theory and the first extant philosophical treatise to focus on literary theory

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Aristotle's Poetics

  1. 1. POETICS - Aristotle Prepared by Beula Merlin
  2. 2.  Aristotle is the great disciple of Plato.  Dante called him “ the master of those who know”.  It was he took up the challenge of Plato at the end of Republic .  Poetry was not only pleasant , but also useful for man and society.  The poetics is a systematic exposition of the theory and practice of poetry.  The poetics is an epoch-making work.  Poetic was published in about 335 B.C INTRODUCTION
  3. 3. Introductory remarks on poetry and its classification. Tragedy. Poetic diction. Narrative poetry and Tragedy . Epic is compared with Tragedy. Objections are answered. Poetics is divided into six parts
  4. 4. There are three ways of imitation:- Means or medium of imitation – sound, form, color. Objects of imitation – men in action. Manner of imitation –narrative and dramatic. ARISTOTLE AND THEORY OF IMITATION
  5. 5.  According to Aristotle, “Tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious, complete and of a certain magnitude, in a language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, each kind brought separately in separate parts of the work, in the form of action and not in the narrative form, with incidents arousing fear and pity and wherewith to accomplish the Catharsis of such emotions”. TRAGEDY: DEFINITION
  6. 6. Character Plot Thought Diction and style Song or melody Spectacle or stage effect FORMATIVE PARTS OF TRAGEDY
  7. 7. Characters should be good. Characters should be appropriate. Characters should be true to life. Characters should be consistent. CHARACTER
  8. 8. Plot should be whole. It should have a magnitude. Organic unity. Probability and Necessity. Willing suspension of disbelief. PLOT
  9. 9. Peripetia (Reversal). Anagnorisis (Discovery). Suffering . FORMATIVE ELEMENTS OF PLOT
  10. 10. The ways with which thought can employed are ; Proof and refutation. Production of emotional effects. Introduction of the importance or signification of anything. THOUGHT
  11. 11. Diction is the choice and arrangement of words and image in a literary composition. According to Aristotle a poet may use six type of words ; 1. Current ordinary terms. 2. Foreign terms borrowed or dialects. 3. Metaphors 4. Ornamental Periphrasis 5. Invented words. 6. Not invented, but made new lengthening or shortening. DICTION AND STYLE
  12. 12. Songs is the pleasurable addition to a play. In a tragedy, song is provided by the Chorus. The quantitative sections of tragedy are ; Prologue Choric song Episode Exode SONGS OR MELODY
  13. 13. Spectacle is the mode of imitation by which the story is presented on a stage before an audience. It is the sight of disaster and Aristotle calls this spectacle. Spectacle can raise fear and pity in the spectator. SPECTACLE OR STAGE EFFECT
  14. 14.  Unity of plot in epic.  Contrast between epic and tragedy.  Superiority of tragedy over epic.  Tragedy is possible without character but not without plot.  Epic is of four types : simple and complex, epic of character, epic of suffering.  Tragedy is of four types : The complex tragedy, the tragedy of suffering, the tragedy of character, the tragedy of spectacle. EPIC AND TRAGEDY