Six Parts of Tragedy
Introduction:
Aristotle was born in 384 B.C.at Stagira. He came to Athens at the
age of seventeen and became a disciple of Plato. He stayed with his
master till his death in 347 B.C.The most important of his works
are:
(1) Dialogues,
(2) On Monarchy,
(3)Natural History
(4) Organon,or
The Instrument of correct Thinking
(5) Rhetoric
(6)
Logic,
(7)Educational Ethics,
(8) Nicomachean Ethics,
(9) Physics
(10)
Meta physics,
(11) Politics
(12) The Poetics.
Aristotle is the first
scientific literary critic and his literary criticism is largely
embodied in The Poetics which must have been penned by him after he
settled as teacher and investigator in Athens. It does not say much
about comedy, touches rather briefly on the epics, and the renowned
concept of “Catharsis” has not been fully developed or explained.
It is a lopsided work, concerned mainly with the Greek Philosopher’s
theory of tragedy.
· Definition of Tragedy:
After
this Preliminary discussion Aristotle comes to a consideration of the
nature and function of tragedy. He defines tragedy as:
“The
imitation of an action, serious, complete and of a certain magnitude,
in a language beautifies in different parts with different kinds of
embellishment, through action and not narration, and through scenes
of pity and fear bringing about the ‘catharsis’ of these
emotion.”
This definition has
wide implication. It falls naturally, into two parts. The first part
from “The imitation of an action” to, “And not narration”, is
concerned with tragedy as one of the imitative arts, and points out
its medium, object, and manner of imitation. The second part is
concerned with the function and emotional effect of tragedy.
· Six Parts of Tragedy:
Having examined the definition, nature and function of tragedy,
Aristotle comes to a consideration of its formative or constituent
parts. He enumerates six formative elements of a tragedy like, Plot,
Character, Diction, Thought, Spectacle, and Song (Melody).Two of
these parts relat to the medium of
Imitation, one to
the manner of imitation, and three to the objects of imitation.
1. The Plot:
While all the six
elements listed are essential to tragedy and have always been
employed by poets, the most important constituent of tragedy,
according to Aristotle, is Plot. “It is the soul of a tragedy.”
By Plot Aristotle means the arrangement of incidents. Incident mean
action and tragedy is an imitation of an action, both external and
internal. In a successful Plot, the various incidents are casually
related to each other and are also probable and necessary under the
circumstrances.The Plot should be so framed that it arouses the
emotions of pity and fear among the spectators which is the function
of tragedy. The best tragic plot is one which shows a good man, but
not a perfectly good one suffering as a conciqanceof some error or
fault, Hamartia on his own part.
·
Plot and
Character- A comparative study:
As
regards the comparative importance of plot and character. Aristotle
is quite emphatic that plot is more important than character. Justas
colour however beautiful have no meaning and significance without the
outline so, also the tragedy ‘has no soul’, no significance
without plot. It is plot, which like the painter’s outline gives
meaning and significance to character.
2. The Character:
The word
“Character”, as Humphrey House emphasises can be used in two
scenes. It may mean,(1) Dramatic personages or(2) The bent or
tendency, or habit of mind, which can be revealed only in what a
dramatic personages say or does. Character comes in as subsidiary to
the action. Hence, the incidents and the plot are the end of a
tragedy; and the end is the chief thing of all. By likeness Aristotle
may mean either of two things; first the characters must be life
like, they must be true representatives of actual human nature; or,
secondly, they must be like the traditional or historical personages
on whom they are modeled and whose name the bear.Ther must be no
sudden and unaccountable changes in character; in whatever the
character says or does the demands of necessity and probability must
be satisfied.
3. The Thought:
Thought is third in importance and is found where something is prove
to be, or a general maxim is enunciated. Aristotle say little about
thought, and most of what he has to say is associated with how
speeches should reveal character. However, we may assume that this
category would also include what we call the themes of a play.
Thought that is, the faculty of saying what is possible and pertinent
in given circumstances. “Thought is the intellectual element in a
tragedy.” And it is expressed through the speech of a character.
4. The Diction:
Fourth among the elements enumerated comes Diction; by which I mean,
as has been already said, “The expression of the meaning in words;
and its essence is the same both in verse and prose. In the modern
sense it means ‘choice of words.’ He meant by it use of various
kinds of verses fit for evoking emotions which the poet wanted to
evoke.
5. The Song(Melody):
Song or the Lyrical element is to be found in the choric parts of a
tragedy, it is the ‘embellishment’ spoken of earlier which
distinguishes the tragedy from the epic. The songs and dialogues sung
out loud would pin the attention of the spectators in the vast Greek
theater on the spectacle, spur their imagination, sustain the
illusion of reality and move them to tears and transport.
6. The Spectacle:
It
is one of the sources of the pleasures of tragedy. The spectacle or
the scenic effects have more to do with stagecraft than with the
writing of poetry, and hence Aristotle is of the view that the
dramatist must depend for his effects on his own powers, rather than
on spectacle. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends
more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet.
There can be no worse enemy of the art of the dramatist, than the
theater manager, and relince on the theatrical and the sensational
has spoiled many an excellent play.
Conclusion:
All these has been the discussion if Aristotle’s concept of
tragedy. In every kind of representational literature plot has its
own important place, characters are bound to be there though they may
be of different types; it will have a definite central thought
expressed in appropriate diction and technique; finally, it will have
its own end or purpose in place of catharsis. Similarly, they have
their own thought, way of presentation and spectacle.
