Aristotle’s thoughts on tragedy and literature

Aristotle (384-322 BC) outlined his thoughts on tragedy in his work “Poetics.” He regarded tragedy as an art form evoking pity and fear, leading the audience to gain emotional resilience and wisdom. The process of gaining resilience and wisdom from tragedy watched on stage is called “catharsis.” The key plot element in a tragedy is that the hero (who is essentially virtuous) ends up destroying his life due to a judgement error. Aristotle considered the plot structure crucial for delivering the desired aesthetic effect on stage. In Ancient Athens, theatre was the primary means of literary expression. “Poetics” gives advice on how to maximise the literary effect and catharsis. According to Aristotle, a playwright can raise the aesthetic effect of his works if he commits to unity of action, unity of time, and unity of place. Triple unity makes theatre plays easy to grasp for the audience. “Unity of action” means that a play should have a cohesive, single plot. Aristotle was against sub-plots because they create confusion in the audience. Unless sub-plots are strictly needed to explain the main action, Aristotle asked to remove them. “Unity of time” means that the events in the play should all take place in a short period. Preferably, all events should take place in no longer than twenty-four hours. If you compress the actions on stage, the story becomes easier to understand for the audience. “Unity of place” means that the actions on stage should take place in a single location or in locations that are closely linked. Ancient Greek stages did not allow for change of settings, and this explains Aristotle’s preference for strict unity of place. In modern theatre, where it is technically possible to change settings quickly, and in novels and movies, there is no need to stick to Aristotle’s requirements. Unity of action, unity of time, and unity of place play a minor role in modern literature. Catharsis is no longer the main purpose of literary works. If authors choose to stick to the Aristotelian framework, their plot will revolve around the hero’s moral choices and his struggle to achieve his goals. First-class literature remains loyal to Aristotelian paradigms but prefers to have its heroes win. Readers, television-watchers and movie-goers definitely prefer to see the hero triumph over adversity and attain happiness. The hero’s journey is a proven pattern in many Hollywood’s successful movies. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/aristotles-thoughts-on-tragedy-and-literature/