Aristotelian Tragedy

from The Poetics

Aristotle’s Definition of Tragedy

Tragedy depicts the downfall of a basically good person through some fatal error or misjudgment, producing suffering and insight on the part of the protagonist and arousing pity and fear on the part of the audience.

Aristotle’s Definition of Tragedy

A true tragedy should evoke pity and fear on the part of the audience.

Pity and fear are the natural human responses to spectacles of pain and suffering – especially to the sort of pain and suffering that can strike anyone at any time. The effect is that we feel relief in the end through catharsis, and are purged of these feelings.

Aristotle’s Definition of Tragedy

The tragic hero must be essentially admirable and good.

The fall of a scoundrel or villain evokes applause rather than pity. Audiences cheer when the bad guy goes down. We feel compassion for someone we admire when that character is in a difficult situation. The nobler and more admirable the person is, the greater our anxiety or grief at his or her downfall.

Aristotle’s Definition of Tragedy

In a true tragedy, the hero’s demise must come as a result of some personal error or decision.

There is no such thing as an innocent victim in tragedy, nor can a genuinely tragic downfall every be purely a matter of blind accident or bad luck. The tragic hero must always bear at least some responsibility for his own doom.

Verisimilitude & Mimesis

Verisimilitude has its roots in both the Platonic and Aristotelian dramatic theory of mimesis, the imitation or representation of nature. For a piece of art to hold significance or persuasion for an audience, according to Plato and Aristotle, it must have grounding in reality. This idea laid the foundation for the evolution of mimesis into verisimilitude in the Middle Ages particularly in Italian heroic poetry.

• Verisimilitude at this time also became connected to another Aristotelian dramatic principle, decorum: the realistic union of style and subject. Poetic language of characters in a work of fiction as a result had to be appropriate in terms of the age, gender or race of the character.

Aristotle’s Definition of Tragedy

ANAGORISISTragic recognition or insight.

A moment of clairvoyant insight or understanding in the mind of the tragic hero as he suddenly comprehends the web of fate in which he is entangled.

Aristotle’s Definition of Tragedy

HAMARTIATragic error.

A fatal error or simple mistake on the part of the protagonist that eventually leads to the final catastrophe. A metaphor from archery, hamartia literally refers to a shot that misses the bullseye.

Aristotle’s Definition of Tragedy

HUBRISViolent transgression.

Hubris is the sort of insolent daring that gets a person in deep trouble. Sometimes translated as ‘false pride’, hubris is a daring overstepping of cultural codes or ethical boundaries.

Aristotle’s Definition of Tragedy

NEMESISRetribution.

The inevitable payback or cosmic punishment for acts of hubris.

Aristotle’s Definition of Tragedy

PERIPATEIAPlot reversal.

A pivotal or crucial action on the part of the protagonist that changes the situation from seemingly secure to vulnerable.

Aristotle’s Definition of Tragedy

CATHARSISTransformation through

transaction.A feeling of emotional purging on the

part of the audience during a tragedy. The audience feels pity and fear at first, only to feel relief and exhilaration at the end through catharsis.

Works Cited

www.depaul.edu/~dsimpson/tlove/comic-tragic.html