Bridge Course: Wordsworth's Preface to Lyrical Ballads

PREFACE TO LYRICAL BALLAD

This blog is in response to the task of a bridge course about the Wordsworth’s Preface to Lyrical Ballads given by Dr Dilip Baradsir. In this blog I am sharing my understanding about the preface to lyrical ballads and the topics discussed by William Wordsworth in the preface along with how the romantic age came into existence.

Romantic Age:

Romantic period begins exactly after the neoclassical period with the publication of lyrical ballads combined work of William Wordsworth and S.T. Coleridge in 1798. Lyrical ballads was considered to be the prominent work of romantic period. It was published in four editions and its editions are discussed in my presentation which I have shared below.

Lyrical ballad from Jheel Barad

Difference in Romanticism and Classicism:

What is the basic difference between the poetic creed of 'Classicism' and 'Romanticism'?

We would start with the discussion of the difference between classicism and romanticism. Romanticism and classism and not just to the age or period of English literature but there are two different ideologies, two different Schools of thoughts or techniques of writing certain things. It is not about the difference of ideology but it also has a difference in their approach to life and also in their approach to look towards the art and world.

Romanticism	Classicism
imagination	intellectuality
No restraints	restraints
medievalism	Classical masters
Rustic/ countryside life	City dwellers
Subjectivity	Objectivity

Here we see the table which shows the difference between classicism and romanticism. intellect was the guiding principle of classism while imagination was the guiding principle in romanticism. restraint was the ruling word in neoclassical while in romanticism they believed in liberty and freedom to express. In the Neo classical age writers relied on the classical Masters like Aristotle, Plato, Socrates for inspiration while in the romantic age the writers turned towards medievalism for inspiration. Classism represented urban life while romanticism represented rustic countryside life and also the class was more about objectivity, romanticism was basically about subjectivity.

Romanticism was influenced from:

Romanticism was in its full swing when Wordsworth and Coleridge started writing. The beginning of this new ideology was propelled by the French Revolution which was the agitation for the abolishment of the monarchy. This revolution was about the rights and equality of the common people. The three main watchwords of the French Revolution work fraternity, equality and liberty. Writers were also greatly influenced by it and desired to write with a free will, individual liberty and equality. It was a kind of Democratization of the society. After the French Revolution the common man was gaining its prominence, women were also aspiring, people were asking for their rights, new things were happening, women were also fighting for their equal rights. In this period Mary Wollstonecraft wrote ‘ A Vindication of the Rights of Women’ (1792)

We do find the Law of oscillation i.e. pendulum from Elizabeth and age to classism and from classism to romanticism, oscillation is a reactionary process. It is not a derogatory term. It seems like a slow and gradual development of society from the time of the Chaucer to the 19th or 20th century. The gradual development of the society to democratic society began from the time of Chaucer, the Church gradually started losing its hold on society, monarchy gradually started coming up; Commonwealth rule was the beginning of a new society where people had on voice. We do also find Romanticism in the Elizabethan age but it is different from the age of Wordsworth. In the Elizabethan age we found the place for imagination, there was nationalism, no classical rules were followed but it was different from the age of Wordsworth.

Preface to Lyrical Ballads:

In general preface is an introduction to a book, typically stating its subject, scope, or aims. William Wordsworth preface to the lyrical ballads in the Second Edition of lyrical ballads which was published in 1800 with the name of William Wordsworth. The reason behind writing the princes was to inform the people the aim behind writing the Preface to lyrical ballad was to inform the people the aim behind writing the lyrical Ballad. He wrote in the preface that it is Different kind of poetry from the poetry written in the neoclassical he was announcing the advent of new poetry. He also bought an advertisement in the first edition of the lyrical ballads published in 1798 declaring that it is an experiment of using a conversation language of middle class and the lower class people in poetry.

Reason to write preface:

We interpret that, it was necessary for him to give his idea of the process of composition of the poetry that he has initiated because he was given a concrete shape to his idea of poetry. If he would have not given us the preface, introduction to his poetry then we might have misunderstood or would have understood his ideas in a different context. He gives the subject matter of his poetry that it should have rustic life or countryside life. Imagine if Wordsworth had not given all the introduction of his poetry. We read the poem of William William Wordsworth and we don't understand the idea behind it and the reasons for writing this poem would have been given after the publication of the poem. We would feel that these are the excuses of the writer so to clear his idea of poetry he wrote the preface in the beginning was necessary.

In a preface to lyrical ballads William Wordsworth talks about what is poet, poem and poetic diction which we will discuss in detail.

Poet:

Wordsworth says that poets can create something even if it is not existing. The preface asked the question ‘what is a poet’ and inspite of ‘who is poet’.

‘He is a man speaking to men: a man, it is true, endued with more lively sensibility, more enthusiasm and tenderness, who has a greater knowledge of human nature, and a more comprehensive soul, than are supposed to be common among mankind; a man pleased with his own passions and volitions, and who rejoices more than other men in the spirit of life that is in him; delighting to contemplate similar volitions and passions as manifested in the goings-on of the Universe, and habitually impelled to create them where he does not find them.’

The above is the definition given in the preface which says a Poet is such a human being who is more in degree, a far better human being than ordinary man. A romantic poet has an inherent capability of imagination and writing poetry. He has a greater knowledge of human culture, he has a more comprehensive soul than other human beings and he rejoices more than other men in the spirit of life he has a habit of creating.

We can also compare it in a contemporary type it must have happened with you that when we are standing in a group of a people and someone introduces and artist of any field saying that he is an artist the reaction of the people changes that shows the artist has some different abilities some different power that is not present in everyone which impresses others and the same thing is said by William Wordsworth in the preface of lyrical ballads while talking about a poet.

Poem:

What is poetry? 

OR 

Discuss 'Daffodils - I wandered lonely as a cloud' with reference to Wordsworth's poetic creed.

Wordsworth defines the poem in his preface to lyrical ballads which is as below :

‘Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility’

Definition says that poetry is overflowing with the feelings which a poet has already captured in his mind or heart. If we try to understand this definition in a practical way then It means that when a poet moves towards nature or any specific place, he enjoys nature and collects the feeling that he gets at that place. Then a poet sits in his free time, in tranquility, in rest and remembers the feeling he got during that time and then refines the words and writes the poem. The aim of Wordsworth’s poem was to write a poem in a conversation language but a poem cannot be written in the words which comes in the mind directly as in the regular life we use the words which are vulgar or can be said as a bad words so the poem should be in a simple words but in a refined word.

We would understand the definition of the poem by the example of Wordsworth's poem Daffodils. Daffodils was the poem published in 1804; the poem is in 4 stanzas; the first three stanzas of the poet are in past tense while the last stanza is in present tense.

‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’

‘They stretched in never-ending line’

‘For oft, when on my couch I lie’

After reading the whole poem we can imagine a poet reclining on the couch and recollecting his nature walk which usually the lake poets used to take, there he must have seen the spread of Daffodils and in his inward eyes, must have captured that and at present he is sitting in his pensive and the vacant mood, recollecting the view of Daffodils which he had during his nature walk. Here the past tense in the first three stanzas of the poem and the present tense in the last stanza of the poem clearly justifies that definition of the poem in the wordsworth's poem. The present tense of the last stanza depicts that the poet in his free time is collecting his memory about Daffodils and is writing the poem on Daffodils.

Poetic Diction:

What is poetic diction? Which sort of poetic diction is suggested by Wordsworth in his Preface?

In general, Poetic diction means the choice of words. Poetic diction means choice of words which lends a unique style for each individual poet or author. The writing style of William Wordsworth or of romantic poets is completely different from the poets or writers of The neoclassical age. In Preface William Wordsworth mentions poetic diction which seems like attacking the writing style of neoclassical writers. He believed that speech of poetry should be organic, use of diction, ornamental language was highly unnecessary which was done in the neoclassical period. This type of writing is only understood by the city dwellers because there are more educational institutes in the city. As a result he proposes to write a poem in a language used by real men.

The controversy was raised by his one time go to friend S.T. Coleridge in ‘Biographia Literaria’ in an extensive selection of Coleridge’s disagreement with his poetic diction. He questioned what Wordsworth meant by real men? Aren't the people living in the city real men?

Controversy is explained in detail in this video:

Conclusion:

After Dryden, Wordsworth offered a proper definition, as Aristotle gave of tragedy Dryden of Play and Wordsworth of Poetry. As the romantic age was dominated by poetry. In conclusion we can say that Wordsworth overall tried to propose that real poetry is what comes from the heart. Imagination is greater than intellectuality; it helps to create art which is not even existing.

To read above topics in detail CLICK HERE

I hope my blog was useful to you thanks for visiting.

[words- 1818]

Bridge course: The Dramatic Poesy

Dryden's The Dramatic Poesie

This blog is in response to the task given by Dr. Dilip Barad sir. In this blog I am sharing my own understanding about Dryden's The Dramatic Poesy.

What is Dramatic Poesy?

In 1668, Dryden published Essay Of Dramatic Poesie, an Essay, a leisurely discussion between four contemporary writers of whom Dryden (as Neander) is one. This work is a defense of English drama against the champions of both ancient Classical drama and the Neoclassical French theater; it is also an attempt to discover general principles of dramatic criticism and attempts to justify drama as a legitimate form of poetry.

John Dryden:

Dryden was the prominent English critic, poet, translator and playwright. He dominated the Literature of Restoration age and was the representative writer of the Restoration age. This age was also known as ‘Age of Dryden.’

He was known as ‘Father of English Criticism’, and it was coined by Dr. Samuel Johnson.

Who is known as father? The one who originates or propagates in a particular manner. And Dryden was the one who gave a new way or idea about English Criticism. Sir Philip Sidney, before Dryden, considered himself to be a critic but comparing it to Dryden we realize that he has done no critic work. After Aristotle Dryden is the one who gave a well formed definition of the play.

Dryden as Neoclassical critic:

Dryden is known as a critique of neoclassical. As we see, why is the 18th century known as neo- classical? We find that because the writers of that period followed or were inspired by classic writers like Horace or Virgil. And We find influences of Classical writers like Aristotle and Longinus on Dryden. He is not telling that he is giving definition but it is description and this is influence of Aristotle, getting influenced by Aristotle’s definition. In this sense he is carrying classical/ ancient tradition.

Here we saw how he is similar to classic writers now we will see how he differs from classic writers.

Dryden differing from classical writers:

If we divide the definition of play in Three parts.

1. A just and lively image of human nature
2. Representing its passions and humors, and the changes of fortune to which it is subject
3. For the delight and instruction of making.

Plato says that poetry is mere copy, secondhand imitation. Still Dryden, contracting to Plato uses the word ‘image’ in his definition and also clarifies it to be ‘lively’. We see that this drags Dryden away from Plato.

Adjacently, Aristotle in his definition of tragedy ends with the therapeutic word ‘Catharsis’ while Dryden ends with ‘Delight and instruction’ of mankind. Dryden gives emphasis on both delight and instruction while Aristotle gives emphasis on purification of feelings. Dryden makes a difference and says it represents ‘Life as it is, patience and humor are not static; it changes with the passing of time.’ So in the definition of Dryden we can see a touch of realism which is different from classical tradition.

Definition of Play by Dryden:

“ A play ought to be a just and lively image of human nature, representing its passion and humors, and the change of fortune to which it is subject, for the delight and instruction of mankind”.

About Dramatic Poesy:

Dramatic Poesy is an essay written in the form of Conversation between four people; Eugenius (Charles Sackville), Crites (Sir Robert Howard), Lisideius (Sir Charles Sedley) and Neander ( John Dryden). The Dramatic poesy deals with several topics like: Ancient vs moderns, Unities, French and English drama and Separation of tragedy and comedy vs tragicomedy. We will discuss this topic briefly in a further blog. Through dialogues they are showing their favor and opposition on various topics.

Concept of Three unities:

In ‘The Essay of Dramatic Poesy’, the concept of unities is shown through the discussion among Crites, Eugenius and Neander.

Crites: Crites talk in favor of the three unities and advocate the three unities by saying that ancient plays, for example the French place completely followed the three Unity which made place more effective and good play. He says that the unity of time helps to imitate nature well, as well as the unity of action allows us to understand the play smoothly. If we adopt two actions in the play it destroys its unity.

Lisideius also agrees with Crites and supports that ancient dramatists are Superior as they followed the unities.

Neander, who is the voice of Dryden, gave his balanced judgment, that plays which fulfill conditions are good whether they follow unities or not. He disapproves of ancient and French plays as they follow Unity by force and make their play simple and narrow their own imagination. Besides, they sacrificed beauty by following the unity. Defending the English play he gives an example of William Shakespeare he says that he does not follow the unities in his play but his play has a variety of plot. He has grown his Individual ability, he has his own genius. The basic aim of the play is to provide delight to the audience and William Shakespeare an English dramatist is able to do this through his wisdom without observing any dramatic Unities.

Ancient vs Modern Playwright:

Crites argues in favor of the ancients: they established the unities; dramatic rules were spelled out by Aristotle. The superiority of the Ancients is established by the very fact that the Moderns simply imitate them, and build on the foundations laid by them. He also claims that he established three units, which are employed by both French and English playwrights such as Ben Jonson. As a result, they are affected by the ancients.

Eugenius favors the moderns over the ancients, arguing that the moderns exceed the ancients because of having learned and profited from their example. he adds that by their own labor the Moderns have added to what they have gained from them, with the result that they now excel them in many ways. In their comedies, no doubt they introduce a few scenes of tenderness but, then, their lovers talk very little. They wrote without any definite plan and when they could write a good play their success was more a matter of chance and good fortune than of ability.

But their themes are lust, cruelty, murder, and bloodshed, which instead of arousing admiration and pity arouse “horror and terror”. Instead of punishing vice and rewarding virtue, they have often shown a prosperous wickedness, and an unhappy piety. Instead of providing the necessary information to the audience through dialogues the Ancients often do so through monologues. Horace himself has recommended this rule, but the Ancients violated it frequently.

Mixture of tragedy and comedy:

Dryden's view on Tragi-comedy clearly brings out his liberal classicism, greatness and cleverness as a person. Mixing the sad and the comic provides dramatic relief. The real test of excellence is whether dramas have been (accomplished or gained with effort) by the English drama.

Verse controversy:

Crites objects to rhyme in plays

"Since no man without premeditation speaks in rhyme, neither ought he to do it on the stage."

He cites Aristotle as saying that it is, "best to write tragedy in that kind of verse . . . which is nearest prose" as a justification for banishing rhyme from drama in favor of blank verse. Even though blank verse lines are no more spontaneous than are rhymed lines, they are still to be preferred because they are nearest nature: Rhyme is incapable of expressing the greatest thought naturally, and the lowest it cannot with any grace: for what is more unbefitting the majesty of verse, than to call a servant, or bid a door be shut in rhyme?

Neander: defending it Neander says that the word written or chosen should be natural. Rhyme itself would look natural if it goes through runoff lines. Blank Verse is no verse at all. It is simply poetic prose. Tragedy is a serious play representing nature exalted to its highest pitch; rhyme being the noblest kind of verse is suited to it, and not to comedy. He adds a reason for favoring the rhyme as it adds pleasure to poetry. Which can easily provide delight which is the main aim of plays.

Conclusion:

The dramatic poesy has successfully explained the merits and demerits of English and French drama. Also explained that it is not necessary to follow the rules and conventions, more delightful work can be done by coming out of bondages.

Further I have answered the worksheet questions.

Do you see any difference between Aristotle's definition of Tragedy and Dryden's definition of Play?

Yes there seems a vast difference between Aristotle's definition of tragedy and guidance definition of the play.

Aristotle's definition of tragedy states that ‘tragedy is an imitation of an action’ that means according to the Plato the first imitation of the original idea ( truth). While the definition of play by Dryden clearly states that it is an image, the word image is directly used in the definition, In terms of Plato it is secondhand imitation.

The other difference we see is in Aristotle's definition of tragedy the action is ‘serious and complete in itself’ While in Dryden’s definition of the play the image is subjected to be ‘lively’ which shows Dryden is close to realism.

Also Aristotle's definition of tragedy ends with the therapeutic word ‘catharsis’ Aristotle emphasis on purification of feeling. While Dryden's emphasis is on delight and instruction, According to him delight should be the major outcome of a literary work and instructions is secondary. He focuses on both delight and instruction while Aristotle focuses on catharsis.

If you are supposed to give your personal predilection, would you be on the side of the Ancient or the Modern? Please give reasons.

We cannot deny the fact that modern, young society is standing on the shoulders of ancient, elderly society. They are the pillars of society so it is obvious that being on the side of the ancient is not wrong. But we should not forget that when we are standing on the shoulders we can see far things clearly. So here one can argue that younger people who are on the shoulders of elderly society are more clear in their views as they are able to see things at a distance, they are able to predict the future in a better way than elderly people.

It's not wrong in following the ancient ideas the one who is following the ancient ideas is not an orthodox person but we should also remember that a modern person has the power of both has the ideas of both ancient and the modern era, by combining the two ancient and the modern ideas he would be he is able to create something new which is more strong than the ideas created or came from the ancient time. So I personally would go on the side of the modern time or Modern era as it is stronger than the ancient period as it has strong pillars and strong ideas of ancient time.

What would be your preference so far as poetic or prosaic dialogues are concerned in the play?

The poetic is in relation to the poetry while Why is a descriptive writing in comparison of both poetry tends to be more expensive as it has a rhythm, rhyme and it has a different feel of a sound which we can listen and it gives pleasure to us why throws is very much straight forward and it has no decoration in the its language it contains lines.

If you look at the language of Shakespeare and old English it becomes difficult for us to even understand a poetic dialogue. At this time we feel that prosaic dialogue is better than poetic dialogue.

With my personal preference, I think poetic dialogue is more effective as it has a reader and writer and the rhythm and life enables us to stick to see and it makes a greater effect on our mind for example “And I will come again, my luve, Though it were ten thousand mile.” Is a line from the poem Red Red Rose if the same thing is written in a project way ‘I will come even after I am ten thousand miles away.’ The poetic lines will be easily remembered by us while we would need to read twice or thrice to project life so my personal preference is too poetic dialogue in simple language.

Also if you look at the language of Shakespeare and old English it becomes difficult for us even to understand a poetic dialogue. At this time we feel that prosaic dialogue is better than poetic dialogue.

I hope this blog is useful to you. Thank you for visiting.

[words- 2000]

Worksheet: Aristotle's Poetics

Worksheet

This blog is in response to the questions given in blogspot based on Aristotle's Poetics by Dr. Dilip Barad sir. I have already published a blog on Aristotle’s Poetics.

How far do you agree with Plato’s objection to freedom of expression and artistic liberty enjoyed by creative writers? Name the texts (novels, plays, poems, movies, TV soaps etc. which can be rightfully objected to and banned with reference to Plato’s objections).

I have written another blog on Aristotle’s Poetics in which I have written about Plato's objections and also defense or Aristotle to it. To read the blog please CLICK HERE.

Plato had an objection that the literary writers are writing their work which are baseless in terms of morals, ethics and educational point of view. The writers of that time considered god or divine power to be a part of themselves, someone who is from common human beings. Plato objected to it saying God should remain better than human beings but poets depict them the same as human or lesser than human beings. The main three objections Plato had against artistic/ literary work were not being ethical, Philosophical and pragmatic.

Platonism supported to stop the literary writing because it was against ethics and moral it was derogating nature, god.

Similarly in contemporary times we find many movies, which talk about the sensible topics and the topics not acceptable by the society and so they are not being released. We can say that we are still supporting Platonism. How? We are not ready to accept any literary work which is against us or our ethics. Still society as Plato is not able to understand that literature, any form of literature has its own freedom to write or make, we can't stop writers or directors from doing their work.

Literature is all about imagination, changes can be made by the creator as they wish to. If we look at the recent incident of the Padmavat movie, It was stopped from being released on the basis of culture. People opposed it but it's difficult to understand for the society that it has historical references and it has not claimed to be a true story of a queen.

Dazed in Doon (2010), depicted the story of a boy who is studying at the prestigious Doon School and the life he leads there. The school did not find it amusing to say the least and believed that it spoiled the name and heritage of the school and hence got the film stalled. The reason for school’s insecurity might be society, because people start relating to it; they don't realize that it's a movie, a literary form which has freedom of imagination.

Unfreedom (2015) was a modern-day thriller which talks about a lesbian love story entangled within an Islamic terrorism-related angle. Bringing together two 'taboos' in one movie. But it was banned as the society is not mature enough to see the reality of the world. People are still with the orthodox mindset.

A brief note on the tragedies which I studied in my B.A. Programme, whether they are following the Aristotelian literary conditions or not.

The tragedies I studied in my BA programme are:

• All My Sons- Arthur Miller
• Tughlaq- Girish Karnad
• Othello- William Shakespeare
• The Hairy Ape- Eugene O'Neill                          

Tragedies	Protagonist	Hamartia/ Tragic flaw
All my Sons	Joe	Pride, wish to earn moe
Tughlaq	Muhammad Tughlaq	idealism
Othello	Othello	jealousy
The Hairy Ape	Yank	Excessive pride in his dominant nature

Othello an Aristotelian Literary conditions:

As a playwright, Shakespeare used Aristotle’s guidelines to tragedy when writing Othello. The play that was created revolved around the tragic hero, Othello, whose tragic flaw transformed him from a nobleman into a destructive creature, which would inevitably bring him to his downfall. This transformation follows an organic movement of the complex plot from the beginning, middle, to the end of the drama while keeping the tragic hero consistent and also real. As the play moves on the audience feels pity for the tragic hero as well as fear for themselves as they watch the event taking place on stage. Othello can be seen as one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, because it follows the guidelines set up by Aristotle’s Poetics. But Shakespeare didn’t write strictly Aristotelian tragedies. He ignored the unities of time, place, and action. The action of his plays takes place over time longer than a day, in more than one place, and often with more than one plot.

All My Sons:

Arthur Miller’s ‘All My Sons' is one of the texts which follows a tradition of the Aristotelian Tragedy as the tragic hero of the play; Joe Keller undergoes every major characteristic that a tragic hero of Aristotle faces. Like an Aristotelian tragic hero- he is true to life, he is neither a completely virtuous man nor a complete wicked but a representative of normal human beings. He faces downfall due to his ambition and commits suicided at the end. His hamartia was sending faulty oxygen cylinders for the soldiers in the war. We do feel catharsis with the characters of ‘All my sons’, especially pity on the family of Joe after the death of Joe. All my Sons is similar to Aristotelian tragedy but it cannot be an Aristotelian tragedy.

The Hairy Ape:

The Hairy ape can be considered a tragedy as the protagonist is having a downfall but it can not be considered as a fall due to a tragic flaw. Also according to the definition of the tragic hero, It does not have a hero of a higher rank; the tragedy is of a layman who suffers from a sense of belonging in the modern world. he faces conflict with his surroundings and his insult by a wealthy lady Mildred Douglas turns Yank avenge upon her. He feels alienated and an outsider, especially when he is compared with an ape and he is called a ‘hairy ape’. He is constantly reminded that he ‘does not belong’. The subtitle ‘A comedy of Ancient and Modern World’ is a satirical title by Eugene O’Neill which fails to arouse pity and fear and thus catharsis is not as effective as the Aristotelian Tragedy. So it can be considered that “The Hairy Ape” does not follow Aristotelian literary tradition.

Here I have written about my understanding. If you find any changes to be done or queries please do comment.

[words- 1064]

Bridge course: Aristotle's Poetics

Aristotle's Poetics

This blog is in response to the understanding of Bridge course: Aristotle’s poetics allotted by Dr. Dilip Barad sir. In this blog I am sharing my understanding about Aristotle’s Poetics.

Aristotle

Aristotle ( 384 - 322 B.C.E.) was a Greek philosopher and polymath ( a person of wide learning and great knowledge) of the ancient period in Ancient Greece. He was a student of Philosopher Plato in the Academy of Athens for 20 years. His writings include many Subjects including Physics, Biology, zoology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, poetry, theater, music, rhetoric, psychology, linguistics, economics, politics, methodology, zoology, and government. After the death of Plato he went to teach the art of ruling to 13 years old boy Alexander and returned after he became king. He established his own school and Later died in 322 BCE.

What is Aristotle’s Poetics?

Aristotle's Poetics is the only realist surviving work of Dramatic theory. It is a critical look at poetry and the effect it has on those who consume it. It is considered to be the great work of literary criticism. In this Aristotle is talking about three genres of literature, tragedy, comedy and epic.

Aristotle starts with types of poetry, its variety and what is good poetry. Here he writes that, “Poetry is an art of Imitation.” It is said that he has also written a book like this on Comedy but it is lost. Poetics also talk about Comedy but more focuses on Tragedy. In Poetics Aristotle majorly focuses on Tragedy and Epic Poems and the difference between them. Poetics is a defense to Plato’s ‘Theory of Mimesis (imitation)’, he shows his disagreement to Plato's objections about poets and poetry.

Plato’s charges on poetry and objections against poets

Teacher of Aristotle, Plato (429?- 347 BCE) wrote a book ‘The Republic’ in which he wrote that poets and poetry contribute nothing to the nation and they are meaning less. Plato had several charges over Poets: They are imitators, immoral and liars. He also had objections against poets and they were- Gods are represented in a false manner. God should remain better than human beings but poets depict them the same as human or lesser than human beings. According to Plato, the real world is an unchanging world and it was not pardonable by him that human poets depict it as a physical, mortal or a changing world. According to Plato, human agency had no control on that reality.

Plato believed that art/ poetry is ‘twice removal of reality.'

Aristotle’s defense to Plato-

Agreement

First of all Aristotle agrees with Plato calling the 'Poet an imitator'.

According to Aristotle poet is imitator of one of the three objectives:

1. Things as they were/are.
2. Things as they are said/ thought to be.
3. Things as they ought to be.  

Poet imitate what is past or present what is commonly believed and is ideal

Disagreement-

Theory of Mimesis (Imitation):

Plato- Plato believed that poets' imitation is twice removal of reality and so it is unreal. According to Plato the art deals with illusion, it is imitation of an imitation. He explained this with the idea of a chair. He said that when a person gets an idea of a chair then that Idea is original, truth which is essential; When the idea is bought in practical terms, that is when a chair is made a physical one it is the first copy of the original, that is idea. It means it is the first imitation, later this imitation, this first copy is made by other companies or when the painter paints, It is an imitation of imitation. Therefore it is twice an imitation of the original Idea the chair and it is completely different from the original idea, it is not the truth.

Aristotle- Aristotle says that imitation is an instinct that is born in human beings. It derives natural pleasure which helps human beings to learn new things. For example, a child learns to speak and write from imitation of an elder, when (a poet) another instinct helps him to develop as a poet and that instinct is of harmony and rhythm. He explained the importance of imitation.

Aristotle thought of giving another interpretation of mimesis that is poetry is not copying but making. Along with it he gave the difference between poetry and history. Poetry and History does not differ only in the terms of medium. Poetry relates with what ought/ may have happened (i.e. ideal), it is expressed in the universal. History is related with what has happened and it relates with a particular situation. Poetry is more philosophical and higher than history.

Function of poetry:

Plato- According to Plato, art is bad because it does not inspire virtue and doesn't teach any morality. As a moralist Plato thought that poetry is immoral. As a philosopher he thought poetry is based on falsehood, philosophy is better than poetry as philosophy deals with the idea of truth and poetry deals with what appears (illusion). Truth of philosophy is more important than the falsehood of poetry. And also argued that poetry had no educational standpoint. He felt that poetry has no healthy function.

Aristotle- Aristotle disagreed with this point of view by saying that ‘art is to provide aesthetic delight, communicable expression, express emotions and represent life.’ The function of the art is to provide aesthetic sense and the function of providing moral teaching is ethics. True art of a good artist is the one which provides aesthetic sense and the art which doesn't provide aesthetic sense is of a bad artist. The moral nature/ function of poetry is to please. However, teaching is an add on. It is superior to another pleasure because it teaches Civic morality.

Theory of Catharsis:

Plato- Plato believed that art/ poetry appeals to the inferior part of the soul that is the emotional coward part. He felt that it is needless to feel sorrow and happiness at the imaginary events of sorrow and happiness; it encourages weaker parts of the soul and numbs the faculty of reason. He felt that reading poetry seduces the feeling of undesirable emotions.

Aristotle- Aristotle here argued with his ‘Theory of Catharsis’ he says catharsis as ennobling which humbles human beings that is it (makes humble). A catharsis is an emotional release, the purification or purgation of the emotions (especially pity and fear) primarily through art.

Other:

Plato- Plato said that the art of imitation removes the complete truth and it only gives the likeness of the original thing that is concrete and likeness is always less than real.

‘Imitative art is inferior who marries inferior and offering and inferior.’

Aristotle- Aristotle here argues by saying that imitated art also gives something more than actual art. It does not only simply imitate the original art but it contributes his own new art or idea. For example When a painter is painting the chair, an imitation of an idea he is giving some new look to the original idea or a first copy of an idea he is making it attractive through his art.

In conclusion, we can say that Plato is judging a form of art with an educational, philosophical and ethical point of view; he is not considering any uniqueness of the form of art. Aristotle believed that every art should be judged in terms of its own aims and objectives and should be marked in the criteria of its merit and demerit.

If music is bad we can't say that it is not able to paint beautifully and vice-versa. Similarly if poetry is not able to give philosophical or ethical knowledge it does not mean that poetry is bad. Denouncing poetry/ art because it is not philosophical or ideal is clearly unreasonable.

Further in the ‘Poetics’ Aristotle is giving the 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; through pity and fear affecting the proper purgation of these emotions.”

He gave the six elements of tragedy

Plot - Mythos

According to Aristotle, the plot is the soul of tragedy. There can be tragedy without character but there cannot be a tragedy without plot. Plot is the structure of the play, and around which the material parts are laid, just as the soul is the structure of a man.

Character- Ethos

Character is second in importance after plot; tragedies depict characters as they relate to the action which is the main object of representation. Characters represent their moral qualities through the speeches assigned to them by the dramatist.

Tragic hero is an important character of tragedy. Tragic hero is a good man with a bad ending. He is neither too virtues nor depraved, but a middling between. He is a good character but his misfortune hits him and leads to the tragic flaw. Tragic is also known as hamartia or can also be an error of judgment.

Thought- Dianoia

Thought is third in importance, and is found where something is proved to be or not to be.’

Diction- Lexis

Tragedy is also the choice of words to embellish language with beautiful ornaments.

Melody- Melos

It is the musical element of the chorus. Aristotle argues that the Chorus should be fully integrated into the play like an actor.

Spectacle- Opsis

It is less connected with literature, it is more about art of the stage. It is the technique of presentation in drama. It means that the medium of tragedy is dramatic action; it is not narration. Tragedy is a matter of stage-performance not of mere closet-reading.

Further Aristotle Compares epic and Tragedy in Poetics and shares his views as below:

Tragedy has all the elements of an epic poem and also has music and spectacle, which the epic lacks. Tragedy is shorter, suggesting that it is more compact and will have a more concentrated effect. There is more unity in tragedy, as evidenced by the fact that a number of tragedies can be extracted from one epic poem.

Shows the differences in terms of-

	Tragedy	Epic
Length	Complete in certain magnitude	Vast in magnitude
Meter	Variety of meter	One meter (hexameter)
Subject matter	emphasis is on an individual	concerning the fortunes or destiny of people or nation
Marvelous and irrational	probability and necessity	absurdity passes unnoticed.
Plot	representation of a story in the present. The plot of Epic consists of plots of many tragedies.	more episodic than tragedy. the story of the past

I have tried to give an overview about Aristotle’s Poetics, an idea about what Aristotle is talking about in poetics. To read in detail about it click on this. I hope this writeup will be helpful to you. Thank you for reading.

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