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:
- Things as they were/are.
- Things as they are said/ thought to be.
- 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-
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.
[words- 1738]
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