Summary
Aristotle now narrows his focus to examine tragedy exclusively. In order to do
so, he provides a definition of tragedy that we can break up into seven parts:
(1) it involves mimesis; (2) it is serious; (3) the action is
complete and with magnitude; (4) it is made up of language with the
"pleasurable accessories" of rhythm and harmony; (5) these "pleasurable
accessories" are not used uniformly throughout, but are introduced in separate
parts of the work, so that, for instance, some bits are spoken in verse and
other bits are sung; (6) it is performed rather than narrated; and (7) it
arouses the emotions of pity and fear and accomplishes a katharsis
(purification or purgation) of these emotions.
Next, Aristotle asserts that any tragedy can be divided into six component
parts, and that every tragedy is made up of these six parts with nothing else
besides. There is (a) the spectacle, which is the overall visual appearance of
the stage and the actors. The means of imitation (language, rhythm, and harmony)
can be divided into (b) melody, and (c) diction, which has to do with the
composition of the verses. The agents of the action can be understood in terms
of (d) character and (e) thought. Thought seems to denote the intellectual
qualities of an agent while character seems to denote the moral qualities of an
agent. Finally, there is (f) the plot, or mythos, which is the
combination of incidents and actions in the story.
Aristotle argues that, among these six, the plot is the most important. The
characters serve to advance the action of the story, not vice versa. The ends we
pursue in life, our happiness and our misery, all take the form of action. That
is, according to Aristotle, happiness consists in a certain kind of activity
rather than in a certain quality of character. Diction and thought are also less
significant than plot: a series of well-written speeches have nothing like the
force of a well-structured tragedy. Further, Aristotle suggests, the most
powerful elements in a tragedy, the peripeteia and the
anagnorisis, are elements of the plot. Lastly, Aristotle notes that
forming a solid plot is far more difficult than creating good characters or
diction.
Having asserted that the plot is the most important of the six parts of tragedy,
he ranks the remainder as follows, from most important to least: character,
thought, diction, melody, and spectacle. Character reveals the individual
motivations of the characters in the play, what they want or don't want, and how
they react to certain situations, and this is more important to Aristotle than
thought, which deals on a more universal level with reasoning and general
truths. Melody and spectacle are simply pleasurable accessories, but melody is
more important to the tragedy than spectacle: a pretty spectacle can be arranged
without a play, and usually matters of set and costume aren't the occupation of
the poet anyway.
Analysis
Aristotle's definition of tragedy at the beginning of this chapter is supposed
to summarize what he has already said, but it is the first mention of the
katharsis. The Greek word katharsis was usually used either
by doctors to talk about purgation, the flushing of contaminants out of the
system, or by priests to talk about religious purification. In either case, it
seems to refer to a therapeutic process whereby the body or mind expels
contaminants and becomes clean and healthy. Determining exactly what role
katharsis is meant to play in tragedy is somewhat more difficult.
First, we might ask what exactly katharsis is in reference to tragedy.
The idea, it seems, is that watching a tragedy arouses the emotions of pity and
fear in us and then purges these emotions. But, by virtue of mimesis,
we aren't feeling real pity or real fear. I may feel pity for
Oedipus when he learns that he has killed his father and
married his mother, but this is a different kind of pity than the pity I feel
for the homeless or for those living in war zones. I know that Oedipus is not a
real person and that no one is really suffering when I watch Oedipus suffer. As
a result, I can empathize with the character of Oedipus without feeling any kind
of guilt or obligation to help him out. Watching tragedy has a cathartic effect
because I can let go of the emotional tension built up in me as I leave the
theater. I am able to experience profound emotion without having its
consequences stay with me and harden me to subsequent emotional shocks.
Second, we might ask to what extent katharsis is the purpose of tragedy,
and to what extent it is an occasional effect of tragedy. The question of in
what way art may be good for us is a very difficult question to answer. The best
art (and this applies to Greek tragedy) is not didactic: it does not try to tell
us outright how we ought or ought not to behave. At the same time, there is
definitely a lot we can learn from a subtle appreciation of art. The value of
art, on the whole, seems to stem more from its ability to arouse emotion and
awareness on an abstract, general level, rather than to teach us particular
truths. Oedipus Rex is valuable because it engenders a certain state of
mind, not because it teaches us to avoid marrying older women whose family
histories are uncertain.
Though katharsis may be an important effect of tragedy, it is hardly the
reason for which poets write tragedies. If that were so, poets would be little
more than emotional therapists. Again, Aristotle is writing as an observer more
than as a theorist. He has observed that tragedy has a cathartic effect on its
viewers, but he is not trying to enunciate this as the end goal of all tragedy.
The other important concept we encounter in this chapter is that of
mythos. While "plot" is a pretty good translation of this word in
reference to tragedy, mythos can be applied to sculpture, music, or any
other art form. The mythos of a piece of art is the way it is structured
and organized in order to make a coherent statement. Thus, when Aristotle speaks
about the "plot" of a tragedy, he is not just referring to who did what to
whom, but is speaking about how the events in the story come together to bring
out deeper, general themes.
Plot, then, is central to a tragedy, because that is where, if at all, its value
lies. If character were central to tragedy, we would be watching Oedipus
Rex in order to learn something about Oedipus, about what makes him tick, or
how he reacts in different situations. The character of Oedipus in itself is
uninteresting: why should we care about the personality of someone who never
existed? The value of Oedipus lies in what we can learn about ourselves and our
world from observing his fate. What we learn from a tragedy—the effect it
has on us—results from the way it is structured to draw our minds toward
general truths and ideas; that is, from its mythos.
