Aristotle's poetics

Work sheet : “Aristotle's  poetics ”

Introduction:

                 This blog is all about critical evaluation about Aristotle's poetics. It deals with the 5 questions regarding  Aristotle's poetics and concept of tragedies.

Q-1  How far do you agree with plato's objection to freedom of expression and artistic Liberty enjoyed by creative writer. ( Name the texts, novels, plays, poems, movies, TV soaps, etc  which can be rightfully objected and banned with Plato's objections.)

Greek philosopher plato draws some points of literature. In his points he mainly talks about the "imitation" or "illusion" in literature. He considers philosophy is better than the poetry because philosopher deals with truth whereas poet deals with illusion. He believes that the truth of philosophy is more important than the pleasure of poetry. 

         Plato's objection to freedom of expression and artistic liberty enjoyed by creative writers is quite eligible, though  I am not 'totally' agree with that.

     Art or an artist aren't responsible for interpretations. Eg. Night has beauty in both senses first as sadistic and second in senses of joy. It depends on person's point of view that if he/she fears of darkness or enjoys beauty of moon and stars. It is reader's state of mind which finds beauty ,sorrow, morality, immorality etc in literary work.

           Freedom of  expression and artistic liberty can be harmful sometimes when you don't know ‘where’ and ‘how’ to express it. Without knowing knowledge and thinking level of audience, might lead that 'freedom' towards misinterpretation. 

           For example hosting is an art. When auditorium is full of comman and illiterate people and as a host you start resting poetry which has hard metaphor and allegory, will make people bored.

     

            ‘Fifty shades of grey ’

Fifty Shades is a British-American film trilogy series that consists of three erotic romantic drama films, based on the Fifty Shades trilogy by English author E. L. James. It is distributed by Universal Studios and stars Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan as the lead roles Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey, respectively. Sam Taylor-Johnson directed the first film,and James Foley directed the second and third films. 

   

The phrase “shades of grey” usually refers to a situation that is not clear, particularly with regard to whether or not something is categorically evil. When doubt comes into play, things are neither black, nor white, but are in a gray area.

Fifty Shades of Grey has attracted controversy due to its depictions of BDSM, with some participants stating that the book confuses the practice with abuse, and presents it as a pathology to be overcome, as well as showing incorrect and possibly dangerous erotic techniques.

Q-2 With reference to the literary texts you have studied during B.A. programme. Write brief note on the texts which followed Aristotalian literary tradition (tragedy, catharsis, tragic hero with hamartia)

      This word is first used by Aristotle in his work "Poetics " . Aristotle described Hamartia is an error of judgment or a mistake that was made by a character in a theatrical tragedy.

By Aristotle's definition , the Hamartia , or mistake , could have been the result by any character . Often the character was ignorant of the eventual outcome of the decision.

        There are many hamartia examples to be found throughout literature. The earlier meaning of hamartia, fatal mistake, is associated with pre-Christian writing and especially with ancient Greek tragedy. The later definition, fatal flaw, is more strongly associated with later tragedies. It is worth noting that while tragic heroes usually die, it is not necessary for a literary tragedy to end in death. Suffering and tragic events are sufficient for some tragedies.

        

                       -:Othello:-

          

Tragic hero:

            Othello is a tragic hero because he is noble, he suffers from a fatal tragic flaw and he goes through a tragic downfall. All these traits that Othello exhibits lead him to be known as one of the most well-known tragic heroes in all of literature.

Hamartia: 

         Shakespeare is full of great examples of hamartia. Shakespeare used hamartia in several of his plays, usually focusing on fatal flaws instead of fatal mistakes. Othello's tragic flaw, for instance, is jealousy. When Iago tells Othello that his wife, Desdemona, is being unfaithful to him, he chooses to believe Iago instead of trusting his wife, who has always been faithful in the past. Because of Othello's personal flaw, he ends up killing his wife and himself over what was actually nothing at all. When the audience watches Othello, they should feel a sense of frustration at how easily the situation could have been avoided. They should see how many decisions and character traits came together to create a terrible end result.

Catharsis:

        Othello has a catharsis and realises Iago led him astray, and that it was his own trust, naivete, and jealousy that led him to take Desdemona’s life. His tragic flaw was that he blindly trusted a friend.

Othello’s catharsis results in his suicide, and the audience feels his betrayal– realising that trusting a friend blindly can have severe consequences. The audience thus never needs to experience the feeling of betrayal in reality, as Othello’s catharsis has taught them to be more aware. In a way, they are ‘purged’ of the unhealthy feelings that would result from betrayal. For the present day audience, given the setting of the play, Othello may not be as relatable and his catharsis may not necessarily translate into their own catharsis

Q-3 With reference to the literary texts you have studied during B.A. programme, write brief note on the texts which did NOT follow Aristotelian literary tradition. (i.e. his concept of tragedy, catharsis, tragic hero with hamartia etc.)

      There were two literary texts which doesn't follow Aristotalian literary tradition. Which are:

                1.Ghashiram kotval

                2.The hairy ape

1. Ghashiram kotval: 

          The play Ghashiram Kotwal described as a tragedy of power as there is a conflict between power and powerless behind the manifestation of historical characters and events. In this play Tendulkar is more concern with the mechanism of power operating within society than with the economic and political implications and sources of that power and sources of that power. It comes out of social political forces, which no more barriers of time and place.

2.The hairy ape:

      

The Hairy Ape is a modern tragedy of the proletariat. The protagonist, or properly speaking, the antihero of the drama is Yank, a member of the proletariat. He is not a great man, like a Shakespearean or a Marlovian tragic hero, but is an everyman, meeting the tragedy of an average man. His tragedy touches the heart of every man, and fills him with a deep sympathy for the humanity at large, the common human beings oppressed by the evils of the modern mechanized world.

Q-4 Have you studied any tragedies during B.A. programme? Who was/were the tragic protagonist/s in those tragedies? What was their ‘hamartia’?

     Yes I have studied some tragedies during B.A. programme. Here's some tragic protagonist and hamartia among that tragedies.

All my sons:

Tragic hero: Joe keller

Hamartia: He was supplying defective aircrafts in jeans cylinder head in terms of ignorance and careless view

Othello:

Tragic hero: Othello

Hamartia: blind faith on iago and jealousy factor led him to kill his own love desdemona

Tughlaq:

Tragic hero : Muhammad bin Tughlaq

Hamartia: his idealism

The hairy ape:

Tragic hero: Yank/Bob Smith

Hamartia: his extreme dominant nature

5. Did the ‘Plot’ of those tragedies follow necessary rules and regulations proposed by Aristotle? (Like chain of cause and effect, principle of probability and necessity, harmonious arrangement of incidents, complete, certain magnitude, unity of action etc)

      Aristotle considers plot as an 

“arrangment of the incidence"

Incidents mean action, and tragedy is an imitation of actions, both internal and external. According to Aristotle, plot is the ordering of action and plot is the soul of tragedy. Through the unity of time, place and action in plot and continuity of action tragedy is created. He also says that without characters- in moral sense, tragedy can be created but without plot it is impossible. 

Yes. Plot of the mentioned tragedies follow the rules and regulations prepared by Aristotle. In Othello, ghashiram kotval, Tughlaq, and in all my sons there's coordination in plot.

In Othello, there's coordination between time, place and action.The play is set in motion when Othello

appoints Cassio and not Iago as his chief lieutenant. Jealous of Othello's success and envious of Cassio, Iago plots Othello's downfall by falsely implicating Othello's wife, Desdemona, and Cassio in a love affair.

In Tughlaq also there's downfall of sultan. Whith his whimsical mind the chain of incidence takes sultan to the climax and thus leads towards his downfall.

 So this is how all the tragedies mostly followed the Aristotalian literary tradition.