Criticism and Theory - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Criticism and Theory

Part A

Before Twentieth CenturySlide2

Western theatre originated in Athens and its drama has had a significant and sustained impact on

Western culture

as a whole.Slide3

City-State of Athens 550-220 B. C.

Athens

, which became a significant cultural, political and military power during this period,

institutionalized theatre

as part of a

festival

called the

Dionysia

, which

honoured

the god

Dionysus

.Slide4

Tragedy (late 6

th

cen

BC), Comedy, and the satyr play were the three dramatic genres which emerged in Athens and was exported to its numerous colonies and allies in order to promote a common cultural identity.Slide5

Panoramic view of the

Hellenic

theatre at

Epidaurus

.Slide6

Aeschylus

(c. 524/525 BC – c. 455/456 BC)Slide7

Sophocles (c.497-406 B.C.)Slide8

Euripides(c.480-406 B.C.)Slide9

AristophanesSlide10

Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

Poetics

Aristotle the biologist

Discusses poetrySlide11

All Art is Mimesis

How is poetry different from other genres which imitate?

Based on –

Media

Object, and

ModeSlide12

Medium of Imitation

Those which do not use speech

Harmony and rhythm- instrumental music

Rhythm alone -dance

Those which do use speech

Prose mimes and Socratic dialoguesSlide13

Object of Imitation

“mimesis of people doing things”

“Better than are found in the world,”

eg

. Painting -

Polygnotus

, Literature – Homer, Tragedy in general

“Worse than they are found in the world”

eg

. Painting –

Pauson

, Literature –

Hegemon

of Thasos (inventor of parodies), (

Nicochares

(author of

Deiliad

), Comedy in general

“As they are”

eg

. Painting – Dionysius, Literature -

CleophonSlide14

Mode of Imitation

Sometimes in narration and sometimes becoming someone else

Speaking in one’s own person without change

Actually doing things (dramatically)Slide15

Thus Species of poetry differentiated from other arts which rely on imitation

Through-

Media

Object, and

Mode

Slide16

Further divisions within the species

Representations based on object –

eg

. People as good- Homer and Sophocles can be said to belong to same class, since both represent people as good

Representations based on mode – Sophocles and Aristophanes, since both represent people doing things Slide17

Origins of Poetry

1. Two natural causes:

Mimesis –

Human beings have an innate love to imitate

And to delight in works of imitation

We also enjoy understanding new things

2. Harmony & rhythm are natural to usSlide18

Development of Pre-dramatic Poetry

More serious poets represented noble actions of noble men (praises of gods & men,

eg

.

Illiad

& Odyssey

in heroic

metre

)

Less serious poets represented actions low-class people (invectives –

eg

. Homer’s

Margites

in iambic verse [

iambizein

meaning, to lampoon])Slide19

Development of Tragedy

Comedy → from phallic songs

Tragedy → from dithyramb (a wild choral hymn of ancient Greece, esp. one dedicated to Dionysius)Slide20

Evolution of Tragedy

Playwrights

1. Aeschylus

raised actors from one to two

Gave importance to speech

Made choral part less important

2. Sophocles

added a third actor

Introduced screen paintingSlide21

Evolution of Tragedy

II. Amplitude

As tragedy developed from satyr-style, its plots were at first slight and expression comical.

Took a long time to acquire dignity.Slide22

Evolution of Tragedy

III.

Metre

Trochaic

tetrameter→changed

to

trimeter

(esp. in dancing sessions)

In speech iambic came to be usedSlide23

Evolution of Tragedy

IV. Number of episodes – as plays evolved episodes increased in numberSlide24

Dev. Of Comedy

Mimesis of people worse than normal

“what we find funny is a blunder that does no serious damage”

Comedy – was not taken seriously, so clear history obscure

Chorus for comedy not officially provided by the Archon for a long time. So, volunteers acted as chorus in comediesSlide25

Dev. Of Comedy

Making of comic plots must have acc. to Aristotle first come from Sicily

Ist

Athenian to drop the lampoon form & construct generalized stories or plots - CratesSlide26

Epic vs. Tragedy

(both being mimesis in verse of noble persons)

Tragedy

Epic

Action

Metre

, harmony, rhythm

Fixed in time – “as far as possible attempting to keep to the limit of one revolution of the sun”

Narration

Metre

alone, without music

Unfixed in timeSlide27

Chapter II

Nature of Tragedy

Definition:

“imitation of a serious, complete action, in speech pleasurably enhanced, the different kinds of enhancement occurring in separate sections, in dramatic, not narrative form, through pity

and fear

effecting the purgation of these emotions.”Slide28

Analysis:

Def. of Tragedy

: Questions &

Answers-

What is tragedy?

What does it represent?

What is the manner in which it is communicated?

What form does it employ?

What function does it fulfill?Slide29

Qualitative elements of Tragedy

There are

six

elements of mimesis in a tragedy:

Objects of mimesis-

Plot

(

muthos

) – “

most imp”

Character

(ethos) –

“that which makes plain the nature of moral choices of persons”

Thought

(

dianoia

) –

“passages in which they prove or disprove something”

Media of mimesis-

Song

(

melos

)

Diction

(

lexis

)

Means (mode) of mimesis-

Spectacle

(

opsis

) – “least imp”Slide30

Plot

(

Most important acc. To

Aris

.)

End of human life is in doing, not just in being

There could be no tragedy without action

If speeches depicting character are put one after another it won’t be tragedy, but tragedy with plot, even

tho

’ deficient in other aspects, would be a tragedy

Peripeteiai

and

anagnorisis

are parts of plot

Novices find it most difficult to construct plotSlide31

Characteristics of Plot-

Plot = “mimesis of a whole action”; so it has to have these implications of wholeness –

Order (beg, mid & end)

Amplitude (not too big or small)

Unity

Probable and necessary connection

(“that is why poetry is at once more like philosophy & more worthwhile than history”

Worst plots are episodic plots- no connection

surpriseSlide32

Elements of Plots

Peripeteia

(Reversal of action)

Anagnorisis

(Recognition)

Pathos “an act involving destruction or pain”Slide33

Types of plot

Simple (without

peripeteia

and

anagnorisis

)

2. Complex (with

peripeteia

and

anagnorisis

)Slide34

Quantitative Divisions of Tragedy

Prologue

–”complete section of a tragedy before the entrance of the chorus”

Parode

(choral part)

Episode

(complete section of a tragedy not followed by a choral ode

Kommos

(lament shared by the chorus and the actors)

Stasimon

(choral part)

ExodeSlide35

Chapter III Excellence in tragedy

Plot

What should be the aim in composing plots ?

What should be avoided in composing plots ?

What gives tragic effect?Slide36

Chapter III Excellence in tragedy : (1) Plot

What should be the aim in composing plots ?

Arouse pity & fear

So –

Tragedy should not show

Virtuous men passing from good to bad fortune

Bad men passing from bad to good fortune

Quite wicked men passing from good to bad fortune

This does not arouse pity or fear , but only a sense of outrage

This is less tragic than

anythng

, since it has none of the necessary requirements: it neither satisfies our human feeling nor arouses pity or fear

this would satisfy our human feeling, but would not arouse pity & fearSlide37

Excellence in tragedy :Tragic hero

One who is not pre-eminent in moral virtue, who passes to bad fortune not thru’ vice or wickedness, but

bec

. of some piece of ignorance, & who is of high repute & great good fortune.

Eg

. Oedipus and Thyestes & the splendid men of such familiesSlide38

Excellence in tragedy : Good Plot

Single line of dev., not a double one

It should go from good fortune to bad and not vice versa

This change should be

bec

of ignorance, not vice

By a better, not worse manSlide39

Best Tragedy

From good to bad

In comedy

Bitter enemies are reconciled & nobody is killedSlide40

Excellence in tragedy : Source of Tragic Effect

Not from spectacle, but from plot

What effects pity & fear?

Done by people closely connected with each otherSlide41

Tragic Action

Best: A character

abt

to do a gruesome deed recognizes reality and desist from committing the deed

Contradiction to

Aris

’ theory of tragedy as that which ends in sadness

Second best: character does it in ignorance, & recognizes his victim afterwards

Doing it

Worst: have knowledge & intention, yet do not doSlide42

Excellence in tragedy: (2) Character

(

GARLIC

)

G

ood (Morally)

(…a woman is good and so is a slave,

though

one is perhaps inferior, & the other generally speaking low grade!!!)

A

ppropriate

(…it is not suitable for a woman to be brave or clever in this way!!!)

R

eal, that is, life-like

L

ogically constructed

I

dealized

C

onsistent Slide43

Deus ex machina

Denouement should arouse not from

deus

ex

machina

, but from the character

deus

ex

machina

should be used for things outside the play

eg

.

oedipusSlide44

Digression on Various Topics of Interest to the

Practising

Playwright

Recognition

Least artistic – recognition by visible signs, birthmarks etc.

Next worse – poet himself reveals—

By means of memory

Better – recognition based on reasoning

Best – arising from actions Slide45

Digression on Various Topics of Interest to the

Practising

Playwright

II. Poetic imagination

The poet should, more than anything else, put things before his eyes….

…so far as possible one should also work it out with the appropriate gestures.Slide46

Digression on Various Topics of Interest to the

Practising

Playwright

III. Complication & Denouement (

desis

&

lusis

)

Complication – “the section from the beginning to the last point before …[the hero]… begins to change to good or bad fortune

Denouement – the part from the beginning of the change to the endSlide47

Digression on Various Topics of Interest to the

Practising

Playwright

IV. Species of Tragedy

Complicated tragedy

depends

entierely

on

peripeteia

&

anagnorisis

Tragedy of pathos

Tragedy of character

Tragedy of spectacleSlide48

Digression on Various Topics of Interest to the

Practising

Playwright

V. Do not take a large chunk of epic matter for a tragedy

VI. Surprise satisfies our human feeling & so is tragic

VII. Chorus should be regarded as an actorSlide49

Excellence in tragedy: (3) mimesis of intellect

Will deal with it in

Rhetoric

–

(thank God!)

3 functions of thought:

To prove or disprove something

To arouse emotions

To

maximise

or

minimise

the imp. of somethingSlide50

Excellence in tragedy

(4) verbal expression (diction)

Grammatical terms

Ways of classifying nouns

Poetic styleSlide51

Epic

vs

tragedy

Epic:

Length

Meter

More chance for improbable Slide52

Answers criticism against Homer

Epic & tragedy

Tragedy better,

bec

-

Tragedy has all elements of epic + spectacle & song

Reality of presentation felt even while reading

Tragic imitation requires less space

Unity of actionSlide53

Questons: Plato

vs

Aristotle

Plato

Instruction

Imitation

Emotion

Bad effect on actors

Aristotle

Pleasure

catharsisSlide54

Short notes

Plot

Aris’s

def of tragedy

Hamartia

Mimesis

Catharsis

Tragic hero

Relevance of Aristotle