1. Aristotle's Study of Tragedy
Author(s): Henry Alonzo Myers
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Educational Theatre Journal, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Dec., 1949), pp. 115-127
Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press
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2. ARISTOTLE'S STUDY OF TRAGEDY*
HENRY ALONZO MYERS
Cornell University
HIs METHODAND HIS AIM Among its procedures are the use of in-
The Poetics of Aristotle, which con- ductive reasoning, the analysis of speci-
tains the best known definition of trag- mens into their constituent elements or
edy, has been more lavishly praised and parts, and the synthesizing of conclu-
more bitterly condemned than any other sions in a definition by genus and
work of literary criticism. These ex- differentiae. Of these, the most import-
tremes of judgment seem to be founded ant is induction, the mode of reasoning
on a common misunderstanding: friend which derives general propositions from
and foe alike have erred in treating a careful study of particular instances.
Aristotle as a prophet and law-giver If any of Aristotle's generalizations con-
rather than as a scientist and philoso- cerning tragedy are valid, they owe their
pher. Those who have praised the validity to the fact that before formulat-
Poetics most highly have often revealed ing them he examined the tragedies
their ignorance of the scientific method available in his time as carefully as a
upon which it is based by accepting botanist examines a collection of rare
Aristotle's findings as thoueh they were plants.
oracles from on high, and those who A generalization which is supported
have most bitterly condemned the Poet- by all the known facts or instances is
ics have done so because they have mis- incontestable, and may properly be re-
takenly ascribed to Aristotle the dogma- garded as scientific description. If all
tism which is all too evident in the the tragedies with which we are familiar
writings of some of his disciples. had been available to Aristotle, we may
The outstanding merit of the Poetics, be sure that he would have taken them
the quality which makes it the necessary into account and that as a result the
starting point of any inquiry into the Poetics, greatly modified, would be for
nature of tragedy, is its application of us a much more satisfactory and accurate
a scientific method to the study of poetry. description of the general nature of
This method is more important than tragedy. But he had only the Greek
the particular conclusions which have tragedies, including the many now lost
and the few that have survived, to study;
inspired so much fruitless controversy.
and he himself implies that his con-
*This essay was planned and written as an clusions may be tentative
by raising the
introductory chapter in a book to be entitled
Tragedy: A View of Life. At a number of points question "whether tragedy has as yet
in the discussion of the Poetics I have intro-
duced, in commenting on the limitation of
perfected its proper types."
Aristotle's study, some of my own conclusions on It had not yet perfected all its possible
the meaning of tragedy. For longer statements
of these conclusions, see H. A. Myers, "The types, as we know; and for this reason
Tragic Attitude Toward Value," Ethics, Vol. the Poetics is for us a compilation of
XLV, No. ., April, 1935; "Dramatic Poetry and conclusions which are based on incom-
Values," The English Journal, Vol. XXVIII, No.
;, May, 1939; "The Tragic Meaning of Mobv plete evidence. We may determine
Dick," The Newz England Quarterly, Vol. XV, whether these conclusions need to be
No. i, March, 1942; and "Heroes and the Way of
Compromise," in Essays in Political Theory, ed- modified by carefully examining the new
ited by M. R. Konvitz and A. E. Murphy, Cor-
nell University Press, 1948. types and examples of tragedy, or we may

3. 116 EDUCATIONAL THEATRE JOURNAL
accept them as they stand because they the poet copies a particular object which
are the dicta of an eminent philosopher. in turn is a copy of a universal idea.
If we accept only those generalizations Many of the best known poems contain
which are supported by the facts, we immoral fictions which represent gods
follow Aristotle in the use of inductive and heroes as even worse in behavior
reasoning, his chief contribution to the than ordinary men. The pleasures afford-
study of literature; if we accept his find- ed by poetry are at best of an inferior or-
ings as dicta, we turn from scientific der; at worst they may lead men into
description to literary prescription, to a weak sentimentalism or buffoonery. Po-
kind of a priori critical authoritarianism etry feeds the passions, which should be
which is the exact opposite of the Aris- starved. For these and other reasons Pla-
totelian method. to would expel the poets from his ideal
The excellence of Aristotle's method republic.
cannot make up for the outstanding Aristotle's attitude toward the poets
weakness of his study, namely, his indif- is so much less uncompromising than
ference to the meaning of tragedy and Plato's that he seems at first glance to do
his consequent failure to trace the gen- justice to the significance of poetry. Writ-
eral outlines of the tragic view of life. ing at a time when the philosophers had
This failure of a great philosopher to gained in prestige at the expense of their
judge, or even to notice, an important rivals, he is generous in victory, and seeks
view of life can only be explained as an to end the ancient quarrel by assigning
after-effect of that "ancient quarrel be- to the poets a respected sphere of activity
tween philosophy and poetry" which Soc- and to poetry an important function.
rates describes to Glaucon in Plato's Re- The true end of poetry, he maintains, is
public. The cause of the quarrel was the to give pleasure, and the pleasure deriv-
desire of the philosophers to replace the ed from poetry is a good which contrib-
poets as the sole interpreters of life and as utes to the well-being of the virtuous
the recognized teachers in questions of man. The effect of great poetry upon
conduct. Since the Greeks were unique the emotions is beneficial, not injurious.
among early peoples in their freedom As for the fictions of the poets, they are
from a priestly caste, their poets enjoyed dangerous only to children, who cannot
for many centuries, and particularly distinguish between fiction and fact; for
from the time of Homer to the time of mature men the poet is an artist and
Euripides, a secure prestige as recorders not a teacher, and the appeal of poetry
and interpreters of experience and tra- is to the feelings and not to the intellect.
dition. When the early Greek philoso- While conceding to the poet an im-
phers turned from the study of nature portant role as a contributor to the
to the study of man, however, they en- emotional well-being of man, Aristotle
croached upon the preserves of the poets, reserves to the philosopher the more im-
and the resulting rivalry reached a peak portant function of interpreting life.
of intensity at the end of the Fifth Cen- This division of functions between the
tury B.C. Aristophanes presents a bit- rivals has merit. By stressing the fact that
terly satirical picture of Socrates in The the reading of poetry has a value apart
Clouds; and Plato, using Socrates as from any moral guidance which may be
spokesman, strikes back hard at the poets found in the experience, it helps the critic
in The Republic. Poetry, he maintains, to distinguish a poem from a didactic
is thrice removed from the truth since jingle. But it implies a sharp division

4. ARISTOTLE'S STUDY OF TRAGEDY 117
between the intellect and the emotions of the ideal tragic hero, and the famous
which does not in fact exist. Our reason definition of tragedy-reveals that, in
and our feelings are not shut up in sepa- spite of his excellent method of investi-
rate compartments; on the contrary, our gation, he never credits the tragic poet
feelings are stirred solely by our ideas, with an important view of life, and is
and our ideas are all too often inspired content to explain, as best he can, how
solely by feeling. The feelings which tragedy affords intense pleasure by ex-
inspire a system of philosophy and the citing and purging the emotions of pity
intellectual pattern of a poem may be and fear.
implicit rather than explicit; but they THE ELEMENTSOF TRAGEDY
are present, and not to be ignored. If a The constituent elements of tragedy,
tragic drama has the power to restore us according to Aristotle, are, in their order
to tranquillity after stirring our deepest of importance, Plot, Character, Thought,
feelings, the reason is that the poet has Diction, Melody, and Spectacle. By Plot
shaped his tragic incidents into a pat- he means the structure of the story which
tern, implicitly intellectual, which we are is unfolded in dramatic action, the or-
usually unable to discover when similar ganization of the incidents which pro-
incidents occur as parts of the chaos vides the pattern and unity of the trage-
of everyday experience. The question dy. By Character (ethos) he does not
whether that pattern is the true pattern mean an individual agent in a tragedy,
of human life is the most important as Agamemnon or Romeo; he means the
question concerning tragedy, but it is a moral bent which disposes an Agamem-
question that we are not likely to raise non or a Romeo to choose or avoid a
if we assign the realm of feeling to the certain course of action. His illustrations
poet and the realm of ideas to the philos- of Thought (dianoia) refer to passages
opher. in which speakers use rhetoric to excite
Aristotle seems to have been at least feeling, offer arguments in proof or dis-
partly aware that the power of poetry to proof of a point, or use general maxims
excite and soothe our feelings implies in commenting upon events; Thought,
that poetry has intellectual aspects of a therefore, means either the intellectual
high order. Poetry, he tells us, is higher ability of a speaker, his skill in saying
and more philosophical than history, for the right thing at the right time, or ex-
poetry stresses the universal while history amples of this ability. By Diction Aris-
stresses the particular. This recognition totle means the poet's choice and ar-
of the universality of poetry might well rangement of words; by Melody he
have raised the essential question con- means the choral songs of Greek trag-
cerning tragedy in Aristotle's mind, for edy; and by Spectacle he means the
if poetry tends to express the universal, costuming and scenery required in the
the tragic hero may truly represent man- theatrical production of a tragedy.
kind, and his fate may be the fate of all Aristotle's treatment of Thought,
men. If not, why not? But Aristotle is which is consistent with his solution to
too deeply committed to his solution of the rivalry between the poets and the
the ancient quarrel to probe deeply into philosophers, is the principal defect in
the intellectual patterns implicit in his analysis of tragedy into its constituent
poetry. An examination of the high elements. Since he is convinced in ad-
points of the Poetics-the analysis of vance that the proper appeal of poetry
tragedy into its elements, the description is to the emotions, he ignores the tragic

5. 18 EDUCATIONAL THEATRE JOURNAL
view of life implied in the possibility ways represents a single action, a change
that the hero's fate may truly represent of fortune in which no incident may be
the destiny of man. His Thought-the displaced or removed without disturbing
intellectual ability of the hero or of other the organic unity of the whole. The best
agents as evidenced by their skill in plots combine Change of Fortune (meta-
persuasion, in argumentation, and in the basis) with Reversal (peripeteia) and
use of apposite maxims-is too narrow Discovery (anagnorisis). Change of For-
a conception to throw much light upon tune is a series of events in probable or
the over-all meaning of tragedy. necessary sequence carrying the hero
Since the intellectual ability of an from prosperity to adversity, or from
agent may play as important a part as his adversity to prosperity-as the downfall
moral bent in disposing him to choose of Oedipus in Oedipus the King, or his
or avoid a certain course of action, we restoration to the favor of the gods in
might well treat intellectual ability and Oedipus at Colonos. Reversal is a change
moral bent as two aspects of Character, by which a course of action results in the
thereby eliminating Aristotle's Thought opposite of the effect intended by the
and making room for the element of agent-as in Oedipus the King the Mes-
tragedy which he ignores, namely, Mean- senger intends to cheer Oedipus and free
ing. For Plot, Character, and Meaning him from his fears by revealing his iden-
are in fact the principal elements of tity but instead hastens his fall into
tragedy, and their interdependence and misery. Discovery is a cliange from
equal importance may best be indicated ignorance to knowledge, and the most
by a simple formula: Plot plus Charac- effective discovery, Aristotle concludes,
ter equals Meaning. is a recognition of identity accompanied
For Aristotle, however, Plot is the first by a reversal and a change of fortune, as
element of tragedy, and his discussion of in Oedipus the King.
its importance is a masterly combination Nothing in the later history of drama
of analysis and induction. A well- discredits Aristotle's main observations
constructed plot, he tells us, has a begin- on the parts of Plot. Forms of drama to
ning, a middle, and an end; and the which his generalizations are inapplica-
series of incidents which it comprises ble have appeared and enjoyed popular-
follow one another in a probable or ity, but only the hazier critics have mis-
inevitable sequence, forming an organic taken these new forms for tragedy. The
whole. It is neither too short to be im- slice-of-life play, of which Gorki's Lower
pressive nor too long for its parts to be Depths is the archetype, always repre-
easily held in memory; within these lim- sents many actions instead of one action,
its its precise length is best determined and often derives its unity mainly from
by the number of incidents necessary to its setting. The expressionistic play,
represent a change from bad fortune to stemming from Strindberg's Dream Play
good, or from good fortune to bad. and Spook Sonata, is composed of epi-
The relative effectiveness of plots, ac- sodes which usually follow one another
cording to the Poetics, may be explained in a kaleidoscopic or dreamlike fashion
by an analysis of their construction. The quite unlike the probable or necessary
worst plots are the episodic, in which the sequence which events follow in the plots
episodes or events follow one another of effective tragedies. But Gorki, Strind-
without probable or necessary sequence. berg, and their followers have artistic
An effective plot, on the other hand, al- aims different from the aims of such

6. ARISTOTLE'S STUDY OF TRAGEDY 1i9
artists in tragedy as Aeschylus, Shake- however, the more we must be disap-
speare, Goethe, Ibsen, and O'Neill; and pointed by his failure to expand his
their slice-of-life and expressionistic findings into a description of the tragic
plays, when subjected to the Aristotelian view of life. Since he asserts without
method of study, reveal new principles reservation that Plot is the soul of trag-
of construction peculiarly suited to the edy, its animating principle, and since
achievement of the new aims. The emo- he considers the manner in which the
tional and intellectual effects of tragedy, incidents of the best plots mirror the
however, still depend upon the sense of events of life, we might expect that if
inevitability which the tragic dramatist ever he is to pose the question of the
conveys to the reader or spectator by over-all meaning of tragedy, he will do
unfolding the events of his plot in a so at this point in his discussion. Sig-
probable or necessary sequence. nificantly, at this point we do find his
The later history of drama fully famous assertion that poetry is more
supports Aristotle's observation that philosophical than history in that it
Change of Fortune is the indispensable stresses the universal rather than the
element of a tragic plot, and that the best particular.
plots combine a change of fortune with Aristotle persists, however, in treating
a reversal and a discovery. The best dis- even the plot of his favorite tragedy as
coveries in later tragedies, it is true, do though its values were chiefly or alto-
not always depend upon recognition of gether emotional. That Oedipus the
personal identity, as Aristotle thinks they King was his favorite we may infer from
should; but although the discoveries of his comments on its qualities: he men-
the Elizabethan or modern hero mav be tions Oedipus first in a list of personages
intangible truths or values, they are suitable for treatment in perfect trage-
nevertheless correctly described by his dies, and from the plot of the play he
general definition of Discovery as a derives his first example of Reversal and
change from ignorance to knowledge. his first example of the best kind of
Similarly, although Sophocles prefers to Discovery. Yet he analyzes the perfec-
use only a half-turn of the great wheel tions of its plot only because they height-
of fortune in each tragedy, representing en the feelings excited by the downfall
the fall of Oedipus in one play and his of Oedipus: the plot is so admirably con-
subsequent rise in another, Shakespeare structed, he tells us, that a reader, or one
prefers a full turn of the wheel, repre- who hears the play read, will experience
senting in single plays the fall and rise the same intensities of pity and fear
of Lear and the rise and fall of Macbeth. which affect one who sees the play en-
These minor changes do not affect the acted, with costuming and scenery, in the
validity of Aristotle's analysis of Plot; theatre.
and any one who examines the plots of How stultifying a preoccupation with
King Lear, of Faust, of Hedda Gabler, the emotional effects of tragedy can be is
and of Desire Under the Elms, will find evident from the fact that Aristotle fails
that, like the plot of Oedipus the King, to mention the reversal and the discovery
their effectiveness mainly depends upon which most clearly indicate the profound
an artful combination of a change of meaning of Oedipus the Kiing. As his
fortune with a reversal and a discovery. example of Reversal, he instances the re-
The more we are impressed by the coil whereby the Messenger's attempt to
brilliance of Aristotle's analysis of Plot, cheer Oedipus prodluces the opposite

7. 120 EDUCATIONAL THEATRE JOURNAL
effect, a recoil which is accompanied by able: when the hero attempts to evade
his example of the best kind of Discov- it, an inevitable recoil of events hastens
ery, the recognition by Oedipus of his his fall into misery. Finally, the impor-
true identity as the son of Laius and tant discovery in every great tragedy is
Jocasta. This combination is indeed the revelation to the hero of some mean-
emotionally exciting, but in the most ing in his fate and to the spectator of
wonderfully intricate of all plots it is some of the fixed and universal condi-
merely a move toward the revelation of tions of human destiny.
the best of all combinations. The su-
preme reversal in the tragedy is the re- THE IDEAL TRAGIC HERO
coil of events whereby Oedipus, who fled Aristotle considers five basic situations,
from Corinth to evade the oracle that involving various kinds of persons in
he will kill his father and marry his changes of fortune, as possible material
mother, brings on his doom by his ef- for tragic plots, rejecting the first three,
forts to escape. The discovery which praising the fourth as suitable for a
accompanies this supreme reversal is perfect tragedy, and describing the fifth
that he who seeks to evade the inevitable as a concession to the inferior taste of
merely hastens its fulfillment, a proposi- theatre-goers. (1) On two grounds he
tion as profoundly significant as any in rejects the fall of a virtuous man from
science or philosophy, and more con- prosperity to adversity: first, it excites
vincingly demonstrated than most. To neither pity nor fear, and secondly, it
Oedipus, who at the end accepts the is revolting to our moral sense. (2)
oracle as the will of the gods, this dis- Similarly, he rejects the rise of a bad
covery is proof of his own responsibility man from adversity to prosperity because
for his fate; to the spectator who no it neither satisfies the moral sense nor
longer believes in oracles it is nevertheless excites pity and fear. (3) On a single
a light thrown upon the nature of what- ground, however, he rejects the downfall
ever he accepts as the inevitable; but of an utterly wicked man: although it
to Aristotle it is apparently a discovery satisfies the moral sense, it is neither
in a realm in which the poet lacks au- pitiable nor terrible. (4) After these
thority. rejections there remains, he tells us, as
When we seriously consider the ten- intermediate between these extremes,
dency of poetry to express the universal, the man, neither vicious and depraved
we find in tragedy, and particularly in nor eminently virtuous and just, whose
the parts of Plot, an intellectually sig- misfortune is brought on by some failure
nificant pattern which Aristotle over- (hamartia) to find the path of wise and
looked. If poetry stresses the universal, virtuous conduct. This situation is ideal,
then surely Change of Fortune, the in- he maintains, for the downfall of such
dispensable part of the first element of a man excites the pity which we feel for
tragedy, represents the fundamental con- one whose great misfortune is unmerited
dition of life, the essence of human des- and the terror which we feel in witness-
tiny: good and evil are the necessary ing the misfortune of a man like our-
poles of experience, and no man may selves. And presumably-although Aris-
hope to enjoy life without paying the totle does not say so-his change of for-
price in suffering. The main reversal tune also satisfies our moral sense. (5)
in a great tragedy demonstrates that this As a concession to the weakness of the
fundamental condition of life is unalter- audience, however, the dramatist often

8. ARISTOTLE'S STUDY OF TRAGEDY 121
chooses a story with a double thread of innocent and punishes the guilty. Since
plot, in which the good personages rise they indicate that injustice prevails, the
and the bad fall. This is an inferior downfall of a good man (1) and the
kind of drama, and more like comedy rise of a bad man (2) are effective in
than tragedy. drama only as the bases for the prob-
Aristotle's description of the ideal lem and propaganda plays which incite
tragic hero as an intermediate between the spectator to take action against the
the extremes of the eminently virtuous status quo in society. The overthrow of
man and the utterly depraved man is a villain (3) satisfies the demands of
confirmed by the distinction which we poetic justice, but since a villain's defeat
now make between melodrama and trag- is usually a hero's victory, the story with
edy. In the black-and-white world of mel- a double thread of plot, with appropriate
odrama men are divided into two sharp- rewards and punishments for the inno-
ly opposed classes, represented by the un- cent and the guilty (5), is always the
blemished hero and the unspeakable most effective material for popular melo-
villain. In tragedy, however, the hero drama.
whose deeds match his intentions in How does tragedy itself satisfy our
goodness and the villain whose deeds re- ingrained love of justice? Aristotle does
flect his evil intentions disappear, and not answer this question. Moreover,
are replaced by a single representative of since his ethical views are set forth in
mankind, a man whose intentions are detail in the Nichomachean Ethics, he
always good, but whose judgment of does not trouble in the Poetics to analyze
what is the good for himself and for or define the failure (hamartia) which
others is clouded by the urgencies of his he describes as the immediate cause of
appetites and passions. The first premise the hero's misfortune. Some interpreters
of melodrama is that there are two dis- of the Poetics have reduced tragedy to
tinct kinds of men: the first premise of the level of melodrama by insisting that
tragedy is that all men are essentially the hero's hamartia is a sin, and that our
the same. That the Poetics foreshadows pleasure in tragedy is partly derived
this distinction is evident from the fact from our discovery of a condign punish-
that Aristotle rejects as unsuitable for ment in the hero's downfall. The avail-
tragedy all changes of fortune (1,2,3,5) able evidence clearly indicates, however,
involving melodramatic heroes and vil- that Aristotle found in tragedy a pleas-
lains. ure different from the pleasure afforded
The changes of fortune which Aris- to moralizers by an instance of poetic
totle rejects are not, however, all suit- justice. First, he attributes the pity
able for melodrama. Although they all properly excited by the best tragedies to
involve either eminently virtuous or ut- the spectacle of a misfortune greater
terly vicious men, only two of them (3.5) than the fault which is its cause. Sec-
provide a conclusion agreeable to our ondly, he describes the best possible il-
ingrained sense of justice. The first lustration of poetic justice (5) as a con-
premise of melodrama may misrepresent cession to the weakness of spectators.
the facts of life, but once it is accepted, Finally, it is most unlikely that he, the
it renders all conclusions save one un- author of the Nichomachean Ethics,
acceptable to our moral sense; conse- could have failed to understand the true
quently, every effective melodrama ends nature of the tragic hero's hamartia.
in the poetic justice which rewards the The final test of the good life, of hap-

9. 122 EDUCATIONAL THEATRE JOURNAL
piness as it is described in the Nicho- too little and too much is always rela-
machean Ethics, is completeness. Happi- tive to the facts of a particular situation;
ness or well-being (eudaemonia), the consequently, its determination is no
true aim of life, is to be found only in easy task.
complete self-realization, in full partici- Aristotle discusses important excep-
pation in the activities proper to a hu- tions to his doctrines of the golden mean
man being. As eye, hand, foot, and all and the complete life. An exception to
parts of the body have specific functions, the doctrine of the golden mean is that
and as the musician, the sculptor, and no mean between too little and too much
the artist have each a distinct function, can be found in respect to certain pas-
so man must have a function which dis- sions and acts; as their names indicate,
tinguishes him from other beings. This such passions as spite, shamelessness, and
function cannot be merely living, for the envy, and such actions as adultery, theft,
life of nutrition and growth is shared and murder, are always bad. One can-
even by plants; it cannot be life at the not, for example, make adultery right
level of perception, for perception is a by moderation, by committing it only
function of all animals: consequently, with the right woman, at the right time,
the true function of man must be activ- and in the right way: it is always wrong.
ity which follows or implies a rational An exception to the doctrine of the com-
principle, for man is the only rational plete life is that the doing of an unques-
animal. The function of the good man tionably noble deed may be compensa-
is to perform in a great and noble man- tion for the loss of a complete life. If
ner activities involving reason: happi- necessary, the good man will cheerfully
ness may be found only in activity of sacrifice his life for his friend or for his
soul in accordance with virtue. But, country, for he will prefer one great and
Aristotle tells us, the happy life is a noble deed to many petty activities, and
complete life. One swallow does not one year lived nobly to many years
make a summer, nor does one day; and spent in routine affairs.
one day, or a short time, does not make a In respect to the moral virtues the
man happy. Nichomachean Ethics is a philosophical
The good life requires moderation in refinement of the common sense which
those spheres of activity in which reason is based upon experience, particularly of
must co-operate with the appetites and that kind of common sense which eval-
passions. Here we must always aim at uates the passing moment by the long
the golden mean which lies between the view rather than the short view. Long
extremes of too little and too much, at before Aristotle, some sensible man
the courage which is the mean between coined the adage that one swallow does
the extremes of cowardice and rashness, not make a summer, and generations of
at the proper pride which lies between sensible men have since repeated it to
abject humility and vanity, at the tem- make the point that a momentary pleas-
perance which lies between abstinence ure may not lead to lifelong happiness.
and indulgence, at the liberality which Like Aristotle, the sensible man con-
lies between miserliness and extrava- demns those acts which everywhere have
gance, at the friendliness which lies be- a bad name and praises those acts which
tween surliness and obsequiousness. But are everywhere regarded as noble. The
since acts involving moral choice are al- moral problems of the sensible man are
ways particular events, the mean between not raised by clear cases of vice and vir-

10. ARIS'I'OTLE'S STUDY OF TRAGEDY 123
tue; they arise when he is confronted by quence of this heroic extremism is exact-
the particular situations which require ly what experience has taught the sensi-
him to choose the mean between too lit- ble man to expect: the tragic hero lives
tle and too much, to discover the mod- intensely but not long-his summer
erate course most likely to lead to the often ends with the first swallow. If we
long and complete life which he prizes judge him by the standards of the ordi-
above all else. In short, Aristotle, the nary sensible man, he fails, through a
philosopher of common sense, is alto- lack of moderation, to realize the su-
gether worldly in the best sense of the preme good of a long and complete life.
word: his object is to attain the good And it is doubtless this failure which
here and now, not in the hereafter; his Aristotle has in mind when he ascribes
conception of the good includes the life the tragic hero's misfortune to his
of the appetites and passions as well as hamartia.
the life of reason; and his means of at- But although Aristotle correctly de-
taining the good, in so far as problems scribes the ideal tragic hero, he fails to
of moral virtue are involved, is chiefly explain what John Dewey has called "the
the moderation which experience has peculiar power of tragedy to leave us at
proved the best course for one who aims the end with a sense of reconciliation
at a long and complete life. rather than with one of horror." That
How, then, would the author of the tragedy has this power to make us feel
Nichon7achean. Ethics regard the tragic that the conditions of life are as just as
hero and his hamartia? First, we must they are ineluctable countless other wit-
remember that for Aristotle the ideal nesses have testified. At points in the
tragic hero is not one whose misfortune unfolding of a great tragedy we experi-
is brought on by a vice which is every- ence the pity and terror which, as Aris-
where regarded as a vice, nor is he one totle maintains, the misfortunes of men
whose change of fortune consists in his like ourselves normally excite, but these
laying down his life for his friend, or for and other deep feelings which we ex-
his country, or in any similar act of un- perience as we follow the hero in his
questionable nobility. But if he is moments of glory and despair are at the
neither utterly depraved nor eminently end merged with our recognition of a
virtuous, what is his outstanding trait? pattern in the hero's fate into a total
As we meet him in the world's great impression as significant as it is moving.
tragedies, he is, first and foremost, an And since meaning is as important a
extremist. To reach his goal, whatever it part of this total impression as feeling,
may be, he is always willing to sacrifice a philosopher who limits his study of
everything else, including his life. Oedi- poetry to its emotional effects can never
pus will press the search for the unknown adequately explain the wonderful power
murderer, although he is warned of the of tragedy.
consequences; Hamlet will prove the If we analyze those intellectual aspects
King's guilt and attempt to execute per- of the total impression of tragedy which
fect justice, whatever the cost may be to Aristotle neglects, we find that the ideal
his mother, to Laertes, to Ophelia, and tragic hero's change of fortune may sat-
to himself; Solness will climb the tower isfy our sense of justice in at least three
he has built, at the risk of falling into important ways. First of all, we discover
the quarry; Ahab will kill Moby Dick or in the intensity of the hero's experience
die in the attempt. The usual conse- a compensation for its lack of breadth

11. 124 EDUCATIONAL THEATRE JOURNAL
and duration. As Aristotle points out prevailing justice which brings to every
in the Nichomachean Ethics, the good man equal measures of suffering and joy.
man who lays down his life for his friend
prefers the intense satisfaction of a sin- THE DEFINITION OF TRAGEDY
gle noble deed to years of dull existence. Aristotle's definition of tragedy epit-
The ideal tragic hero is not an eminent- omizes the virtues of his method and the
ly virtuous man, but he too prefers drink- weakness of his aim in the study of po-
ing the cup of life at a single draught etry. Since the definition appears in the
to taking it in the manner of a valetudi- Poetics near the beginning of the dis-
narian sipping milk. Nor is any man cussion of tragedy, and is followed by
free from the temptations of the extrem- generalizations which seem to depend
ist's attitude: many a lonely and unno- upon its acceptance, an unwary reader
ticed soul would gladly exchange the might mistakenly infer that these gen-
seemingly empty years ahead for the eralizations are consequences deduced
great moments of a Romeo or a Hamlet. from supposedly self-evident assumptions.
And what can we say of their choice ex- The answer to such a misunderstanding
cept that it is not the choice of the sensi- of the Aristotelian method is to be found
ble man? Secondly, we discover a just in the difference between the order of
balance between the depths of the hero's investigation and the order of demon-
suffering and the heights of his joys. stration. In his investigation of tragedy,
That the hero's joys and sorrows are Aristotle started by analyzing the avail-
equalized by his capacity for feeling, able specimens into their distinguishable
which is the same for one as it is for parts, proceeded by generalizing concern-
the other, we cannot doubt, for how can ing the constituent elements of tragedy,
the bitterness of the loss of a Juliet, or and ended by synthesizing his findings
of a kingdom, or of power, or of reputa- in the definition. In demonstrating his
tion, or of life itself, be measured except results, however, he reverses the steps of
by the sweetness of possession? How investigation: in the Poetics he starts
much it means to the hero to possess what with his definition, proceeds by discuss-
he prizes, so much the loss-no more, no ing the generalizations which it sum-
less. Thirdly, the power of poetry to marizes, and ends by supporting each
shadow forth the universal suggests to generalization with examples chosen
us, as we follow the fortunes of the hero, from particular tragedies. Properly un-
that in a correct reckoning one man is derstood, then, the definition marks the
neither better off nor worse off than end of the investigation of tragedy and
another. The hero's change of fortune, the beginning of the demonstration of
universalized, suggests that good and evil, its nature. But although the definition
the fundamental modes of experience, is the culmination of an admirable sci-
imply one another so necessarily that no entific method, its ending in a puzzling
one may hope to escape from the grief metaphor signalizes the inadequacy of
which is the counterpart of his gladness. Aristotle's attempt to explain tragedy by
And it is this power of poetry to uni- treating it as though it were charged with
versalize-to present a tragic hero as the feeling but lacking in meaning.
representative of mankind-which final- "Tragedy," says Aristotle, "is an imita-
ly lifts us, as we witness the rise and fall tion of an action that is serious, complete,
of a man like ourselves, above envy and and of adequate magnitude-in lan-
pity, filling us with a sense of an all- guage embellished in different ways in

12. ARISTOTLE'S STUDY OF TRAGEDY 125
different parts-in the form of action, ticular pleasure derived from its special
not of narration-through pity and ter- emotional effects, a poem which meets
ror effecting the purgation of these emo- the other tests may be positively identi-
tions." Here we have the kind of logi- fied as a tragedy by the pleasure it affords
cal definition, invented by Socrates and while purging us of the emotions of pity
perfected by Aristotle, which first places and terror.
the object to be defined in its proximate Interest in Aristotle's definition has
genus and then distinguishes it as a always centered on his concluding phrase
species by listing its specific differences. -"through pity and terror effecting the
Like all other forms of poetry, tragedy purgation of these emotions"-on the
is an imitation of an action: imitation famous metaphor which brings to an
is the genus to which tragedy, as one of anticlimax a study which, had it been
the imitative arts, belongs. The action guided only by a scientific method,
represented in a tragedy, however, has should have resulted in a clear, literal,
qualities which distinguish it from the and objective definition of tragedy.
actions represented in other arts and When we remember that Aristotle is nec-
other kinds of poetry. It is serious, com- essarily defining only Greek tragedy in
plete, and of adequate magnitude. A relation to Greek art and poetry, we
single incident of suffering or enjoying must admit that the early parts of his
may serve as material for a lyric poem or definition possess the qualities of scien-
a dramatic episode, but the action of a tific description. The concluding phrase
tragedy cannot be less than the series of manifests, however, a sharp break with
incidents, in probable or necessary se- his method. From a consideration of
quence, of a change of fortune. Unlike those qualities of tragedy which may be
the little ups and downs of comedy, objectively observed and analyzed, he
which can be laughable because they are turns suddenly to the effects of tragedy
trivial, the change of fortune of a tragedy as they are subjectively experienced by
is serious, with great and grave conse- the spectator. At the end of a series of
quences; therefore, a tragedy loses ef- generalizations, literally applicable to
fectiveness if its action is too brief to the individual tragedies from which they
make a serious impression or too long for have been derived by induction, he falls
its incidents, which reveal the probabil- back upon a metaphor suggested by the
ity or necessity of the change of fortune, science and art of medicine.
to be easily retained in memory. A
Though it does not take us far, prob-
(Greek) tragedy is composed of choral ably the only safe guide to the meaning
odes and dramatic episodes, and each of of Aristotle's medical metaphor is the
these is embellished in its own way, one passage in the Politics in which he dis-
with melody, the other with meter- cusses the place of music in education.
a point which further distinguishes
Many benefits, he tells us, are derived
(Greek) tragedy from other kinds of from music: some melodies are valuable
(Greek) poetry. Tragedy is distinguished aids in education; others offer relaxation
from epic and narrative poetry by its and recreation after exertion; and still
dramatic form: its main incidents are in others offer a restoring and healing pur-
the form of action taking place at the gation to those who are troubled by an
moment they are seen or read. And since excess of such feelings as religious en-
(presumably) each kind of poetry is thusiasm. This purgation, he goes on to
most clearly distinguished by the par- say, is an important function of art;

13. 126 EDUCATIONAL THEATRE JOURNAL
through catharsis those who are especial- der to passion and suppression of feel-
ly susceptible to pity, fear, and enthu- ing. The poets, Plato had charged, are
siasm, and all others in a lesser degree untrustworthy teachers. The poets, Aris-
of intensity, find a pleasurable relief. totle seems to reply, are to be judged, not
That is all we find in the passage, ex- as teachers, but as contributors to the
cept the promise that he will provide a emotional well-being of mankind. In-
fuller explanation of catharsis in his deed, the theory of catharsis is Aristotle's
study of poetry. solution to the ancient quarrel between
Since the Poetics, as we know it, fails poetry and philosophy: the poet is grant-
to keep this promise, some scholars have ed an honored function in the realm of
assumed that the part of the text con- the feelings, but the philosopher remains
taining the explanation has been lost. king in the realm of meaning.
Several considerations suggest reasonable If Aristotle's metaphor were alto-
loubts concerning this possibility. Al- gether clear and illuminating, we might
though parts of the Poetics may be miss- accept it as proof that philosophy and
ing, is it likely that the most important science must end, as they so often begin,
in poetry. Instead of a clear and full
part should be lost and completely for-
gotten? And since Aristotle's promised illumination, however, it provides an
explanation of catharsis would necessar- intriguing and tantalizing partial illumi-
nation: in it we find the question to be
ily trace this mysterious effect to its
causes, making possible a consideration answered rather than the answer to the
of the relative effectiveness of these causes question. This question presents an ap-
as they appear in particular tragedies, is parent paradox. The misfortunes of
it likely that Aristotle had worked out men like ourselves excite such unpleasant
an explanation of how pity and terror feelings as pity and terror, and yet the
are pleasurably purged and yet failed to total effect of tragedy is pleasing. Aris-
use it or to refer to it in any of the many totle recognizes this apparent paradox
scattered passages in which he discusses but fails to explain it. Although he dis-
how these emotions are effectively ex- cusses in detail the objective causes of
cited? It seems more likely that Aristotle, the spectator's pity and terror, judging
realizing that an explanation would the suitability of heroes, of plots, and of
raise the question of the meaning of the parts of plots by their effectiveness
tragedy, decided that his metaphor was in exciting these emotions, he nowhere
by itself sufficiently clear to serve its pur- points out the cause or causes of the
pose. catharsis which supposedly transforms
Although a metaphor is anticlimactic pity and terror into pleasure. His meta-
at the end of a scientific investigation, phor merely asserts that this transforma-
Aristotle's theory of catharsis, as it is ex- tion takes place; it contains no hint as to
plained in the passage in the Politics, ad- why it takes place. For this reason,
mirably suits his purposes in the study scholars who accept Aristotle's meta-
of poetry. It answers Plato's extreme phorical definition of tragedy are obliged
criticisms of poets and poetry. Poetry, to furnish their own explanations of its
Plato had charged, feeds the passions, meaning, with the result that there are
which should be starved. Poetry, Aris- said to be now available more than sixty
totle seems to reply, provides a healthful interpretations of the theory of catharsis.
emotional outlet, a beneficial mean be- The theory of catharsis, as Aristotle
tween the dangerous extremes of surren- presents it, ignores the manifest inten-

14. ARISTOTLE'S STUDY OF TRAGEDY 127
tion of the Greek tragic poets to demon- to afford the spectator a healthful but in-
strate the fundamental conditions of hu- explicable pleasure.
man destiny. Aeschylus, the inventor of Aristotle's preoccupation with the
tragedy, obviously regarded himself as a emotional effect of poetry obliged him
teacher of personal freedom and responsi- to ignore the plain and obvious fact that
bility and his tragedies as striking illus- every true tragedy is a demorstration of
trations of the divine justice which final the justice of the unalterable conditions
ly prevails in human affairs. Sophocles, of human experience. If he had been
by stressing the dignity and beauty of the willing to admit that the reason that
heroic human spirit, taught a religious tragedy leaves us at the end with a sense
acceptance of ordained events, however of reconciliation rather than with one of
terrible they may be. Euripides, the horror is that it affects both the mind
rebel and sceptic, was torn between a and the feelings by presenting a view of
desire to equal the triumphs of his prede- life in which the idea of justice is cen-
cessors in demonstrating the justice of tral, he might have avoided his puzzling
and unsatisfactory metaphor and con-
strange dooms and a desire to surpass
cluded his definition with a clear, literal,
them by using drama to expose the in-
and objective statement of its essential
justices of the status quo in society. Each
quality. "Tragedy," he might then have
poet developed a distinctive attitude or said, "is an imitation of an action that is
solution, but all aimed at the solution of serious, complete, and of adequate mag-
one and the same problem, the problem nitude-in language embellished in dif-
of justice; and it would be ridiculous to ferent ways in different parts-in the
say of any one of them that as an artist in form of action, not of narration"-re-
tragedy his purpose was merely to play vealing a just relation between good and
upon the emotions of the spectator or evil in the life of a representative man.