Here by 'Diction' I mean merely this, the
composition of the verses; and by 'Melody', what is too completely
understood to require explanation. But further: the subject
represented also is an action; and the action involves agents, who
must necessarily have their distinctive qualities both of character
and thought, since it is from these that we ascribe certain qualities
to their actions. There are in the natural order of things, therefore,
two causes, Character and Thought, of their actions, and consequently
of their success or failure in their lives. Now the action (that which
was done) is represented in the play by the Fable or Plot. The Fable,
in our present sense of the term, is simply this, the combination of
the incidents, or things done in the story; whereas Character is what
makes us ascribe certain moral qualities to the agents; and Thought is
shown in all they say when proving a particular point or, it may be,
enunciating a general truth. There are six parts consequently of every
tragedy, as a whole, that is, of such or such quality, viz. a Fable or
Plot, Characters, Diction, Thought, Spectacle and Melody; two of them
arising from the means, one from the manner, and three from the
objects of the dramatic imitation; and there is nothing else besides
these six.
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