The parts
of Tragedy to be used as formative elements in the whole we have
already mentioned; the above are its parts from the point of view of
its quantity, or the separate sections into which it is divided.
13
The next points after what we have said above will be these: (1) What
is the poet to aim at, and what is he to avoid, in constructing his
Plots? and (2) What are the conditions on which the tragi.e.fect
depends?
We assume that, for the finest form of Tragedy, the Plot must be not
simple but complex; and further, that it must imitate actions arousing
pity and fear, since that is the distinctive function of this kind of
imitation. It follows, therefore, that there are three forms of Plot
to be avoided. (1) A good man must not be seen passing from happiness
to misery, or (2) a bad man from misery to happiness.
The first situation is not fear-inspiring or piteous, but simply
odious to us. The second is the most untragic that can be; it has no
one of the requisites of Tragedy; it does not appeal either to the
human feeling in us, or to our pity, or to our fears. Nor, on the
other hand, should (3) an extremely bad man be seen falling from
happiness into misery.
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