Criticism and Theory

1. Criticism and Theory Part A Before Twentieth Century

2. Western theatre originated in Athens and its drama has had a significant and sustained impact on Western culture as a whole.

3. 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.

4. Tragedy (late 6thcen 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.

5. Panoramic view of the Hellenic theatre at Epidaurus.

6. Aeschylus (c. 524/525 BC – c. 455/456 BC)

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

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

9. Aristophanes

10. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) Poetics Aristotle the biologist Discusses poetry

11. All Art is Mimesis • How is poetry different from other genres which imitate? Based on – • Media • Object, and • Mode

12. 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 dialogues

13. 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 - Cleophon

14. Mode of Imitation • Sometimes in narration and sometimes becoming someone else • Speaking in one’s own person without change • Actually doing things (dramatically)

15. Thus Species of poetry differentiated from other arts which rely on imitation • Through- • Media • Object, and • Mode

16. 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

17. 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 us

18. 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])

19. Development of Tragedy • Comedy → from phallic songs • Tragedy → from dithyramb (a wild choral hymn of ancient Greece, esp. one dedicated to Dionysius)

20. 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 painting

21. 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.

22. Evolution of Tragedy • III. Metre • Trochaic tetrameter→changed to trimeter (esp. in dancing sessions) • In speech iambic came to be used

23. Evolution of Tragedy • IV. Number of episodes – as plays evolved episodes increased in number

24. 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 comedies

25. 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 - Crates

26. 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 time

27. Chapter IINature 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.”

28. 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?

29. Qualitative elements of TragedyThere 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”

30. 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 anagnorisisare parts of plot • Novices find it most difficult to construct plot

31. 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 • surprise

32. Elements of Plots • Peripeteia (Reversal of action) • Anagnorisis (Recognition) • Pathos “an act involving destruction or pain”

33. Types of plot • Simple (without peripeteia and anagnorisis) 2. Complex (with peripeteia and anagnorisis)

34. 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) • Exode

35. 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?

36. 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 would satisfy our human feeling, but would not arouse pity & fear 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

37. 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 families

38. 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 man

39. Best Tragedy From good to bad In comedy Bitter enemies are reconciled & nobody is killed

40. Excellence in tragedy : Source of Tragic Effect • Not from spectacle, but from plot • What effects pity & fear? • Done by people closely connected with each other

41. 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 do

42. Excellence in tragedy: (2) Character (GARLIC) • Good (Morally) • (…a woman is good and so is a slave, though one is perhaps inferior, & the other generally speaking low grade!!!) • Appropriate • (…it is not suitable for a woman to be brave or clever in this way!!!) • Real, that is, life-like • Logically constructed • Idealized • Consistent

43. 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. oedipus

44. 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

45. 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.

46. 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 end

47. 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 spectacle

48. 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 actor

49. 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 something

50. Excellence in tragedy (4) verbal expression (diction) • Grammatical terms • Ways of classifying nouns • Poetic style