Principles & History of Literary Criticism – Chapter 2-Aristotle

Principles & History of Literary Criticism – Chapter 2 (Continued) – Relative Importance of Plot and Character in Tragedy – The Function of Tragedy “Catharsis” : The Purification Theory, The Ethical Interpretation, The Psychological Approach, The clarification Theory, Merits of the Clarification Theory, The proper pleasure of Tragedy – The Structure of the Tragic Plot : Plot as the soul of a Drama, The proper size of a plot, Organic unity, Simple and complex plots, A beginning a middle and an end, Tragic plot arouses emotions of pity and fear, Complication and denouement – The Three Unities : Aristotle emphasized only the Unity of Action, The Unity of Action, The Unity of Time, The Unity of Place – Aristotle’s Views on Comedy : Comedy as the reverse of the tragedy, Aristotle’s definition of comedy – Aristotle’s Views on Epic and Tragedy : A consideration of Epic and Tragedy, main difference between Epic and Tragedy, Aristotle’s preference for tragedy – Aristotle’s Contribution to Literary Criticism : Aristotle the father of western criticism, Limitations of Aristotle’s Criticism – Importance of “The Poetics” – Very helpful for students pursuing PG or MA in English