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Tragedy Notes

According to Aristotle, there are six key elements of a tragedy: 1. Plot - The plot must have a beginning, middle, and end, with a complication that leads to a climax where the hero's fortunes change for the worse. 2. Character - The tragic hero should have a tragic flaw and bring about their own downfall, undergoing a change in fortune. 3. Thought - The dialogue should move the plot forward. 4. Diction - The language used should be appropriate for the plot, characters, and ending of the tragedy. 5. Song/Melody - The chorus should be integrated into the play like a character and help move the plot. 6

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472 views

Tragedy Notes

According to Aristotle, there are six key elements of a tragedy: 1. Plot - The plot must have a beginning, middle, and end, with a complication that leads to a climax where the hero's fortunes change for the worse. 2. Character - The tragic hero should have a tragic flaw and bring about their own downfall, undergoing a change in fortune. 3. Thought - The dialogue should move the plot forward. 4. Diction - The language used should be appropriate for the plot, characters, and ending of the tragedy. 5. Song/Melody - The chorus should be integrated into the play like a character and help move the plot. 6

Uploaded by

Tyler Folkedahl
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Tragedy

How to be perfect according to Aristotle


First things first, if you dont know, Aristotle is a Greek Philosopher who believed that Oedipus
was the model tragedy. Heres why!

Two main parts of a Drama
1. A complication that begins with the inciting incident, and at some point the chain of
events reaches a climax where the heros fortune turns from good to bad.
2. The unravelling of the chain of events is the end of the transformation that begins the
climax.
Tragedy Depicts the downfall of a noble hero or heroin (usually through the will of fate
and the gods). The heros powerful wish to accomplish a goal causes him/her to
encounter limits, usually flaws in reason, society, or the gods.
The hero of a tragedy should have a tragic flaw and make some mistake. In an ideal tragedy, the
hero brings about his/her own downfall.
The hero does not have to die, but he or she must undergo a change in fortune.
The hero must achieve some revelation or recognition about human fate, destiny, or the gods. A
change from ignorance to awareness.

Aristotle wrote that every tragedy has 6 parts:
1. Plot: The arrangement of the incidents.
Must be a whole with a beginning, middle, and end.
The beginning is the incentive moment (intrusion)
Middle The Climax
End Resolution
The best plot is complex and single (doesnt follow multiple story lines) It has a
very strong ending, rather than double with opposite endings.
A complex plot includes:
Reversal occurs when a situation seems to be headed in one direction
and suddenly goes in another
Recognition a change from ignorance to awareness, a bond of love or
hate is forged
Suffering A destructive or painful act, often the result of recognition or
reversal. All tragedies depend on suffering to elicit pain or fear.
2. Character: In a perfect tragedy, character will support the plot. Personal motivations
will be intricately connected parts of the chain of actions & cause and
effect.
Should have the following qualities
Must be good and manifest moral purpose in speech
Must have valor
Must be true to life
Must be consistent
3. Thought: The dialogue itself. Should be specific all the time. Anything that moves t
the plot along.
4. Diction: The expression and meaning of words that are proper and appropriate to
plot, characters, and end of tragedy. METAPHOR (i dont know)
5. Song/Melody: Chorus should be fully integrated into the play like a character. Chorus
helps move the plot along.
6. Spectacle: Anything presented in front of the audience.

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