Today, I’m only travelling a short distance through Aristotle’s poetics. He is again presenting us with a series of definitions, but these definitions are highly practical (at least until we get to book XII which, I think, can be skipped without any real loss occurring). If we use these definitions as a guide, we gain some great insights into what makes a successful scene.
POETICS BOOK X
Simple and Complex Plots
Aristotle makes a really useful distinction here.A simple plot is made of events in sequence. A complex plot involves reversal and/or recognition.
For Aristotle, the difference lies in whether events follow one “after” another in time (are post hoc) or whether events happen “because of” one another (propter hoc).
E. M. Forster’s famous distinction between story and plot provides a useful illustration; “‘The king died and then the queen died’ is a story,” Forster writes. “The king died, and then the queen died of grief’ is a plot”.
More recently, the creators of South Park (Matt Stone and Trey Parker) have expressed the idea in a similar fashion;
When you have a set of story beats (or an outline in other words) and you can put the words “and then” in-between each one – the story fails to grip. That’s boring.
However, if in-between each story beat you can put the words “but” or “therefore” then you have a story in which the events taking place are reacting to each other. The story/plot builds momentum and tension based on everything else that has happened previously, not because of the arbitrary whims of the writer.
POETICS BOOK XI
Peripatea, Anagnorisis, and Pathos
Aristotle introduces three important concepts here; “Peripatea” or reversal, “Anagnorisis” or recognition, and “Pathos” or strong emotion.
As usual, Aristotle is concerned with definitions first, but good stories make use of all three of these plot elements, often in the same scene.
Peripatea
An action occurs but achieves the opposite of its intention – this is reversal.
Reversals are pretty straight forward. A character has an intention that drives their action, but the opposite of the intention results; John sets out to capture a burglar (intention), but is arrested at the scene of the crime by the police (opposite).
Anagnorisis
An action occurs that results in insight, revelation, or understanding – this is recognition.
Recognition occurs where someone discovers something significant about another person – and for Aristotle, recognition nearly always involves discoveries about people in particular (though it can, less usefully, involve discoveries about objects as well); John discovers that Mary is related to every one of the murder victims.
Pathos
An action occurs that results in a strong empathic reaction (the feeling of disgust, sympathy, fear, horror, etc.) in the audience – this is strong emotion.
Strong emotion (in the audience) results where the action involves injury to the individual; John is captured and tortured by the antagonist, losing an eye in the process.
If a scene fails to include at least one of these elements, it fails to be an interesting scene. The success of a scene is heightened by doubling up on these elements.
What is the test of a good scene?
Here are some questions we can apply to our evaluation; Does the action follow causally from what has preceded it? Has something changed by the end of it? Does our audience feel something intense? Have the characters discovered something important about someone? Have the characters experienced a reversal/setback?
If the scene achieves none of the above – that is, there has been no material change to the circumstances of the characters by its conclusion – then the scene itself is a failure, is unnecessary, and should be cut out of the story.
POETICS BOOK XII
The Parts of the Tragedy
This section doesn’t seem particularly helpful (and should probably be ignored). It relates very specifically to the formal structure of Greek plays – a product of their time with little relevance to our present. It is, as you have probably guessed, another set of definitions about the elements of the play.
For the sake of completeness I’ll summarize them here:
Prologue
Extends from the opening of the play to the first full performance by the chorus.
Episode
Those scenes of the tragedy that take place between choric performances.
Exode
Extends from the final choric performance to the end of the play.
Chorus
The choric performances are divided into two parts: the parode, the first full performance of the chorus while it is processing into the stage area, and the stasima, the choric performances that alternate with the episodes of dialogue by the actors.
Commos
A performance within the tragedy in which both actors and chorus take part.
And with that, we at last we leave the preliminary definitions behind and get into what Aristotle advises writers regarding the construction of drama. See you in a couple of weeks.
Next time, we’ll begin to examine the construction of drama in detail.
Copyright Philip Craig Robotham © 2021 .
