Thinking Activity: Worksheet: Aristotle's Poetics

Thinking Activity: Worksheet: Aristotle's Poetics

How far do you agree with Plato’s objection to freedom of expression and artistic liberty enjoyed by creative writers? Name the texts (novels, plays, poems, movies, TV soaps etc which can be rightfully objected and banned with reference to Plato’s objections)

Yes I am agree with Plato's objection to freedom of expression and artistic liberty enjoyed by creative writers.Freedom of expression is more important for creative writers.If we want to live freedom of life then we should follow Aristotle's views, But plato is right because there are so many T.V. Serial,movie are creating bad impressions in our mind and society.

There are some T. V serial, commercial advertisements are exaggerations of the actual products, they should be rightfully objected as for instance ads of various fairness creams like ‘only those people who use this product possessed real talents so rest shall also start to use that product.’ The real nonsense act is presented to fool the audiences.

Another example, in which the advertisement is of a sanitary napkin that a woman shoot as a journalist and the credit is given to sanitary napkin instead of that girl’s hard work and determined attitude.

Some advertisements fail to convey any logic. They go against the concept of Plato who says that the poet or artist should exercise his genius only on things really worthy of depiction. For instance, the advertisement of Fogg perfume where forcefully without any the rational idea it is conveyed “Aaj Kal Fogg chal Raha hai. "

Q. With reference to the literary texts you have studied during B.A. programme, write a brief note on the texts which followed Aristotelian literary tradition.

Arthur Miller’s “All my sons” is one of the texts which, in some ways, follow a tradition of the Aristotelian Tragedy as the tragic hero of the play; Joe Keller undergoes every major characteristic that a tragic hero of Aristotle faces.

Joe Keller fits in the frames of Aristotle’s concept a tragic hero- he is true to life, is consistent in his thoughts and actions, and is neither an outright saint nor a wicked criminal but a representative of normal human beings.

Another illustration is ‘Othello’- a tragedy of an ideal situation where a rather good man meets a terrible end. The hero is a moor with a higher rank, and speaks acts and does in a very probable way which gives the necessary outcome of his character. 

Othello is a man of action; his tragic flaw is extreme jealousy. It is this jealousy that leads to his catastrophic downfall. The villainous deeds of Iago and his constant poisoning of Othello’s ears with monstrous jealousy serve as a medium for murdering his own wife.Othello’s cruel act of murdering Desdemona arouses pity and fear in reader/spectator’s and causes catharsis in such a way that a group of emotions is disturbed.

With reference to the literary texts you have studied during B.A. programme, write brief note on the texts which did NOT follow Aristotelian literary tradition. (i.e. his concept of tragedy, catharsis, tragic hero with hamartia, etc.)

The text which did not follow the Aristotelian literary tradition is ‘The Hairy Ape’ as it does not have a hero of a higher rank; the tragedy is of a layman who suffers from a sense of belonging in the modern world.

According to Aristotle, a tragic hero must suffer because of an error of judgment and this fatal flaw leads to his downfall which causes catharsis.

The play ‘The Hairy Ape’ presents an antihero- Yank, an ideal stoker. He does not have any tragic flaw but he faces conflict with his surroundings and his insult by a wealthy lady Mildred Douglas turns Yank avenge upon her. He feels alienated and an outsider, especially when he is compared with an ape and he is called a ‘hairy ape’. He is constantly reminded that he ‘does not belong’. The subtitle ‘A comedy of Ancient and Modern World’ is a satirical title by Eugene O’Neill which fails to arouse pity and fear and thus catharsis is not as effective as the Aristotelian Tragedy. So it can be considered that “The Hairy Ape” does not follow Aristotelian literary tradition.