Greek
Aristotle and the Unities *Unity of time
*Unity of place
*Unity of action
Time:
- Greek depicted a story that spanned one day
- Has beginning middle and end
Place:
- stage represents action in ONE place
Action:
- action that strayed from play was not included; no play within a play
-each scene should contribute directly to progression of play
-no chance or coincidence
Aristotle's Plot
*Violence is not portrayed on stage
Character
-Tragic hero brings about his own downfall, he has little control of his own plight
-In ancient Greece, tragedy is influenced by fate, god, etc
-hero may or may not die
- suffering is bad as dying
-hero must understand his doom (simple versus complex)
Aristotle's Influence => Shakespearean
* an explicit link to Aristotle influence in Shakespeare arguably does not exist
* Shakespeare did not know Greek and ancient text were just being rediscovered
* Shakespeare didn't have access to information
Shakespearean Tragedy
*Hero dies
*relatives die because of a excess of a trait (Ex: pride jealousy, greed)
* Hero contributes directly to the disaster from which he dies (while, Aristotle => Fate)
Shakespearean Tragedy Cont.
*less to do with how small man is in the world and how little he has to do with his own fate
* Catastrophe - is the result of a deed or action, and action is result of mans character
Shakespearean Character
*tragic hero
* Some argue that its a mistake to call the hero's flaw a "tragic flaw" because he is predisposed to the trait which could also a characters virtue => which in different circumstances leads to downfall
* Character CHOOSES not to do anything about his flaw
Shakespearean Plot
*allows chance
*hero may encounter circumstances that when combined w/ chance occurrences lead to circumstances that are beyond the hero's control
Opinions of Shakespeare
-argued whether it was correct during Shakespeare's time because it did reflect Aristotle's work
-Shakespeare did not have access to the information or documents
Shakespearean Tragedy
-British tragedy
-Renaissance tragedy
-Shakespearean tragedy
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