Unlike the philosopher before him (Plato), Aristotle is completely embellished in the fact that the art of imitation is inherently, natural. He goes on to say that, "[t]he instinct for imitation is inherent in human beings from our earliest days....Also inborn in all of us is the instinct to enjoy works of imitation"(60). Taking this into consideration, Fox's own series, House M.D., is imitation. Greggory House M.D., is not a real doctor, and neither are any of the other actors who serve as House's "team." However, any one person who watches this show and enjoys it, is not of any fault in doing so. This is because Aristotle has made it clear that imitation is a simply a force of human nature.
In Aristotle's Poetics, he presents fine guidelines as to what exactly constitutes a good tragedy.According to Aristotle's "Description of Tragedy", "[t]ragedy...is a representation of an action that is serious, complete and of some magnitude; in a language that is pleasurably embellished...presented in the form of action, not narration; by means of pity and fear bringing about the catharsis of such emotions"(64).To better understand the meat of Aristotle's teachings on tragedies, let's first observe a clip from House M.D., when a team member by the name of Kutner, dies.
Kutner's Death
In relation to Kutner's death, the audience is concerned more about what is taking place within the scene, as opposed as to the actual characters. Thus, the action is serving to prove more important. As Aristotle points out, plot and its series of events (a beginning, a middle and an end), is what is a necessity in making a good tragedy. At the same time, the plot must also be "of a reasonable length, so they may be easily held in memory"(67). The clip shown serves approximately at a length of nearly 2 minutes. Easily then, the audience can remember exactly the moments leading up to finding Kutner dead. The beginning starts with #13 and Foreman entering Kutner's apartment, the middle being the moments leading up to #13 seeing his lifeless body and attempting to perform CPR, and the end is when both Foreman and #13 sit down in sudden realization that their friend is in fact, deceased.
To point out further, Aristotle is set on the ideal of catharsis. Bearing that in mind, "...tragedy is the representation not only of a complete action but also of incidents that awaken fear and pity, and effects of this kind are heightens when things happen unexpectedly..."(70). And in addition to this, he also describes that when there is a change of ignorance to knowledge, it reveals the suffering of the cathartic act. Without suffering, there is no real tragedy. Clearly, when observing the clip of Kutner's death, there is that moment of catharsis. The pair sitting down in the pool of blood comes into suffering, now with the knowledge of their friend's death. And like Aristotle suggested, the misfortunes that happen, should happen to good men. Kutner was a doctor and showed no warning signs of his demise. His death to the audience, to the character were thus, unexpected but possible for there is reasoning that he ended his life.
Classical literary criticism. London: Penguin, 2000. 57-97. Print.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Dear Ashley:
ReplyDeleteYour post is very interesting! I think it’s important to keep in mind Aristotle’s claim that “tragedy represents the probable rather than the actual, but in doing so it deepens our understanding of the world in which we live” (xxxii). If we take this claim as truth, then Plato’s theory that tragedy (or any other form of imitation) is irrational becomes less valid, somehow. Would you agree? Plato regards tragedy as harmful since it stimulates emotions that he believes should be suppressed; on the other hand, Aristotle believes this stimulation of our emotions is advantageous to the audience. I don’t know, but I think I might have to side with Aristotle on this one. People go through multiple emotions every single day, and for Aristotle, “it is important that we learn to have correct emotional responses” (xxxiv). Perhaps tragedy offers its audience a way to learn to respond, and maybe even control, their emotional responses to sorrow and loss. Since we are exposed to so much tragedy in so many different genres every single day, we have learned to accept it as part of life, somehow. In this acceptance, we have learned to control our emotions. And isn’t this what Plato wanted in the first place?
I must agree with you. In seeing tragedies, I believe that much strength can be harnessed from them! Because we can feel this sort of cathartic release from such things like this, when it comes time for us to experience this, it isn't as hard; we're desensitized. But I must say that I never really believe with Plato, because like Hitler, he was a hypocrite. Where is the credibility in that?
ReplyDelete