Aristotle's Poetics & Hamlet
Hamlet Analyzed in Terms of Aristotle's Poetics Aristotle's Poetics is considered the guide to a well written tragedy; his methods have been used for centuries. In Aristotle's opinion, plot is the most important aspect of the tragedy, all other parts such as character, diction, and thought stem from the plot. Aristotle defines a tragedy as "...an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions"(p. 22). Shakespeare's Hamlet follows this definition for the most part, and even though it is not always in agreement with Aristotle's guidelines, it is still a great and Aristotle states that tragedy is "an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude"(p. 22). Hamlet is an excellent example of this. The play centers around Hamlet's quest to avenge his father's death, this is a serious action. It is also complete in the sense that all the loose ends are
The Recognition occurs when the play within the play is staged for the king. As the plot progresses, it becomes clear that the king is plotting to kill Hamlet and Hamlet is planning to kill the king. Shakespeare broke some of Aristotle's rules and still wrote an effective tragedy that has been appreciated by audiences for centuries. From this, the audience is able to infer that Hamlet will attempt to kill his uncle later in the play. Aristotle stresses that diction is important to make the tragedy believable. He is also unsure of himself and how he should handle the situation. For instance, Aristotle states that in a great tragedy, there should be unity of time, place, and action. There is an obvious and necessary difference between the way he speaks and the way the gravediggers speak. The gravediggers are common men and therefor, speak as thought they are common men. He has done nothing to bring about his father's death. For instance, the whole aspect of the subplot about Ophelia's insanity adds so much to the play. It is accompanied by Recognition, which is "a change from ignorance to knowledge, producing love or hate between the persons destined by the poet for good or bad fortune"(p. He is confused, paranoid, and angered about the circumstances surrounding his father's death.
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