Riassunto
Trama e riassunto di Poetica
A chi è rivolto
For readers of plays, novels and films who love exploring why stories grip us, and students of literature or writing interested in plot, character and the emotions stirred by tragedy.
Che cos’è questo libro
What makes a story grip you? Two thousand years before film school, Aristotle set out to answer that. The Poetics is a short treatise, and it is the oldest surviving work that explains how poetry and drama work. Aristotle wrote partly in reply to his teacher Plato, who doubted that poets tell the truth. Poetry teaches and pleases, and its craft can be studied like any other. His tools still shape how writers and critics think today.
In questo riassunto
- 1All poetry begins in imitationFree
- 2Tragedy is built from six parts
- 3A good plot is whole and probable
- 4Reversal and recognition move the plot
- 5Character, thought and language need care
- 6Epic, tragedy and a long afterlife
Punto chiave 1 di 6
All poetry begins in imitation
Aristotle opens by saying that epic, tragedy, comedy and music are all forms of imitation. It means making a likeness of human life.
He gives two natural causes for poetry. People imitate from childhood, and it is how we learn our first lessons. We also all take pleasure in imitations, even a very accurate picture of something that would pain us in life.
For the reader today, the lesson is that stories are a basic human way of understanding, not a luxury.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 15,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 1 h
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 13 other languages
Questions about Poetica
What is the Poetics of Aristotle about?
It is a short treatise on poetry, mostly on tragedy and epic. Aristotle explains what poetry is, how a good plot is built, what kind of hero stirs pity and fear, and how language and character should work.
What does catharsis mean in Aristotle's Poetics?
Catharsis is the effect Aristotle says tragedy has on the audience through pity and fear. Scholars read it as purging, purification or clarification of emotion, and they still debate which meaning he intended.
What is hamartia in Aristotle's Poetics?
Hamartia is the error that brings down the tragic hero.
Is the Poetics hard to read?
No. Aristotle builds his argument step by step, in short parts, and he uses examples from stories he praises, such as Oedipus and the Odyssey. His examples keep the discussion close to stories, so you can follow it.
Did Aristotle write about comedy in the Poetics?
He promised to treat comedy, and a second book on it is believed to have existed, but it has not survived. The surviving text deals mainly with tragedy and epic, with only brief remarks on comedy.