Understanding Aristotle's Views on Art

"Art for art's sake"; an ideal explanation of art when one cannot understand its purpose - an ideal killed through the works of Aristotle. To Aristotle, art (more so focusing on tragic and comedic plays) serves a purpose beyond sheer entertainment. While each form of artistic expression is different, a tragic play exposes the greater meaning of art. Aristotle explains the function of art through his examination and explanation of the purpose and effects of a tragic play.

To understand the purpose of a tragic play, one must first understand the beginnings of poetry and art. To Aristotle, "Imitation is natural to man from childhood...
and man "learns at first by imitation" (99). He also believes that "Epic poetry and Tragedy...are all, viewed as a whole, modes of imitation." (97). Connecting the two, it becomes clear that he believes that humans use poetry and tragedy (both kinds of art), using imitation, as a mode of education. Because art is a form of imitation, and man learns from imitation, he can use art to further his understanding, which happens throughout life. To learn something "is the greatest of pleasures not only to the philosopher but also to the rest of mankind...", and because of this humans "delight to view the most realistic representations of [them in] art", even when "the objects themselves may be painful to see" (Aristotle 100). In essence, man can gain knowledge of life from more than just reading and being "preached at" so to speak, but by witnessing and a feeling of pain from emotion. This is the basis of a tragic play, as a tragedy "is an imitation not only of a complete action, but also of incidents arousing pity and fear" (Aristotle 107).

A tragedy uses the painful emotions of pity and fear to serve a higher purpose. Pity, at its base, is the viewing of and horror of witnessing something evil. This evil generally happens to "one who does not deserve it, and which we might expect to befall ourselves or some friend of ours...", and invokes thought and understanding of the realities of life (Aristotle 129). When feeling pity, a general sense of connection is felt, as one can picture themselves in a similar situation. The idea that this could happen at any time to a loved one or to one's self is what causes pity. When someone is already in pain, they cannot feel the emotion because "they are taken up with what is happening to themselves" (Aristotle 130).

Fear, on the other hand, is the emotion that can cause someone to be afraid of this evil and destructive possibility. Not only may fear be felt due to an uncontrollable destruction, but may also be felt by a vulnerability to others. Fear may be felt toward "those who have the power to do something to us" as well as toward "people who are to be feared by stronger people than ourselves" (Aristotle 126-127). When someone feels powerless, they are vulnerable to fear, as the thought of being affected by something outside of personal control (whether it be physical, emotional, or by nature) leaves one feeling helpless and scared. Aristotle views confidence as the opposite of fear. When one "can take steps - many, or important, or both - to cure or prevent trouble", he feels confident, as well as when he is virtuous and is treated kindly (Aristotle 128). Confidence breeds in numbers, especially when "those whose interest is the same as ours are the more numerous party, or the stronger, or both" (Aristotle 128). When one is surrounded in these conditions, confidence is more easily obtained, as it is easier to feel confident and safe when amongst those who feel the same or are supportive of one another. Those who are confident are relaxed when encountering danger, but when they do experience and are affected by an uncontrollable evil, fear will again exist.

Pity and fear are evoked through the tragic play; each tragic play must follow the same general idea to be successful. While Aristotle details the parts of a tragic play extensively, there are two aspects of a play that stand as more important to the provocation of pity and fear: the plot as well as the characters. The plot, also known as the fable, is labeled by Aristotle as "the most important thing in a Tragedy" (104). The plot is the sequence of events in a play; if this sequence of events is not complete and whole, it cannot be seen as imitating life - the way in which tragic plays "teach" mankind. When talking about a play, to be "whole" means "that which has beginning, middle, and end," as viewing each portion in the life of a character makes the personal connection that much easier (Aristotle 105). There are two portions of the plot which Aristotle explains in detail, should guide the story to evoke the emotions in the best way possible. Peripety is, simply, a change in mood; a change from "one state of things within the play to its opposite" (108). This is the changing point of the plot, when the sudden evil or sadness begins to befall certain characters. For those who are familiar with the tragic play Oedipus, Aristotle describes the peripety of that play as when "the messenger, who, coming to gladden Oedipus and to remove his fears as to his mother, reveals the secret of his birth" (108). Discovery, the second part of the plot, is when the character understands and grasps the evil concept, going from "ignorance to knowledge" (Aristotle 108). According to Aristotle, these two parts are what should arouse pity and fear (108).

In what Aristotle considers "the finest form of a Tragedy," the plot needs to be complex and imitate actions arousing pity and fear; this means that "a good man must not be seen passing from happiness to misery, or, a bad man from misery to happiness" (109). This also means that "an extremely bad man [should not] be seen falling from happiness into misery" (109). These three scenarios cannot be done because man would not feel pity or fear from watching a good person feel evil (because they do not deserve it). He would also not feel pity and fear when a bad mad befalls good fortune, and he certainly would not feel anything but happiness when a completely evil man becomes miserable. These scenarios must be avoided, and in doing so, one must focus on the character portion of the tragic play.

To evoke pity and fear, a character must be someone "whose misfortune...is brought upon him not by vice and depravity but by some error of judgment," simply because it is by unknowing actions that the evil happens; man can identify and connect with the idea of consequences from an unintentional error of judgment (Aristotle 109). It is incredibly important that the audience members be able to see themselves in the position of the characters on the stage; if they cannot do so, they will not feel fear or pity, because the emotions of fear and pity are all about the realism of the evil. Aristotle lists four important points for a character in a tragic play. The character "shall be good", meaning that what they say or do "reveals a certain moral purpose; and a good element of character" (112). A character should also be made "appropriate", as well as "like reality" and "consistent" (112). These points are important because they all focus on the same idea; characters must mimic real people. They must be like the average man in the audience, because the audience must be able to make the connection. Man learns through imitation, and being able to place ones' self in the position of someone falling into misery is important to the "catharsis" of both fear and pity (Aristotle 102).

It has been quoted and mentioned numerous times that Aristotle believes the catharsis (release) of pity and fear is the point of a tragic play. If a play does not evoke pity and fear in the members of the audience, then it has a failed at its purpose. These emotions help man understand what he cares about; what is precious in life, and what is important to him. But how does the release of fear and pity reveal such things? When one has fear of evil or destruction, they subconsciously realize what is important to them. If they fear loss of life, or losing a loved one, it forces them to understand that life is important to them, as well as those they fear to lose. Pity does the same thing, as when one feels bad because someone is in a precarious position and can see one's self in the same position, it helps to identify virtue (as one feels bad for characters who have made an error in judgment and realize their error) and re-affirms what one cherishes and cares for in life. This is the basic purpose of a tragic play, according to Aristotle, as "the finest form of a Tragedy...must imitate actions arousing fear and pity, since that is the distinctive function of this kind of imitation" (109).

Fear and pity bring knowledge and reminders to man about life in order to ground him and keep him level with reality. The purpose of a tragic play is to release the emotions of fear and pity in the audience, so the emotions can be felt and the lessons can be learned (or refreshed). Tragic plays are executed to invoke a connection with the audience; they do this by being a pure form of imitation. Man learns from imitation in all aspects of life; Aristotle argues that because of this, art is a form of learning. Art (like a tragic play) is imitation, and because we learn from imitation, art is an outlet for learning and teaching. Through the description of a tragic play, Aristotle hints at a larger, universal meaning for art; that it can be used for creativity, but also as a tool for learning, to educate and bring the masses to a more virtuous life.

Bibliography

Aristotle. "The Imitative Art of Poetry". Philosophies of Art and Beauty.

Ed. Albert Hofstadter and Richard Kuhns. University of Chicago Press:

Chicago, IL. 1964. 97-125.

Aristotle. "Fear and Pity". Hofstadter and Kuhns 126-131.