Thinking and Dictating the Spectacle and Melody of Tragedy

“A tragedy, then, is the imitation of an action that is serious and also having magnitude, complete in itself… in a dramatic, not in a narrative form; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its catharsis of such emotions.”
–Aristotle (Poetics, p.684)

Talk about Tragedy..yah… It is a fad in the Philippines… Tragic political, economic, education and peace and order situation… You name it, the Philippines has it. Isn’t it tragic?... tsk.tsk.

Tragedy also has a good side. Oh yeah… Let us talk about plays. Tragedy as a play. It has elements and its own complication that the writers or critics should consider. Aristotle discussed about the six formative elements of Tragedy in his Poetics. Dramatists should take into consideration these six elements namely: plot, characters, thought, diction, melody, and spectacle.

Plot is the most important element of Tragedy. It is its soul. It is the combination of the incidents of the story – the action. Plot is more important than the characters. A tragedy may exist without characters but it cannot stand without the plot. The characters only portray the actions and moral purpose of the agents required by the plot.

Thought is considered as the third most important element of Tragedy. It is the power of saying whatever can be said, or what is appropriate to the occasion. The thought in its simplest sense is what the plot tells us. It is somehow its idea or main notion. It includes mental procedure and is reflected in the characters’ actions. Basically, it is about thinking.

Diction is merely the composition of the verses. It is how the verses are written -- what form it is and how its parts were constructed. As I understand it, it is what we call script or the lines of the characters in a play. According to Aristotle, it has eight parts namely: the Letter, the Article, the Noun, the Verb, the Case and the Speech. It is somehow a review of grammar and composition. The parts are basically the script being dissected.

The fifth element of Tragedy is the melody. However, it was not given so much attention in Aristotle’s Poetics. It was mentioned that melody is a mean of imitation, what is too completely understood to require explanation and the greatest of the pleasurable accessories (with rhythm and harmony or song superadded) of Tragedy. Frankly speaking, I did not understand Aristotle on this. However, as what I can see lying on the surface of the Poetics, it is basically auditory. Just like the melody in music, it is composed of musical expressions that are pleasing to the ears and which are in accordance with the plot. In this sense, Tragedy is musical.

The sixth or the last element of Tragedy is the spectacle. Spectacle, though an attraction, is the least artistic of all the parts and has least to do with the art of poetry. The spectacle is the public performance or stage appearance of the actors – it is visual. According to Aristotle, the tragic effect is quite possible without a public performance and actors; besides, the getting-up of the Spectacle is more a matter for the costumier than the poet. Thus, it is considered as an unimportant part of the Tragedy.

Tragedy is a dramatic genre in Western theatre that presents the heroic or moral struggle of an individual, culminating in his or her ultimate defeat. (Microsoft ® Encarta ® Premium Suite 2005. © 1993-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.) Indeed, this kind of play includes too much emotion. Its audience is expected to sympathize with the characters and to relate to the actions and to produce emotions such as what the actors are portraying.

Tragedy was at its best in Aristotle’s hands.