Analysis of The Poetics - Chapter 11

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There are three important elements of the fable (plot). These are reversal, recognition and scenes of suffering. Peripety or reversal is the happening of something opposite to what is expected. Thus the messenger in Oedipus who comes to Oedipus to ally his fears about his mother eventually reveals his true identity. Next element is Recognition. Recognition as the name suggests is the change from ignorance to knowledge. This leads to the change of feeling of either love or of hate depending upon the goodness or badness of the fortune of the character. Recognition can come any where in the play but it is best when it is followed by reversal. Recognition can also be of different kinds, it can be animated or trivial. It can also be the knowledge of the fact that whether a person did something or not. However the most important form of recognition is the one which is mentioned by Aristotle in the beginning. Recognition when followed by reversal arouses the emotions of pity and fear in the minds of the audience. The reversal and the recognition are the most important elements of the plot and it is these two which decide whether the play would have a happy or an unhappy ending. Recognition can be of two types depending upon the revelation of the identity of the characters. It can be one sided or both sided. It will be one sided if only one character gets to know about the real identity of the other character. Similarly it will be both sided if both the characters get to know about the real identity of the other. The third element of the fable is scenes of suffering. These scenes are performed on the stage in order to arouse the emotions of pity and fear in the audience. The scenes of suffering may include death, heavy wounding, great suffering and the like.

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