Poetics

Poetics had an immeasurable effect on the art following it. Where do you see Aristotle’s influence in a more recent work of art? How might some of the ideas here trickle down to the present day? What’s the most Aristotelian tragedy you can find in a novel or a movie from the past ten years?

Think about a classic piece of literature with which you are familiar (think: Shakespeare, Milton, Chaucer, etc.). How does the author respond to—or react against—some of Aristotle’s precepts, such as unity or the believability of tragic characters?

Poetics is a fragmentary text: The whole section on comedy is missing. Imagine that you’re writing an additional section of Poetics to examine the nature of comedy today. Try to follow Aristotle’s logical progression: What are the parts of a comedy? What’s most essential to the form? How do you make a good one? What mistakes do people make in constructing comedies?