Hence, the Plot is the imitation of
the action- for by plot I here mean the arrangement of the
incidents. By Character I mean that in virtue of which we ascribe
certain qualities to the agents. Thought is required wherever a
statement is proved, or, it may be, a general truth enunciated.
Every Tragedy, therefore, must have six parts, which parts determine
its quality- namely, Plot, Character, Diction, Thought, Spectacle,
Song. Two of the parts constitute the medium of imitation, one the
manner, and three the objects of imitation. And these complete the
fist. These elements have been employed, we may say, by the poets to a
man; in fact, every play contains Spectacular elements as well as
Character, Plot, Diction, Song, and Thought.
But most important of all is the structure of the incidents. For
Tragedy is an imitation, not of men, but of an action and of life, and
life consists in action, and its end is a mode of action, not a
quality. Now character determines men's qualities, but it is by
their actions that they are happy or the reverse. Dramatic action,
therefore, is not with a view to the representation of character:
character comes in as subsidiary to the actions. Hence the incidents
and the plot are the end of a tragedy; and the end is the chief
thing of all. Again, without action there cannot be a tragedy; there
may be without character. The tragedies of most of our modern poets
fail in the rendering of character; and of poets in general this is
often true.
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