The Study Of Literary Criticism

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Examine the significance of Aristotle's views on the three unities. How far do
you agree with him?
The dramatic unities are three: the unity of action, the unity of time, and the unity of
place. Ever since the Renaissance two reasons were advanced in support of the three
unities. First, that Aristotle had enjoined them, and secondly, that, they are necessary to
create dramatic illusion and in this way to make the drama credible and convincing.
During the Pseudo-classical era, the unities were made into rigid rules and their
observance was considered essential.
In fact, Aristotle has stressed only one unity, that is, of action. According to him, the
action of a tragedy must be a complete whole and must have an organic unity. The
plot is like a living organism, and its every part should be related to the other part or
parts naturally and harmoniously. Various incidents must bear a proportionate and
harmonious relationship. There should be nothing superfluous. It should not be possible
to take out any character or incident, without causing any injury to the plot. Digression
and episodes may be introduced but then they should be integral to the plot.
Aristotle regards 'episodic plots' as the worst, for they are plots in which the episodes
have not properly been interlinked with the main design and do not form an organic part
of the whole.
It is the unity of action which makes the plot intelligible, coherent, and individual.
The events and incidents are connected with each other logically and inevitably on the
principle of probability; they move towards a common goal, the Catastrophe, aimed at
by the dramatist. The beginning leads logically and inevitably lo the end, without any
unnecessary digressions and episodes coming in between, without there being any
detached scenes or incidents.
Aristotle's comment on the length of tragedy gave rise to the doctrine or Unity of
Time. According to some critics, when Aristotle asserts that tragedy attempts, as far as
possible, to remain within one revolution of the sun, he is referring to the time covered
by the dramatic action of the play. The neo-classicists believe that the spectators would
not believe in the reality of an action that compressed several days or years into a
three-hour drama. And if the spectators did not believe in the reality of an action that
the tragedy would not have its proper effect. The idea was carried to absurd extremes.
Prof. Syed Naveed H. Gilani
Supreme school system
M.A.Eng (Pb), A.D.A.L (NUML)
Capital Road, Sialkot
Contact.03006124243, 052-4271727

The Study Of Literary Criticism

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The tendency of the twentieth-century critics has been to reject the notion that Aristotle
formally advocated Unity of Time in the Poetics. In the first place, not all Greek
tragedies confine their action to a single revolution of the sun, in this sense The
Agamemnon and Eumenides are well-known examples of plays that cover several days.
Secondly,the neo-classic theory of verisimilitude recommending the unity of time is a
false theory of 'copying' different from Aristotle's theory of imitation. Thirdly, there have
been plays violating the unity of time and yet have been successful in arousing pity and
fear.
Aristotle does not even mention the unity of place. He merely says that the epic may
narrate several actions taking place simultaneously at several places, but this is not
possible in tragedy which does not narrate it enacts the action. This remark led the
Renaissance critics to hoist the unity of place on Aristotle, and on the basis of his
authority to make it into a rigid rule for dramatic composition. It was said that in drama
there should be no change of place, and even if the scene changes it must not be too
great a distance. No doubt, the Unity of place was generally observed by the Greek
writers of tragedy for several obvious reasons. There were no drop-scenes, and no
division into Acts and Scenes, and so naturally the action was continuous and unbroken.
But by this should not be meant that Aristotle prescribed the unity of place. The plays of
the Elizabethans incorporate scenes of various places and action and their plays moves
from one city to another city, from one country to another.
Hence the unity of action is the higher and controlling law of the drama. If the unity
of action is maintained, the other two unities will take care of themselves. The unities of
time and place are only of a secondary and purely derivative values. In England, Dr.
Johnson gave a death blow to the unities, and nothing has been heard of them ever
since. Their interest now is merely historical.

Prof. Syed Naveed H. Gilani

Supreme school system
M.A.Eng (Pb), A.D.A.L (NUML)
Capital Road, Sialkot
Contact.03006124243, 052-4271727