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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page paper which explains the importance and significance of 'The Unities' in the development of literary structure, as interpreted by Aristotle and John Dryden and its implications as to how people may read literature in the future. Bibliography lists 2 sources.
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5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_Unities.doc
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studied and implemented ever since. Before Aristotle, literature was merely accepted as an eloquent assemblage of words. As the scientist he was, Aristotle dissected the literary form to
expose the individual components which enabled it to work as a whole. Like his contemporaries, Renaissance poet and critic John Dryden was heavily influenced by Aristotle in both his
art and dramatic criticism. It was the ancient style of Aristotle which influenced Drydens interpretation of modern poetic structure. In Poetics, Aristotle is primarily concerned with establishing the criteria
of a tragedy, which was a popular ancient literary form. According to Aristotle, "Tragedy is an imitation of an action that is complete and whole" (7). He continued
to explain that this whole needed to consist of a beginning, middle and an end which was essential in establishing the continuity of the piece. Aristotle further explained, "A
beginning is that which does not itself follow anything by causal necessity, but after which something naturally is or comes to be. An end, on the contrary, is that which
itself naturally follows some other thing, either by necessity, or as a rule, but has nothing following it. A middle is that which follows something as some other thing follows
it. A well constructed plot, therefore, must neither begin nor end at haphazard, but conform to these principles" (Aristotle 7-8). In other words, in order for a literary work (in
this case, tragedy) to succeed, it needed to possess structural unity. As Aristotle further explained, the unity of plot is established through successive actions (8). He used Homers
epic poems, "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" as examples of several actions which were held together by a unified plot. He also remarked that place was also a component
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