“If you string together a set of speeches expressive of a character, and well finished in point of diction or thought, you will not produce the essential tragic effect with a play which has a plot and artistically constructed incidents.”

He is basically saying that great characters is important but they cannot carry a full story without a great plot

He defines a plot as a set of incidents

The ending is the most important part as it will determine if the audience is left satisfied

The end is something that, “…has nothing following it.”

Aristotle presents three parts of possible plots that can be chosen from or used together: Reversal of Intention: “change by which action veers round to its opposite.”, Recognition: “change from ignorance to knowledge.”, and The Tragic Incident: “destructive or painful action.”

Character: character determines man’s qualities, but it is by their action that they are happy or the reverse.”

Must be compassionate or at least intrigued by the character

Character traits: Must be Good: “the character will be good if the purpose is good.”, Propriety: conventional rules or behaviors pertaining to that character should be followed, True to Life: Realistic, Consistency: Anything about the character should be constant including his flaws

Thought: “thought is found where something is proven to be or not to be.”

Diction: “The expression of the meaning in words; and its essence is the same in both verse and prose.”

The words you chose shouldn’t just be about relaying information, but about displaying emotions and characterization

Diction is also important in scene description

Song: Don’t build your story around a particular set of songs

Music can play a key role in visualization while writing

Spectacle: Least important aspect of storytelling. “Spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet.”

Analysis:

Aristotle’s Poetics was first introduced to me through an Aaron Sorking masterclass I took. Aaron Sorkin fiercely abides by Aristotle’s Poetics and believes all screenwriters should. Seeing the Poetics for the first time I can’t help but agree. Before reading this I honestly would have believed that great characters can make their own plot and carry a story. But the Aristotle puts it I can clearly see that the plot really is the most important thing. I will say that I still believe great characters can overshadow a plot and carry a film on their own, however, it will be missing the great meaning and depth that screenwriters strive for. I also found it interesting that he specifies spectacle is the least important part. This is very relevant as the debate over superhero movies is in full swing. Upon reading this I also realized that Sorkin’s screenplays tend to lack spectacle, yet the writing is so good you are equally immersed in the story.

Citation:

Miyamoto, K. (2017, October 18). Aristotle’s six golden rules of screenwriting. ScreenCraft. Retrieved March 3, 2023, from https://screencraft.org/blog/aristotles-six-golden-rules-of-screenwriting/