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Tragic Romance, Love, and Aristotle's Theory on Character and Thought

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María José H. and Daisuke I. Mr. Brunson Honors English 10 5 March 2010 Analyzing the Character and Thought of an Xtranormal In his //Poetics//, Aristotle mentions that “a perfect tragedy should…imitate actions which excite pity and fear, this being the distinctive mark of tragic imitation” (Aristotle). If Aristotle's quote is considered as the basis of the tragedy, then character and thought should be based on guidelines that promote these emotions. In this sense, the Xtranormal titled //Tragic Romance, Love, and Aristotle's Theory on Character and Thought // by María José H. and Daisuke I. should express these requirements in order to be the ideal tragedy. Therefore, if the Xtranormal is analyzed from Aristotle’s point of view, it represents correctly his rules for character by supporting plot and demonstrating the six traits of the perfect character, and at the same time, it depicts correctly how thought should be expressed throughout the play.

The Xtranormal, in terms of Aristotle's rules for a perfect tragedy, depicts correctly the character since it supports plot through his motivations and his hamartia. Following this idea, the character can support plot through his motivations since it is involved in the cause and effect chain, and through his hamartia or tragic flaw which leads to self destructive actions (McManus). The personal motivations, by being a crucial component of the cause and effect chain, supports plot since they are the impulse of the actions performed by the tragic hero. Later on, the hamartia will also be part of the actions performed that would lead to a more complex plot because they generate the basis of the themes. For example one can see the role of the motivations in the plot of the Xtranormal when the male character says, "I want to help you become a better person, not a spoiled young woman (...) you could become a better person and get rid of your spoiled habits by helping the poor children" (María José H. and Daisuke I.). As one is able to notice, the protagonist is reflecting his good intentions by trying to change the bad habits of the female character, and through this it is observable that his actions are connected to his motivations. Due to this, one can notice that the actions of the male character are constructed based on his good motivations and in this way, the plot is supported. Moreover, the role of harmatia and the actions performed by the cause and effect chain can be understood when the tragic hero says, "I understand that I was not seeing the reality, and that I lost all of my money and job for a spoiled woman"(María José H. and Daisuke I.). In the previous quote, one is able to see the character's hamartia which is his blindness in terms of love, and also its relation to the cause and effect chain since it led to the loss of his money and job, which in turn generates pity and fear. Through this, one can see how the character's hamartia leads to certain crucial events that lead to the downfall of the protagonist, which makes the plot more complex. Therefore, the Xtranormal does indeed follow Aristotle's rules on character by supporting plot through the character's motivations and hamartia.

Following the same lines, the protagonist of the xtranormal is depicted accurately, in terms of Aristotle's guidelines of the perfect tragedy, as it demonstrates all of the six traits of a tragic character. As a matter of fact, to meet these qualities, Aristotle mentioned that the character must be good or fine in terms of moral purpose, true to type, true to life, consistent, necessary or probable, and realistic but idealized (Aristotle). When Aristotle mentioned the six traits, they had to be followed strictly by every tragic hero to create pity and fear in the audience; there could not be any quality missing in the character´s personality. In this sense, the Xtranormal must coincide with the ideal character depicted by Aristotle. For example, in the Xtranormal the character´s traits can be seen when the tragic hero mentions, "I was going to tell you I got promoted to CEO of Latin America" (María José H. and Daisuke I.). Through this, the character is depicted as an idealized figure because of his high ranking position, and at the same time, shown as "fine" because of his good economic status. By demonstrating these ideal qualities, the Xtranormal is able to invoke more pity and fear in the audience since an idealized figure is the tragic hero, while following correctly part of Aristotle's outline on the six traits. Furthermore, the character shows another Aristotelian trait for the hero, when he repeats the phrase, "I love you, I could even give you all of my fortunes or my job for you to help you become a better person (...) please come with me, I know that you don't love me but I just want to prove that I am your biggest lover” (María José H. and Daisuke I.). In this quote, one can see that the protagonist is emphasizing his strong love towards the girl throughout the video, without changing his mind. According to the laws of Aristotle, one can say that he is following correctly the trait of consistency that every tragic hero should have. As one can see through these examples, the protagonist of the Xtranormal follows several of Aristotle's guidelines of the ideal character.

While the Xtranormal properly follows all of Aristotle's rules on character, it is observable that the aspect of thought is also depicted accurately. According to Aristotle, thought is "the faculty of saying what is probable or pertinent (...) and is found where something is proved to be or not to be, or a general maxim is enunciated" (Aristotle). By following this definition, it is possible to say that thought is the expression of a proposition in the play and it can be backed up by the speech given. Moreover, it is implied that the thought is found when the character performs actions that are later supported by speech. Also, in the Xtranormal, one is able to notice the correct role of thought according to Aristotle´s convention by expressing through actions the disdain of the woman towards the male character, which is later verified by her words "whatever, you know that I don't love you" (María José H. and Daisuke I.). The female character performs actions that show the audience the general theme of the play, which are later proved by her speech. This example demonstrates how Aristotle's guidelines on thought for a perfect tragedy are included into the Xtranormal. Also in the Xtranormal thought can be seen when it establishes a maxim of the love felt by the male character towards the girl, for example when he says, "I wanted to help you get rid of your spoiled habits. I'm doing that because I love you" (María José H. and Daisuke I.). The male character expressed in a direct way his love towards a girl, and it is therefore acknowledged by the audience as a maxim. In the Xtranormal, one is able to see how thought can be expressed to establish a feeling from a character to another, and this process follows correctly Aritotle´s rules. As it was shown, thought is also well projected in the Xtranormal by following all the Aristotelian criteria for a correct process of recognition of maxims.

According to Aristotle, "a perfect tragedy should, as we have seen, be arranged not on the simple but on the complex plan" (Aristotle). In this way, in an ideal tragedy, character and thought should be part of the complex plan. The characters and thought in this complex plan have to be correctly formed by following the rules stipulated in the Aristotelian work called //Poetics//. In the Xtranormal titled //Tragic Romance, Love, and Aristotle's Theory on Character and Thought // by Daisuke I. and María José H., one can see how Aristotle's laws on characters and thought by having characters supporting plot and possessing the six traits, in addition to the correct depiction of thought. As one can observe in this analysis of an Xtranormal, a play has the potential of teaching others if it follows the rules set by Aristotle; thus, one might consider creating a play of this sort to teach people.

Works Cited Aristotle. "Poetics." //The Internet Classics Archive: 441 searchable works of classical literature //. Web. 11 Feb. 2010. < [] >.

McManus, Barbara F. "Outline of Aristotle's Theory of Tragedy." //New York College | Catholic College | The College of New Rochelle //. Nov. 1999. Web. 11 Feb. 2010. < [] >.

//Tragic Romance, Love, and Aristotle's Theory on Character and Thought // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">. Dir. Daisuke I. and María José H. Xtranormal, 23 Feb. 2010. Web. 23 Feb. 2010. <http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/6165037/>.