Poetics and Hamlet
Centuries ago, Aristotle laid down guidelines for criticizing dramatic works in his Poetics. This paper considers whether that structure is adequate for analyzing William Shakespeare's Hamlet that was composed after Aristotle.
The Poetics is too short to go into great detail, so we'll have to use only the most basic of his definitions and guidelines for what dramatic works should entail. He begins by discussing poetry, then moves to tragedy, which he says is "an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of this emotions" (Aristotle). By "embellished" language he means language "into which rhythm, ‘harmony' and song enter"; and by "separate parts" he means some should be spoken and some should be sung (Aristotle).......

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Title: The Poetics By Aristotle & Hamlet By Shakespeare
Approximate Word Count: 1181
Approximate Pages: 5 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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