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The Three Unities of Literary Criticism

The document discusses the three unities of classical literature - unity of action, time, and place. It provides details on each unity and their origins from Aristotle's Poetics. The unity of action states a play should have one single plot. Unity of time requires an event not exceed one day. Unity of place mandates a single setting without changes. The document also examines John Dryden's more liberal view of the unities, finding the English plays more "lively" despite violating them.

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Vighnesh Kharge
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563 views

The Three Unities of Literary Criticism

The document discusses the three unities of classical literature - unity of action, time, and place. It provides details on each unity and their origins from Aristotle's Poetics. The unity of action states a play should have one single plot. Unity of time requires an event not exceed one day. Unity of place mandates a single setting without changes. The document also examines John Dryden's more liberal view of the unities, finding the English plays more "lively" despite violating them.

Uploaded by

Vighnesh Kharge
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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THE THREE UNITIES OF

LITERARY CRITICISM
THE THREE UNITIES
The unity of action:
The unity of time: The unity of place:
a
t a play should cover a single phy
play should have one single
he action in a play should not sical space and should not attem
plot or action to sustain the i
exceed the single revolution o pt to compress geography, nor s
nterest of the spectators and
f the sun. hould the stage represent more t
it can also lead him to prope
han one place.
r purgation.
INTRODUCTION

● Unities, three principles derived by French classicists from Aristotle


’s Poetics.
● These principles were called unity of action, unity of place, and
unity of time.
● Redefined in 1570 by the Italian humanist Lodovico Castelvetro.
● In the French classical tragedy, the unities were adhered to literally
and became the source of endless critical polemics.
● The prestige of the unities continued to dominate French drama
until the Romantic era.
● The unities were of much less concern in Renaissance England.
THE UNITY OF ACTION

● The three unities were deduced from Aristotle, but the Greek philosopher has stressed the Unity of Action
the most.
● The Action of tragedy.
● Describes the steps through which your story reaches its conclusion.
● Events may befall the hero, but if they are not relevant to the end, they are to be excluded from the plot.
● Should be as succinct as possible.
● Connected with each other by the law of necessity and probability.
● They are unified by the fact that they all move forward towards a common goal, the Catastrophe.
ARISTOTLE ON A DOUBLE ENDING

● Aristotle rules out the plurality of Action.


● Against the introduction of a subplot.
● Against a double-ending.
● Plurality of action and such double-end distract attention and weaken the tragic effect.
● Elizabethan drama, more particularly the plays of Shakespeare, have demonstrated, without a shadow of
doubt, that the introduction of comic relief increases the entertainment value of tragedy.
● Aristotle’s rigid separation of the comic and the tragic, the happy and the serious, is not justified.
UNITY OF TIME

● Aristotle rules out the plurality of Action.


● Aristotle’s, comment on the length of tragedy gave rise during the Neo-classic period to the doctrine of Unity
of Time.
● Aristotle asserts, that, “tragedy attempts as far as possible, to remain within one revolution of the sun”.
● This interpretation accords with the rationalist bias of neo-classic critics.
● The tendency of the twentieth-century critics has been to reject the notion that Aristotle formally advocated
Unity of Time in the Poetics.
UNITY OF PLACE

● The epic may narrate several actions taking place simultaneously at several places, but this is not possible
in the tragedy which does not narrate but represents through action.
● Renaissance and Neo-classic 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.
● The Unity of Place was generally observed by the Greek Tragedians for several obvious reasons.
● Aristotle does not prescribe the Unity of Place, and Shakespeare’s plays demonstrate that the unity of
atmosphere is not violated and the dramatic illusion can be kept even after changing locations.
● A unity of place is something many writers show a lack of appreciation for and their work often
suffers as a result.
JOHN DRYDEN

● A writer and a neoclassical critic.


● Best-known critical work, An Essay on Dramatic Poesy.
● Dryden puts emphasis on the neoclassical rules.
● Carried out his critical thoughts effectively, stating his own
ideas but leaving some room for difference of opinion.
● Dryden had the boldness to defend the claims of genius to write
according to its own convictions, without regard for the
prescription and rules which had been laid down for good
writing.
DRYDEN’S INSIGHT ON THE UNITIES
Dryden’s liberalism, his free critical disposition, is best seen in his justification of the violation of three unities :

● The English violation of the three unities lends greater copiousness .


● Narrowing and cramping effects on the French plays.
● The English disregard of the unities enables them to present a more ‘just’ and ‘lively’ picture of human
nature.
● The French plays may be more regular but they are not as lively.
● It all depends upon the ‘genius’ or ‘skill’ of the writer.
● There is no harm in introducing ‘sub-plots.
● Their violation results in improbability.
● Places too great a strain on the imagination of the spectators.
● Credibility is stretched too far.
THANK YOU
VIGHNESH KHARGE (A-110)
SOUMYA MENON (A-113)

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