Poetics By Aristotle And David Ball's Backwards

Introduction
What makes a play worthy of being staged? What guarantees that an audience will want to see this production or connect with it? There’s a wide range of elements that go into a dramatic play that have been examined time and time again and interpreted in different ways. Aristotle and David Ball have both examined the structures of theatrical plays and what makes them substantial, however the two don’t agree on many topics. After reading a translation of Poetics by Aristotle and David Ball’s Backwards and Forwards I noticed the different thoughts the authors had on what makes a truly good play, which prompts me to ask questions of my own. In terms of theatre what makes a play dramatic? Is any single drama better than next? What makes …show more content…
The trigger is the thing that prompts an action and forces change, it was my understanding that this is also the function of intrusion on a character. Without the death of his mother, what else would have triggered Eben to buy his brothers share of the farm? His father would still be married to her, and she would still rightfully own the farm in his eyes. The same is true for Esther’s story, without the intrusion of George and the ideal romance he brings along, Esther would have never had a trigger to move out, she would have just stayed in her stasis. It seems that the battle of heap and triggers that ends when new stasis is found, starts with intrusion that sets things in …show more content…
The closest I found to such a thing was the severing of his only friendships for what he thought was love, however it is a far cry from the example of murder used in Poetics. The deed, insisted upon by Evelyn but completed by Adam wasn’t murder, and it did not even happen to a beloved family, but Adam does it consciously to the only two friends he has even been known to have. It may not be murder, but the relationship he shared with Jenny and Phil were the strongest thing he had in comparison to family, and Adam chooses to destroy it for Evelyn’s affection, that he still thinks is real. Though the three plays have very different plots, they do all share Aristotle’s basic outline of what a tragedy is. Esther is naïve, so much so she makes the decision to abandon the only dream she has ever had for a man she knows is unfaithful and does not seem to love her at all. Again, this is not tragic in the same sense that murder is, however the audience is able to relate to her thoughts and actions, and they pity her outcome for the same reason they would pity Adam. Desire Under the Elms, unlike the two before, does have a murder that ensures it is a tragedy, and Abbie does it consciously so that she can prove her love to Eben. This play follows the rules of tragedy more than the others but they all evoke the same feelings, which