Studying Aristotle’s “Poetics” — Part 18(D): Chorus

As I’ve been interviewing screenwriters, I typically ask what some of their influences are. One book title comes up over and over again: Aristotle’s “Poetics.” I confess I’ve never read the entire thing, only bits and pieces. So I thought, why not do a daily series to provide a structure to compel me to go through it. That way we’d all benefit from the process.

For background on Aristotle, you can go here to see an article on him in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

To download “Poetics,” you can go here.

Part 18(D): Chorus

The Chorus too should be regarded as one of the actors; it should
be an integral part of the whole, and share in the action, in the
manner not of Euripides but of Sophocles. As for the later poets,
their choral songs pertain as little to the subject of the piece as
to that of any other tragedy. They are, therefore, sung as mere interludes-
a practice first begun by Agathon. Yet what difference is there between
introducing such choral interludes, and transferring a speech, or
even a whole act, from one play to another.

I find this fascinating because the way Aristotle refers to the Chorus is pretty much how I talk about what I call Narrative Voice.

First, a definition of Greek chorus: “A Greek chorus (Greek: χορός, koros) is a homogeneous, non-individualized group of performers in the plays of classical Greece, who comment with a collective voice on the dramatic action.” I’m hopeful our band of Aristotelians will provide more background and insight into the nature and function of the chorus in classical Greek tragedies.

As to Narrative Voice, think of it as the storytelling sensibility a writer brings to a screenplay through his/her writing style. I even have a nifty formula for it: Genre + Style = Narrative Voice.

What are the points of connection between how Aristotle refers to chorus in this section of “Poetics” and Narrative Voice?

• The Chorus too should be regarded as one of the actors: I think of Narrative Voice as a screenplay’s invisible character, but a character nonetheless, present primarily in scene description.
• It should be an integral part of the whole: A writer should develop their sense of Narrative Voice in conjunction with the tone, atmosphere and feel of the story.
• And share in the action: As opposed to approaching a screenplay’s style as some sort of generic thing, Narrative Voice implies a specific connection to the story’s genre — genre affecting style, style conveying genre.

There is another parallel when Narrative Voice editorializes on the action, very much like a Greek chorus commenting on the proceedings.

Here are some examples from the screenplay for the movie American Hustle, written by Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell (the editorializing in scene description italicized):

P. 7: Irving looks over and shrugs his shoulders. Not surprised at all the way this is going and horrified to be in the room with these guys.

P. 38: Irving stares at Sydney with confusion. He’s never seen her like this before.

P. 39: Richie stares at Edith elated that she just stuck up for him. He’s really enjoying this position of power she’s putting him in.

P. 71: Irv is touched. He sees it is a sincere gift from Carmine, because Carmine likes him; not cynical in any way.

So while the Greek chorus may have vanished over time, it’s interesting to think about a possible legacy in screenwriting: Narrative Voice.

A reminder: I am looking at “Poetics” through the lens of screenwriting, what is its relevance to the craft in contemporary times. And I welcome the observations of any Aristotle experts to set me straight as I’m just trying to work my way through this content the best I can.

See you tomorrow for another installment of this series.

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For the entire series, go here.