Studying Aristotle’s “Poetics” — Part 9(D): Surprise, Cause and Effect

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 9(D): Surprise, Cause and Effect

But again, Tragedy is an imitation not only of a complete action,
but of events inspiring fear or pity. Such an effect is best produced
when the events come on us by surprise; and the effect is heightened
when, at the same time, they follow as cause and effect. The tragic
wonder will then be greater than if they happened of themselves or
by accident; for even coincidences are most striking when they have
an air of design. We may instance the statue of Mitys at Argos, which
fell upon his murderer while he was a spectator at a festival, and
killed him. Such events seem not to be due to mere chance. Plots,
therefore, constructed on these principles are necessarily the best.

Unfamiliar with the story of Mitys at Argos, I did some research. There’s not much I could find beyond Aristotle’s description. Mitys is slain by his murderer. Later a statue is erected in Mitys’ honor. The murderer stands before the statue, presumably inspecting and/or admiring. Then the statue falls on the murderer killing him. Something like this:

Okay, probably not much like that, but still it’s a visual reference.

What I gather from Aristotle’s comments in referencing the fate of Mitys’ killer is the best type of stories have these type of twists, especially as endings, featuring two aspects:

— Surprise: Some sort of reversal or twist which the reader will not expect (i.e., the statue falls on the killer).

— Cause and Effect: The surprising event, upon reflection by the reader, will seem not to be born out of happenstance, but in fact is in retrospect inevitable within the context of the dynamics set into motion in the narrative.

Thus an echo of something Aristotle raised previously in this chapter: While we may experience the surprise in the present as a possibility, albeit one we could not have anticipated, when we look back on it as a past event, we will see it as having been tied to narrative destiny.

This is good advice, it seems to me, for all writers, witness these notable movie surprises.

And this:

Each a surprise in the moment. Each inevitable in retrospect due to cause and effect.

I welcome the input of the traveling feast of Aristotelians who have taken to gathering here for a weekly discourse. If you have just stumbled onto this series, you should really go back and read the comments in each post as the folks who have been participating have added incredible insight into this seminal work by Aristotle.

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 here tomorrow for another installment of this series.

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For the entire series, go here.