Video+ClipExplicationPlot

media type="custom" key="5606821" Santiago M and Daniela Q

Mr. Brunson

World Literature 2

6 March 2010

........... According to Aristotle, in his //Poetics//, plot is defined as the "ordered arrangement of incidents with a certain magnitude" (Aristotle). The order

and the magnitude of the quantity and quality of a tragedy allow it to flow smoothly. The movie created by Daniela and Santiago follows this smooth flow

thanks to Aristotle's view of how a plot should be created. The Aristotelian theory of tragic plot can be observed and analyzed in the movie using the laws

of nature, the structure of the tragic plot, and the complexity of the movie. ......... The theory of tragic plot can be observed through the following three laws of nature, the law of probability and necessity, of conservation, and of

inertia. Aristotle explains the theory of probability and necessity by explaining that "...The reason being that what is possible is credible: what has not

happened we do not at once feel sure to be possible; but what has happened is manifestly possible: otherwise it would not have happened. (Aristotle). In

the movie made by Santiago and Daniela this Aristotelian theory of a cause and effect chain that bounds actions together by a probable and necessary

sequence is present. In the movie, it is probable that young woman is married to an elder just because of his money and it is also probable given the

fact that she is a young that she might cheat on him with a another man about her age since it has happened before. As to the law of conservation,

Aristotle also explains it by saying that the plot needs,” each action leading inevitably to the next with no outside intervention, no deus ex machina"

(McManus). In the movie this law can clearly be seen since it is always in line, meaning that there are no outside forces such as one of the characters

taking a vacation in the middle of the story. Nothing can be added or taken out of the plot because then it will not follow the actions from nature and it

will not "flow", and this flow has to start somewhere. For instance, the law of inertia is referred in the subsequent case, "Well Yeah! You are never home,

he is always there for me. He is there when you are not." (M.Q.). This quote is an example of law of inertia because the law of inertia states that

everything that is in rest will stay at rest unless moved by another force, a primum mobile. In this movie, the entire conflict about his wife cheating

would have not happened if he did not travel so much because then he would be there for her and she would have been satisfied. Finally, as observed,

the theory of plot can be analyzed through the laws of nature and be applied to the movie. ......... Plot, in the movie, can also be studied by using the structure of the tragic plot that includes the incentive moment, peripeteia, and dénouement in

order for it to be "whole". The incentive moment is, as Aristotle describes it, "a beginning is that which does not itself follow anything by causal

necessity, but after which something naturally is or comes to be" (Aristotle). This definition, applies to the movie created by Daniela and Santiago as the

cheating of the wife came to be in a natural way, with necessary causes. The beginning came about naturally with the previous cheating of the wife, and

it developed as the husband finds out. This cause and effect chain of actions leads to the middle, or peripeteia which, according to Aristotle, is "that

which follows something as some other thing follows it," (Aristotle). The middle or peripeteia is brought about thanks to the cause and effect chain

sequence, and develops the plot, just like in the movie. The movie follows the chain of actions unleashed in the incentive moment (when the husband

finds out), and continues the domino effect. It eventually leads to dénouement, which it "itself naturally follows some other thing, either by necessity, or

as a rule, but has nothing following it", but cannot "end at haphazard" (Aristotle). The dénouement keeps a flow going, but ends the plot, and the problem

presented in the incentive moment. Even though the problem is not resolved in the movie, which it's supposed not to in a tragedy, her leaving him and

running away with Pedro keeps the story going, with no resolution, but with an ended plot. In conclusion, the three parts of a tragedy: the incentive

moment, the peripeteia, and the denouement; are present in the movie to represent plot. ........... Lastly, a tragic plot can be observed throughout the major components of a complex plot which are the reversal of fortune, the anagnorisis, and

the scene of suffering. The reversal of fortune is, "when a character produces an effect opposite to that which he intended to produce" (McManus). In

the movie, the elder at first wants to hurt the guy that has disrupted his marriage. On the other hand, he later on learns that this guy is his own son, so

he is surprised and hurt to learn his son did this. Anagnorisis happens simultaneously with the reversal of fortune and an example of it is, "Pedro! You

mean... Pedro as my son? My adopted son that lives with us?" (M.Q.). The anagnorisis can be perceived in the movie created when the elderly man

realizes that his wife was cheating on him with his own son. Since both reversal of fortune and anagnorisis go together in a cause and effect chain, they

both create a surprising effect or a catastrophe that then leads to the final scene. The scene of suffering is, "destructive or painful action, such as death

on the stage, bodily agony, wounds, and the like" (Aristotle). The scene of suffering must be to the character who started the cause and effect chain this

way he gains knowledge and learns a lesson. In this case, the elder, learns to never trust anyone so intensely because in the end he is left without

family, since Pedro and his ex wife will leave to New York to be together, and also he is left without funds because he shared accounts with his son and

Pedro left him and took the money. To sum it up, because of the previous reasons it demonstrates how plot can be analyzed as a complex plot. ........ "Plot is the 'first principle,' the most important feature of tragedy" (McManus), says Barbara F. McManus. This principle has to be portrayed

correctly so that the tragedy is too. The movie created by Daniela and Santiago is able to accomplish this. The movie can be analyzed in relation to the

plot of a tragedy by Aristotelian theory through the laws of nature applied, its complexity and structure. It would be interesting to see if modern day

tragedies had the Aristotelian theory of plot applied to them.

Works Cited:

1. McManus, Barbara. "Outline of Aristotle's Theory of Tragedy." Web. 05 Mar. 2010. <[]>. 2. Aristotle. "Poetics." //The Internet Classics Archive: 441 Searchable Works of Classical Literature//. Web. 05 Mar. 2010. <[]>. 3. //Plot.// Dir. Santiago M. and Daniela Q. Perf. Charitable Elder and Cheating, Gold Digger Wife. Web. .