Plato’ s Observations on Drama

         Plato considers dramatic writing as a branch of poetry, so that all the charges he levied on poetry- , twice removed from reality, poetic inspiration, the emotional appeal of poetry and its non-moral character-are applicable to drama as well. In addition to these, he makes three more observations on Drama. They are: appeal to baser instincts, effects of impersonation and tragic and comic pleasure.

      The first one is the appeal to baser instincts. Drama is a performance art so that it is to be staged and multitudes of people are involved in approving and disapproving drama. It is natural that dramatists try to please the audience by adding scenes of fights, quarrels and lamentations, thus catering to base instincts. The second one is the effects of impersonation on actors. According to Plato, sometimes drama reacts unfavourably on the actors. By constantly impersonating evil characters, evil qualities may enter into the actors; it is detrimental to the natural self of the actors. The third is tragic and comic pleasure: tragic pleasure is derived from the excess indulgence in base emotions. Comic pleasure, on the other hand, is deriving happiness from the weakness of a fellow-being and hence undesirable.