Plot or Character Which is more important in a Tragedy?

The Greek philosopher Aristotle discusses his celebrated Theory of Poetry in his Poetics. The term poetry here stands for LITERATURE, as a whole. Epic Poetry, Tragedy and Comedy are the three concerns for Aristotle in Poetics, amongst them Tragedy is the prime. The various constituting parts of POETRY/LITERATURE and its ways of functioning are thoroughly as well as illustratively written in the twenty-six chapters of De Poetica. Amongst them chapters nos. VII, VIII, IX and X are employed for the discussion on PLOT; and the chapter no. XV is composed for the discussion on CHARACTER.

Now, if we look at Aristotle's sources for commenting upon, Tragedy, we find that he mainly depended upon the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. Analysing critically the works of these dramatists, Aristotle comes to the decision on that-

All tragedy must necessarily contain six parts-PLOT or Fable, Character, Diction, Thought, Decoration and Music. These parts unitedly constitute the features typical to tragedy. But the PLOT is the principal part or, the soul of tragedy. And in rank, CHARACTER comes next to PLOT.

In chapter VII, he also writes- 

Tragedy is an imitation of an action that is complete and whole, and it must have a certain Magnitude.

To clarify the term magnitude, he is of the opinion that beauty consists in magnitude and order. No too tiny or too gigantic living organism is beautiful as the process of wholesome apprehension gets prevented in both the cases. So, the tragedy should be of such length that can be easily comprehended by memory. And thus, the Unity of Action is well-maintained.

At this juncture, the contextual question is-What is found in tragedy that causes the anticipated tragic-pleasure?

In a tragedy, a successful, affluent and happy person (The Protagonist) is found to descend gradually to utter Doom being in the hands of inscrutable FATE or totally unfavourable CIRCUMSTANCES. The protagonist is truly "good" in the literal sense of the term; and the cause that makes him to suffer as well as bring his eventual doom is-TRAGIC FLAW. The sufferings of him arouse PITY and TERROR in the spectators leading ultimately to Catharsis of such type of emotions within them.

There is no doubt that the relevant importance of Plot and Character is not advocated by Aristotle. DESTINY is seen to play the main role behind the protagonist's sufferings. So, the protagonist can never surpass the PLOT in his august presence. Aristotle surely have stumbled upon a few disputes at the time of formulating the idea of TRAGIC PLOT. The troubles faced by Aristotle might be as follows-

1. The hero's downfall must seem repellent to the audience if he is of spotlessly flawless character.

2. On the other hand, we can see the ruin of an evil-natured hero in a tragedy. Thus, the POETIC JUSTICE may be retained in that play; but PITY and FEAR will not be aroused, and the prime object of a tragedy in Aristotelian view must be shattered. 

To solve this problem Aristotle gives the theory of tragic flaw or Hamartia. The hero suffers due to this flaw in his character. But the discrepancy is yet to be solved. The term Hamartia is synonymous with Sin also in Greek. In this case, the tragedy of king Oedipus should be taken as an example. He himself committed no crime and he also tried to turn ineffectual the Oracles. But, we find him to suffer; and he suffers due to his misunderstanding of the Oracles. Thus. Oedipus is shown as a victim of circumstances; and achieves the sympathy of his spectators.

A keen critical analysis will show us that the PLOT and the CHARACTER (i.e., of the protagonist) are of equal importance in a tragic play. Tragedy delineates the story of person who should be much higher in rank than average people. The story of Julius Caesar is acceptable to us when he is Caesar.

So, the PLOT can be of most importance for having the necessary tragic turn, when both Fate and virile courage can put equal influence in a man's life. The Greeks, in reality, looked towards life with such a view. CHARACTER (of the hero) may be of greater importance in a tragedy when the dramatist holds the idea that a man can overpower Fate by dint of his morale and manliness; but he must be ruined due to a flaw in his character.

In such cases, our attention becomes fixed upon the dialogues and action of the protagonist. Apart from that, the four characteristic features of a really good protagonist or hero are-

(a) Goodness

(b) Appropriateness

(c) Verisimilitude or Semblance to reality of the situation, and

(d) Freedom from inconsistency.

To conclude it can be said that there are a number of examples in Tragedies where CHARACTER is more vital than PLOT. In Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrranus, the PLOT is more important; but in Shakespeare's King Lear, the character of the hero is more important than the PLOT.