

Home Plot & Structure Home Definitions Birds Structure Chaplin Structure Dyskolos and It Happened One Night Structure Poenulus and A Night at the Opera Structure	Conclusions about Plot and Structure Aristotle's Poetics describes the elements that are necessary in the plot of a play, specifically tragedy. Some of these concepts can also be applied to comedy. The play must have a definite beginning, middle and end, and the parts must follow a logical progression. In other words, the beginning must necessarily lead into the middle, and the middle must necessarily lead into the end in a cause and effect relationship. Of the authors we read in this class, Menander fits Aristotle's plot requirements best. With the five-act structure, the plots of Menander's plays follow the most logical chain of events. Whereas Chaplin's short films are episodic, with one gag following another as the Tramp responds to his environment, in Menander's Dyskolos the events all add up to create a larger picture. Each scene in Menander is the direct result of the previous scene and has a clear impact on the scene that follows. Aristophanes' Birds, in the style of Greek Old Comedy, has a very defined structure with respect to who is onstage at any given time, whom they are addressing and how they are addressing them. Within this structure, however, the play has the most fantastical plot of any that we read. It takes place in a completely different plane of reality, the world of the birds. The plot in comedy is driven primarily by the main character or comic hero striving to achieve their goals and overcoming any obstacles they face in that process. Makemedo's modus operandi for establishing Cloudcuckooland and his reign over it is extreme rudeness and insult towards all those who stand in his way or try to get a piece of the power. This creates a fast-paced plot with many dispensible blocking characters. In Poenulus the goal of freeing the girls is accomplished through trickery and deception, and thus the build-up of suspense is greater as the audience waits for the plans to unfold. The plot of Dyskolos, rather than being driven by the main character himself (Knemon), is driven by the supporting characters who have reasons to approach him. The story unfolds as each character or group of characters reveals what their relationship is with Knemon and attempts to talk to him and get something from him in a realistic fashion. Thus Knemon and his misanthropy indirectly drive the plot. The prologue was an integral part of both Old and New Comedy, though in each it meant something slightly different. In Old Comedy the prologue was an opening scene between the main actors which exposed the basic scenario and introduced the main characters and their motivations. In New Comedy, the prologue was a speech given by a single character directly to the audience, often by a god or goddess who represented a theme of the play. It served the same purpose as the prologues of Old comedy, introducing the charaters and setting the scene for the actual body of the play. The opening scenes of modern film comedies give less information than the prologues of ancient comedy, but they still give the audience enough information to understand what is going on. Finally, all comedies, by definition, have happy endings. Whether that means the lovers are married or relationships are mended, whether criminals are brought to justice or lofty goals are achieved, the comic hero always triumphs and the audience leaves satisfied that all is well. The more troublesome and arduous the journey was, the more satisfying it is at the end when everything works out and the greater the sense of completion feels.

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Conclusions about Plot and Structure

Aristotle's Poetics describes the elements that are necessary in the plot of a play, specifically tragedy. Some of these concepts can also be applied to comedy. The play must have a definite beginning, middle and end, and the parts must follow a logical progression. In other words, the beginning must necessarily lead into the middle, and the middle must necessarily lead into the end in a cause and effect relationship. Of the authors we read in this class, Menander fits Aristotle's plot requirements best. With the five-act structure, the plots of Menander's plays follow the most logical chain of events. Whereas Chaplin's short films are episodic, with one gag following another as the Tramp responds to his environment, in Menander's Dyskolos the events all add up to create a larger picture. Each scene in Menander is the direct result of the previous scene and has a clear impact on the scene that follows.

Aristophanes' Birds, in the style of Greek Old Comedy, has a very defined structure with respect to who is onstage at any given time, whom they are addressing and how they are addressing them. Within this structure, however, the play has the most fantastical plot of any that we read. It takes place in a completely different plane of reality, the world of the birds. The plot in comedy is driven primarily by the main character or comic hero striving to achieve their goals and overcoming any obstacles they face in that process. Makemedo's modus operandi for establishing Cloudcuckooland and his reign over it is extreme rudeness and insult towards all those who stand in his way or try to get a piece of the power. This creates a fast-paced plot with many dispensible blocking characters. In Poenulus the goal of freeing the girls is accomplished through trickery and deception, and thus the build-up of suspense is greater as the audience waits for the plans to unfold. The plot of Dyskolos, rather than being driven by the main character himself (Knemon), is driven by the supporting characters who have reasons to approach him. The story unfolds as each character or group of characters reveals what their relationship is with Knemon and attempts to talk to him and get something from him in a realistic fashion. Thus Knemon and his misanthropy indirectly drive the plot.

The prologue was an integral part of both Old and New Comedy, though in each it meant something slightly different. In Old Comedy the prologue was an opening scene between the main actors which exposed the basic scenario and introduced the main characters and their motivations. In New Comedy, the prologue was a speech given by a single character directly to the audience, often by a god or goddess who represented a theme of the play. It served the same purpose as the prologues of Old comedy, introducing the charaters and setting the scene for the actual body of the play. The opening scenes of modern film comedies give less information than the prologues of ancient comedy, but they still give the audience enough information to understand what is going on.

Finally, all comedies, by definition, have happy endings. Whether that means the lovers are married or relationships are mended, whether criminals are brought to justice or lofty goals are achieved, the comic hero always triumphs and the audience leaves satisfied that all is well. The more troublesome and arduous the journey was, the more satisfying it is at the end when everything works out and the greater the sense of completion feels.