ABSTRACT
Aristotle is very explicit in placing the spectator's emotional response of pity and fear for tragic characters at the center of his account of tragedy. It is accurate to describe Aristotle's account as a cognitive theory of the emotions, in spite of the fact that it has elements of the feeling and bodily reaction analyses of emotion. Pity and fear, therefore, are painful emotions that involve the expectation or remembering of critical harms. The three components of tragedy that are key elements for eliciting pity and fear: recognition, reversal and suffering. Aristotle eliminates plot patterns because they do not produce the right emotional response in the audience. It is easier to grasp Aristotle's reasons for eliminating plot patterns. Both reversal and recognition are elements of the plot, then, and Aristotle insists that both should take place according to probability and necessity.
