ABSTRACT
In his Grammar of Motives, Kenneth Burke titles the first section “Ways of Placement,” and the first chapter within that section, “Container and Thing Contained.” Perhaps it is coincidental that container and thing contained are the identical terms that Aristotle uses when theorizing ways of placement in Book IV of his Physics. More likely, Burke uses Aristotle’s figuration of place as a metaphor for constructing the all-encompassing “scene.” If Burke borrows from Aristotle to get at place, he gives no indication; but as he is talking about ways of placement, and as Aristotle’s Book IV develops a theory of place which may have been originary to the dramatistic notion of “scene,” it is useful to compare Burke’s and Aristotle’s approach to place.
