Recognition Analysis in Poetics

Aristotle defines recognition as “a change from ignorance to knowledge, disclosing either a close relationship or enmity, on the part of the people marked out for good or bad fortune” within a poem, particularly in a tragedy or epic poem. Put simply, recognition is the plot device in which a character understands something that they didn’t previously know. Like reversal, recognition should come from the structure of the plot, and it must occur according to necessity or probability. Recognition should occur because of events, Aristotle maintains, not just after them, and it can involve any number of things, such as people, items, or relationships. Aristotle frequently cites Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex as an example of recognition. In Oedipus Rex, a messenger comes to calm Oedipus’s fears that he has committed incest; however, the messenger ends up revealing Oedipus’s true identity and confirming his fears—that Oedipus unknowingly murdered his father and had sex with his mother. There are several forms of recognition, Aristotle says, but the best kind of recognition arises directly from the plot rather than relying on simple tokens like a physical object or a scar.

Recognition Quotes in Poetics

The Poetics quotes below are all either spoken by Recognition or refer to Recognition. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

So there are these two parts of the plot—reversal and recognition; a third is suffering. Of these, reversal and recognition have already been discussed; suffering is an action that involves destruction or pain (e.g. deaths in full view, extreme agony, woundings and so on).

Related Characters: Aristotle (speaker)

Related Symbols: Oedipus Rex

Page Number and Citation: 19

Explanation and Analysis:

The best recognition of all is that which arises out of the actual course of events, where the emotional impact is achieved through events that are probable, as in Sophocles’ Oedipus and the Iphigeneia (her wish to send a letter is probable). Only this kind does without contrived tokens and necklaces. Second-best are those which arise from inference.

Related Characters: Aristotle (speaker), Oedipus, Iphigeneia, Odysseus, Sophocles, Euripides, Homer, Orestes

Related Symbols: Oedipus Rex

Page Number and Citation: 27

Explanation and Analysis:

Homer, in particular, taught other poets the right way to tell falsehoods. This the false inference In cases where the existence or occurrence of A implies the existence or occurrence of B, people imagine that if B is the case than A also exists or occurs—which is fallacious. So if A is false, but its existence would entail the existences or occurrence of B, one should add B; then, on the basis of its knowledge that B is true, our mind falsely infers the reality of A as well. An example of this can be found in the bath-scene.

Related Characters: Aristotle (speaker), Odysseus, Homer

Page Number and Citation: 41

Explanation and Analysis:

Recognition Term Timeline in Poetics

The timeline below shows where the term Recognition appears in Poetics. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...Furthermore, the most effective way in which a tragedy produces catharsis is through reversal and recognition, both of which are part of the plot. (full context)

...action of unity is imitated, but the change of fortune is achieved without reversal or recognition. A complex plot is one in which the change of fortune comes about through reversal,... (full context)

6.4 Recognition. Recognition “is a change from ignorance to knowledge, disclosing either a close relationship or enmity,... (full context)

Recognition combined with reversal involves fear and pity, which are the very foundation of tragedy, and... (full context)

...be imitated by characters who almost perform a terrible act before being stopped by some recognition. These three possibilities are all there is, as a terrible and pitiable act is either... (full context)

...less important, but it is better if the action is performed unknowingly and followed by recognition. There is no “disgust” to be found in an act committed in ignorance, Aristotle argues,... (full context)

8.2 Kinds of Recognition. The first and least artistic kind of recognition involves tokens: some tokens are congenital, like... (full context)

The second kind of recognition is created by the poet, and this form of recognition is not very artistic either.... (full context)

The third kind of recognition is the kind that arises from memory, when a character suddenly realizes something they forgot.... (full context)

...Aristotle, there are four different kinds of tragedy: complex tragedy, which relies on reversal and recognition; tragedy of suffering, like plays about Ajax; tragedy of character, like Women of Phthia; and... (full context)

...an epic does not have lyric poetry or spectacle. An epic should have reversal and recognition, and an epic should make good use of reasoning and diction. Homer was the first... (full context)

Recognition Term Analysis

Recognition Quotes in Poetics

Recognition Term Timeline in Poetics