Aristotle was a Greek philosopher as well as an apprentice of Plato.

He
founded a school and studied many different things. One of the things he
studied was poetry, or as he referred to it, Poetics. Aristotles Poetics
consists of a list of principles which he believes makes up good literature.
These principles include plot, character, thought, diction, melody, and
spectacle. Aristotle felt that in order for a piece to be considered good
literature it must include those things, but was he right? This essay will
analyze these principles in the recently popular Disney movie, Frozen. While
this may seem like a childish story to apply to the advanced theory of
poetics, it seems to fit Aristotles principles appropriately. In doing so, it will
also explore which Poetics the movie contains and ultimately whether or not
Aristotle would consider it good literature.
Every story, movie, or book has a plot. Plot is generally thought of as
being amount of time the story takes place over and what time period the
story is based in. However, Aristotle described it as being the combination
of events (pg 1149) in a story. He said that the plot is the primary and
most important part of a tragedy (pg 1150). He also said that without plot
there could not be tragedy, but without characterization there could (pg
1150). This just highlights the importance Aristotle believes a plot has. He
believed that a thing is whole if it has a beginning, a middle, and an end
(pg 1150), with no questions left unanswered. He believed that all plots
contained a problem and that that problem must make sense. He said, "A
well-constructed plot should, therefore, be single in its issue, rather than
double as some maintain. The change of fortune should be not from bad to
good, but, reversely, from good to bad. It should come about as the result
not of vice, but of some great error or frailty, in a character either such as we
have described, or better rather than worse" (Aristotle). Finally he believes
that the plot must either be simple or complexnot in between because
then things just get confusing. He states that complex plots contain reversal
and recognition. Reversal, or as Aristotle says, peripeteia, is a turning point
of the story. Recognition, or anagnorisis, is when a character makes a critical
discovery. Both of these happen in Frozen. The reversal is when Elsa
decides she will go back to her kingdom to try to get rid of the eternal winter
she created. The recognition in the movie is when Anna realizes her fianc
didnt really love her, he just wanted her royalty, so he didnt have the true
love she needed to livebut her sister did. Aristotle closes his feeling about
the plot by saying that the best plots combine both recognition and reversal
in order to overcome the catastrophe or problem. The movie Frozen also
seems to fit Aristotles plot principle because there is a clear beginning,
middle, and end, as well as meaning behind the problem, and a complex
plot. In the beginning the main characters, Elsa and Anna, are introduced.
Elsa has a secret power which she tries to hide from everyone, including her

sister Anna. The climax or middle is when Anna finds Elsa but Elsa refuses to
leave with her. Frustrated again, Elsa accidently strikes her sister with the
ice and freezes her heart. The end is when Elsa shows up and displays an
act of true love when she hugs her sister and apologizes which leads to Anna
being unfrozen and Elsa now using her powers for good. The end is also the
resolution to the original problem. This is a meaningful problem because it
shows the importance of familial love. Clearly the movie also has
catastrophe, anagnorisis, and peripeteia, all of which are shown in the
beginning, middle, and end that was just described.
Aristotles principle character is more than just a person in the story.
He believes that the character(s) support(s) the plot. By this he means that
everything that the character experiences advances the plot. He says that a
character reveals moral purpose, showing what kind of things a man
chooses or avoids (Aristotle). He says characters should be good, likeable,
realistic, and consistent. By good he just means that they should be a
generally good person. By likeable he meant that the readers or viewers
should like the character. By realistic he means that they shouldnt be
perfect. By consistent he meant that they should be recognizable
throughout the entire piece. The main characters in Frozen, Elsa and Anna,
both display all of these characteristics. They seem like good people in the
flashback shown at the beginning of the movie. They are royalty so
obviously they are likable. They are realistic because they are anything but
perfect. This is shown when Anna gets engaged as soon as she met the guy
which upsets Elsa and causes her set off an eternal winteranything but
perfect. They are consistent because they stay true to themselves the entire
move. Again referencing the flashback, the sisters are super close and its
the same at the end of the movie.
The other principles of Aristotles Poetics, thought, diction, melody, and
spectacle are less important than plot and character but still necessary
things to have in good literature. Aristotle considered thought as an idea
or theme. He believed that all stories should have some type of message or
lesson. This is shown in Frozen because it has an underlying message to be
yourself. It also suggests the importance of good familial love. Diction is just
the style of language in the story. Aristotle believed that a story was
considered good literature if it was easy to listen to, enjoyable, and spoken
by the charactersnot a third party narrator. This is shown in Frozen
because its a kids movie. This means it is easily understandable and
enjoyable. The story is also acted out solely by the characters. There is no
narrator. Melody refers to the overall sound of the story. This includes the
different sound effects needed throughout a story. Frozen is a sing-a-long so
it has lots of rhythm. It also has a few intense scenes that take advantage of
melody. For instance the opening scene is just icemen pounding there

mallets onto ice. It sets the mood for the story. Finally, the principle of
spectacle refers to the visual parts of the play. This includes all of the
different things seen on screen like the outfits, scenes, and props. Aristotle
believed that a story should not rely simply on visual elements but the plot
instead because it tells more. Frozen is animated so its very colorful. The
characters change costumes and locations a few times. The graphics are
also really awesome. An example of the amazing graphics is when Elsa
builds her ice castle. Going along with spectacle is the element of the
wonderful. Aristotle says, The element of the wonderful is required in a
tragedy (Aristotle). By this he likely means the story needs to be enjoyable
and that it needs to prevent boredom. As mentioned before, Frozen does
prevent boredom which means it does in fact have the element of the
wonderful. Catharsis also plays a major role in Aristotles Poetics. He
believed that the rousing of emotions in a story is important. This is true for
Frozen because the whole movie is an emotional rollercoaster. It starts off
with sisters being best friends, then they spend years apart because Elsa is
locked up in her room, then its coronation day, then Elsa gets angry which
brings about pity in viewers, then she runs away (fear and pity), then she
starts a new life, but Anna is being put in dangerous situations (fear), and
Elsa almost kills Anna (fear and pity), then finally everything gets happy
again.
Furthermore, Aristotle would likely consider the movie Frozen to be
good literature. The movie seems to follow his principles for the most part.
I think Aristotle put a lot of thought into his Poetics and that they are a great
rubric for any writer to follow. With that said, I mostly agree with Aristotle.
All of his principles are very important in a story, some more than others, but
I feel like people can write stories that dont necessarily follow his principle
and they still be good.

Works Cited:
Puchner, Martin. "Aristotle's Poetics." The Norton Anthology of World
Literature. 3rd ed. Vol. A. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. 1149-1153. Print.