The term unities is used in drama criticism to refer to the use of action, time, and place. In his Poetics, Aristotle emphasizes that unity of action was the most important factor in tragedy, which he calls “an imitation of an action that is complete and whole and of a certain magnitude.” Completion means having a beginning, middle, and end. Aristotle also states that unity cannot be achieved simply by making one character the focus of tragedy; instead it comes from structural unity of smaller actions that constitute one larger, complete action. Aristotle does not explicitly comment on unity of time and place, but it can be inferred from Poetics and such examples as Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex and Euripides’ Medea that unity of action assumes a limited time span and location.
Aristotle’s descriptions of tragedies and unities have been molded over time into a series of rules for judging contemporary drama. These rules were most strongly influenced, especially during the 16th century and the development of neoclassicism, by Italian critic Ludovico Castelvetro, in his commentary on Aristotle’s Poetics.
During the 17th century, the great French dramatist Pierre corneille relied on Aristotle’s definition of unity in discussing plot, but he narrowed the definition by arguing that a play’s action should cover no more than a day because such restraint would support the imitation of reality and probability that audiences expect. Since he was a working playwright, Corneille admitted that dramatists might have to bend these rules to satisfy their audiences.
Another playwright, John Dryden, showed the advantages and disadvantages of strictly following the unities, which he did not fully support, in his Essay of Dramatic Poesy (1668). While the unities make for neat, symmetrical drama in which nothing is wasted, they also can make a play claustrophobic and lifeless if too literally obeyed. Dryden upholds the English tradition of multiple plots and variety in actions as more lively and appealing.
The unities continued to be an important factor, though less rigidly observed, in the 19th century, especially with the rise of Henrik Ibsen and realism in drama. See also classicism.
Works about the Unities
Aristotle. Aristotle’s Theory of Poetry and Fine Art. Translated by S. H. Butcher. New York: Dover, 1955.
Corneille, Pierre. “Of the Three Unities,” in The Continental Model: Selected French Critical Essays of the Seventeenth Century. Edited by Scott Elledge and Donald Schier. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1960.
Dryden, John. “An Essay of Dramatic Poesy,” in Critical Theory Since Plato. Edited by Hazard Adams. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers, 1992.
