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The Philosophy of Fine Art, volume 4 (of 4): Hegel's Aesthetik — Georg Hegel — John Shaqi
The Philosophy of Fine Art, volume 4 (of 4): Hegel's Aesthetik

Georg Hegel · en
[(_α_) Greek drama. Roman drama an attenuated reflection.
    Survey limited to Æschylus, Sophocles, and Aristophanes.
    Background of ancient tragedy the heroic condition. Analysis
    of modes under which ethical content of human action
    asserted. The unsevered consciousness of the godlike and the
    combating human action, presented under the form of chorus
    and heroic figures. Significance of chorus. Opposition
    between social obligation and private sense of duty.
    Antigone. Modern conception of guilt and innocence no place
    in Greek tragedy in strict sense. Final end reconciliation
    of forces of human action. Such a _dénouement_ not merely
    an ethical issue. Contrast between such and the Justice of
    the Greek Epos. Illustrations. Antigone. Œdipus. Orestes.
    Conception of old classical Comedy. The laughter of the
    Olympian gods made present in man. Aristophanes]

    (_β_) Modern dramatic art

    [(i) The ends which ought to come into the process of the
    action as the content of the characters. Borrowed from the
    concrete world of religious and social life. Not however,
    the particular ethical forces as of individuals which assert
    them, _e.g._, Christ, the saints, kings, vassals, and
    members of ruling families. Features of the private life
    accepted not within scope of ancient drama. Personal love,
    honour, etc. make an exclusive appeal. Faust. Wallenstein.
    Generally it is the inner experience of soul-life which
    demands satisfaction. Comparison of problem of Hamlet with
    that of the Choephorae.

    (ii) Nature of characters and collisions. Conflict
    abides essentially in the character itself. Abstract
    characterization of French and Italian poetry, also Spanish.
    In contrast to this that of the English, and above all
    Shakespeare. Goethe and Schiller. Vacillation of character.
    "King Lear."

    (iii) Nature of tragic issue. Justice of more abstract
    nature than in ancient tragedy. The issue as the effect
    of misfortune. "Romeo and Juliet," a kind of unhappy
    blessedness in misfortune. Social plays the link between
    tragedy and comedy. As a rule the triumph of ordinary
    morality celebrated. Modern comedy. Question whether folly
    is ridiculous only to others, or to the comic character
    also. The second type mainly that of Aristophanes, the first
    that of Molière. Invention of the intrigue or intricate
    plot. Comparison of Shakespeare's comedy with that of
    Aristophanes]

    Final Summary and Conclusion





THIRD PART

THE SYSTEM OF THE PARTICULAR ARTS

SUBSECTION III

THE ROMANTIC ARTS

(CONTINUED)




THE

PHILOSOPHY OF FINE ART




CHAPTER III

POETRY

INTRODUCTION


I