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Theatre Arts for Advanced Secondary Schools

Mimesis theory
The word mimesis is a Greek word which means “imitation”. Plato and Aristotle
spoke of mimesis as the re-presentation of nature. They all believed that artists
imitate nature. They imitate actions of life. However, their opinions on mimesis
vary from one another as follows.
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Plato views on mimesis

According to Plato, all artistic creations are forms of imitation, thus artists imitate
the imitation of the imitation. This means that painters, tragedians and musicians
are imitators of an imitation which has twice been removed from the truth. He gives
an example of a carpenter and a chair. The idea of ‘chair’ first came in the mind of
carpenter. He gave physical shape to his idea out of wood and created the chair.
The painter imitated the chair of the carpenter in his picture of the chair. Thus,
painter’s chair is twice removed from reality. Hence, he believes that art works
in whichever form ought to be banned because it is twice removed from reality.
Plato is concerned with tragedy which encourages people to become sympathetic
for something that is not real. He argues that imitation of an action and his tool
of enquiry should not be allowed in state because they are neither philosophical
nor moral. He provides a line of action for those who consider imitation as an
inevitable fact. He proposed that younger generation should not imitate people
of low status such as crazy, thieves, and prostitutes. This idea was criticised on
grounds that art provides aesthetic delight, communicates experiences, expresses
emotions and represents life. The critics suggest that art should never be confused
with the function of ethics which is simply to teach morality.

Aristotle views on imitation

Aristotle is a proponent of imitation. He suggests that imitation is an instinct
implemented in man from childhood. Thus, the behaviour of imitation that we
develop was implemented in people from childhood. As for him, a purpose of
imitation in drama is to provide pleasure to people by imitating actions. Aristotle
considers imitation under three headings; media of imitation, object of imitation
and modes of imitation. Media of imitation is referred to a channel that artists
use to communicate information to the audience such as dance, music, painting
and poetry. Object of imitation is man in action. Men can be imitated as they
are, better than they are or worse than they are. Modes of imitation include
language, rhythm and harmony. For Aristotle, rhythm is not mere beats but rather
movements of the body in a rhythmical order. To simplify a work of imitation,

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