Theatre of the Oppressed

“Aristotle constructs the first, extremely powerful poetic-political system for intimidation of the spectator, for elimination of the ‘bad’ or illegal tendencies of the audience.”

In this section, Boal outlines his argument for the inherent relationship between performance arts and power. Aristotle constructed a theory conceiving art as separate from other disciplines, and he also created a methodology for theater that forced audiences into a submissive role. Boal uses Aristotle’s theories to show that the beginning of Western theater is rooted in the maintenance of power. The Interaction of Power and Art led Boal to build the Joker system, which he would use to subvert the limitations of the Aristotelian model.

“The first difficulty that we face in order to understand correctly the workings of tragedy according to Aristotle stems from the very definition which that philosopher gives of art.”

Boal skillfully and succinctly utilizes the structure and form of traditional Western philosophical texts to turn their methodologies back upon themselves. He intentionally employs the very structures that he is critiquing, and this ironic stylistic choice reflects his important political response to systems of power. To set the stage for Boal’s own innovative approach to modern theater, Chapters 1-3 trace the historical evolution of philosophical thought about the relationship between art and power, beginning with Aristotle.

“Therefore, what did ‘imitate’ mean for Aristotle? To recreate that internal movement of things toward their perfection.”

In this sentence, Boal takes two important assertions and corrections. First, he explains that Aristotle’s ideas about the nature of forms as an eternal reaching toward perfection is an extension of Zeno’s