Paglilitis Ni Mang Serapio Sa Mata Ni Aristotle - 1638 Words

Paglilitis ni Mang Serapio is a play written by Paul Dumol, currently an Economics professor at the University of Asia and the Pacific, during his high school years at Ateneo de Manila University. This play has been staged by countless theatre organizations already, producing myriad of interpretations and dramatizations. However, probably one thing has been constant in each of them since it was instilled in the text itself – that Paglilitis ni Mang Serapio is a tragedy. So with that, we can assume that Paglilitis ni Mang Serapio is not comedy. Before proving the claim that it is a tragedy, first, I would like to emphasize why it is not comedy. As a director in theatre and of this play, specifically, I received a lot of negative feedbacks†¦show more content†¦If its â€Å"magnitude† is to be considered, Paglilitis ni Mang Serapio possesses such for its complexity through absurdity is enough proof and its â€Å"seriousness† was obviously shown - then again the most distinct proof of its magnitude is what Aristotle termed as â€Å"universal significance†. This play was written more than 4 decades ago and still, its influence to readers and mere students is continuously affecting them – us. The fact that it is still alive means its message is never old, not only for the theatre people but also for the audience. Second, the Character. The development of emotions was previously discussed already. The argument stated only proved that the character supported the plot. The only contradicting part of Aristotle’s argument and Paglilitis ni Mang Serapio is the description on the protagonist. According to Aristotle, â€Å"The protagonist should be renowned and prosperous, so his change of fortune can be from good to bad.† Serapio, on the other hand, entered as someone who is definitely not â€Å"renowned and prosperous† but nevertheless, the aimed peripitea (a reversal of fortune; dramatic downfall) was still attained. In my interpretation, however, in Paglilitis ni Mang Serapio, it is not the protagonist who achieved this but the all the other characters especially the Unang Tagapagtanong. Yes, pity for Serapio’s fate was truly shown in the latter part but it was in