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For Aristotle, all literature is an art of imitation. Just as an artist imitates life to produce his or her literature, the audience is inspired to imitate, in some fashion, what it reads, hear, or sees on the stage. One of the basic types of literature that Aristotle discusses is the tragedy, which he considered a very important and potentially influential type of literature. Tragedy came to signify a dramatic presentation of seriousness and noble character which examines the major questions of human existence. In tragedy, people are tested by great suffering and must face decisions of ultimate consequence. While some may meet the challenge with deeds of extreme cruelty, others demonstrate their ability to overcome adversity and thus showing the tough and determined nature of the human spirit. Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, whole in itself [meaning that it has a beginning, middle, and end], and filled with many types of literary devices. In dealing with the definition of tragedy, there are many vital aspects of literature that come together to produce a well-written tragedy. Some of these aspects include the art of imitation, reversal and recognition, pity and fear, catharsis, and even the ef