Considered the model of the mechanics of tragedy, Aristotle's Poetics is based on the hypothesis that great tragic works must include a generous number of mimetic elements, or elements that willingly imitate human life. Moreover, well-organized tragic plots combine both the reversal of fate (peripeteia) and the personal recognition (anagnorisis) that results largely from a character's tragic flaw (hamartia). In relation to the framework proposed by Aristotle for tragedy, Sylvia Plath's short story "Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams" unintentionally recreates a tragic plot through the life and actions of the main character of the story. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay “Johnny Panic and the Dream Bible” details a complex doctor-patient relationship between an unnamed main character and Johnny Panic himself. Working as an assistant secretary in an outpatient clinic, the anonymous character is responsible for recording the doctors' analyses. However, becoming more and more in love with Johnny Panic, she begins copying her patient's dreams into a notebook she calls the Johnny Panic "Bible". As the character strives to become more and more like Johnny Panic himself, she begins to discover a dark and sinister side to her idol. Yet instead of dissuading her from her relationship with Panic, this discovery only leads to a stronger obsession. She begins secretly reading and recording outdated dream journals during the brief periods when her colleagues are out of the office. Likewise, her growing obsession leads her to hatch a plan to stay in her office overnight and accomplish more than she otherwise could. Unfortunately, the first morning after an overnight stay, she is caught by the clinic director and forced to go to a wing of the hospital reserved for inpatients. As the story ends with him involuntarily receiving electroshock treatments, his final thought concerns only the loss of Johnny Panic. In Poetics, Aristotle states that a tragic character is neither particularly good nor particularly bad. In Plath's short story, the nameless character is just that. She is not considered good because she violates the scope of her official duties for her own psychological fulfillment. Yet she does not commit any type of atrocity that would characterize her as inherently bad or evil. Indeed, she has good intentions of becoming an avid follower of Johnny Panic himself, but her intentions are continually thwarted by interruptions from her colleagues. Additionally, the main character remains consistent and realistic throughout the story. She acts correctly in the exercise of her duties as secretary, carrying out her daily tasks; however, she is unable to suppress the growing obsession she has with Johnny Panic. After all, many ordinary people have found themselves absorbed or acted out by another person at some point in their lives. However, it is this same obsession that leads the anonymous character to his downfall. Ultimately, the character's tragic fate is a direct result of her dark obsession with something she believes to be good. Plath's character not only embodies this Aristotelian aspect of tragic failure, but also perfectly follows the aforementioned framework for a tragic hero. According to Aristotle, complex plots must involve either “a revolution or a discovery” or both (210). In reference to the news of.