and also full of pain? Is there not a mixture of feelings in the spectator
of tragedy? and of comedy also? 'I do not understand that last.' Well,
then, with the view of lighting up the obscurity of these mixed feelings,
let me ask whether envy is painful. 'Yes.' And yet the envious man finds
something pleasing in the misfortunes of others? 'True.' And ignorance is
a misfortune? 'Certainly.' And one form of ignorance is self-conceit--a
man may fancy himself richer, fairer, better, wiser than he is? 'Yes.'
And he who thus deceives himself may be strong or weak? 'He may.' And if
he is strong we fear him, and if he is weak we laugh at him, which is a
pleasure, and yet we envy him, which is a pain? These mixed feelings are
the rationale of tragedy and comedy, and equally the rationale of the
greater drama of human life. (There appears to be some confusion in this
passage. There is no difficulty in seeing that in comedy, as in tragedy,
the spectator may view the performance with mixed feelings of pain as well
as of pleasure; nor is there any difficulty in understanding that envy is a
mixed feeling, which rejoices not without pain at the misfortunes of
others, and laughs at their ignorance of themselves. But Plato seems to
think further that he has explained the feeling of the spectator in comedy
sufficiently by a theory which only applies to comedy in so far as in
comedy we laugh at the conceit or weakness of others. He has certainly
given a very partial explanation of the ridiculous.) Having shown how
sorrow, anger, envy are feelings of a mixed nature, I will reserve the
consideration of the remainder for another occasion.

Next follow the unmixed pleasures; which, unlike the philosophers of whom I
was speaking, I believe to be real. These unmixed pleasures are: (1) The
pleasures derived from beauty of form, colour, sound, smell, which are
absolutely pure; and in general those which are unalloyed with pain: (2)
The pleasures derived from the acquisition of knowledge, which in
themselves are pure, but may be attended by an accidental pain of