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Aristotle's distinction between vice/depravity and hamartia matters because:
AAudiences prefer villains
BVice makes for better tragedy
CA wholly wicked hero cannot arouse pity and fear
DStage censorship demanded it
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. A wholly wicked hero cannot arouse pity and fear
1. Aristotle bars the wholly wicked because they cannot generate the proper effect.
2. The audience identifies with the partly-flawed hero in his fall.
3. Hamartia preserves the moral middle ground required for catharsis.
_Source: Project Gutenberg #1974 — Aristotle's Poetics — "misfortune is brought about not by vice or depravity, but by some error or frailty"_
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