Baltimore: The Plague Ships and Aristotle Poetics

Applying Aristotle’s Poetics to Baltimore: The Plague Ships

                        Baltimore:  The Plague Ships is a graphic novel about Lord Baltimore, a man seeking revenge and redemption for the horrors of plague and vampirism he unleashed upon the world.  A portion of the book, through a series of flash backs, is dedicated to the origin and disposition of Baltimore.  The question posed is:  As interpreted by Aristotle’s Poetics, does the development of Lord Baltimore’s character contribute to a strong plot?

             The best structures of plot involve a character that is “like us” and falls upon misfortune by accident or error (Aristotle 98).   Descriptions of Baltimore’s early character traits are minimal.  However, what is shown displays a demeanor and actions reflective of someone like us.  The action leading to misfortune is an attack upon a monstrous bat-creature feeding on the carcass of a fallen comrade (Mignola, Golden 40-50).   A fight ensues that ends with both parties inflicting grievous wounds upon the other.   Baltimore is unaware that his attack is against an ancient vampire, who in retaliation releases a vicious plague that will kill thousands and raise the dead.

A transformation from fortune to misfortune develops when Baltimore discovers the amputation of his leg (Mignola, Golden 52).  The scene is graphic and spiritual misfortune is inferred as the amputation is juxtaposed against a stained glass window depicting the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise.    A scarred man named Haigus intrudes upon Baltimore and delivers an ominous message of war on mankind and retaliation (54-60).   Recognition develops as Baltimore acquires the knowledge that Haigus is the bat-creature from the battlefield and that Baltimore’s actions are responsible for Haigus’s enmity against mankind.  Poetics suggests the finest tragedies occur when transformations of average people with good reputation, move from fortune to misfortune by an error (98).    An argument can be made that Baltimore acted in horror and self-defense, rather than in error.   However, the effect of the act is similar to error and Poetics would applaud how effortlessly the act develops through actions and by the characters being true to their natures  (100).  

 Poetics notes that the best kind of suffering are those brought on by friendly relations (99).  Further recognition of Baltimore’s actions develops upon his arrival home and the discovery of his parents and sister’s death due to the plague  (Mignola, Golden 85-88).     Baltimore understands that Haigus is the source of the plague and it was his actions that initiated this chain of events.  To add to the horror, Baltimore’s wife is slain by Haigus (90).  The origin story crescendos’ when his wife rises from the dead and begs him to embrace her (93-96).    For the sake of his wife’s soul, Baltimore thrusts the remnants of a cross through his dead wife while exclaiming: “…I’m already damned!” (Mignola, Golden 96).   The transformation to misfortune is complete and the full ramifications of his actions are realized.  A reversal occurs as Baltimore loses his humanity and his persona transforms to a single-minded hunter focused on revenge.    

The origin story provides meaning to Baltimore’s attire as he is outfitted with a peg leg and a large harpoon (Mignola, Golden 11).   It is a small step to infer that Baltimore has acquired the vengeful attributes of Captain Ahab from Moby Dick.   Like the Captain and his ill ventured quest, the visual metaphor suggests an unfavorable end to Baltimore unless he can regain his humanity.   Poetics suggests that people delight in representations as they learn from observation and infer what a thing means (90). 

            The best structures of tragedy, as described by Poetics, are fully present and lend strength to the character development of Lord Baltimore.   Not only is the main representation achieved through a series of natural actions, the action itself becomes personified through visual association and speaks to the future of Lord Baltimore.

Works Cited

Aristotle.  Poetics.  The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism.  Ed. Vincent B. Leitch et al.  2^nd ed. New York: W.W.Norton & Co., 2010. 88-115. Print.

Melville, Herman. Moby Dick. New York: Penguin Books, 2001. Print.

Mignola, Mike, and Christopher Golden, writers.  Baltimore: The Plague Ships.  Art by Ben Stenbeck.  Colors by Dave Stewart.  Letters by Clem Robins.  Cover art by Mike Mignola with Dave Stewart.  Milwaukie:  Dark Horse Books. 2011. Print.