Principles of dramatic structure proposed by critics and dramatists of the 16th and the 17th centuries, claiming the authority of Aristotle’s Poetics. ②The three unities are the unity of action (all the action of the work must occur within one continuous plot without extraneous subplot), the unity of time (all the action of the work must occur within 24 hours, or one whole day), and the unity of place (all the action of the work must occur in one place or city).