Questions and Answers
Who is Julius Scaliger?
What are the scholarly interests of Julius Scaliger?
Botany & zoology, grammar, and literary criticism
Ludovico Castelvetro was an actor.
False
What happened to Ludovico Castelvetro due to his theological controversy?
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Define decorum.
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What does verisimilitude refer to?
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Plays that occur over long periods of time, in many locations, and involve multiple subplots do not observe the __________ of drama.
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What is descriptive criticism?
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What is prescriptive criticism?
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Why do we talk about Aristotle and Horace in neoclassicism?
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What is neoclassicism?
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What is the rationale behind the invention of Opera?
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Should a play be didactic or 'Art for art's sake' according to neoclassical beliefs?
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Study Notes
Key Figures in Neoclassical Criticism
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Julius Scaliger: Renowned dramatic critic focused on various scholarly interests, notably botany, zoology, grammar, and literary criticism. Authored Poetics Libri Septem in 1561, a Latin work aiming to standardize literary forms with a didactic critical system that emphasized decorum and verisimilitude.
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Ludovico Castelvetro: A prominent Italian literary critic and trained lawyer, excommunicated by the Inquisition due to a theological controversy. Believed that theatre served to entertain the ignorant majority.
Critical Concepts
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Decorum: Relates to appropriate conduct and behavior in literature, dictated by character traits such as age, profession, sex, and rank.
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Verisimilitude: Refers to the lifelike quality of a work, ensuring that its elements—setting, characters, dialogue, and actions—appear true, plausible, and believable.
Rules of Drama
- Unities of Time, Place, and Action: Critical framework that dictates that plays should be confined to a specific time duration, location, and central plot, avoiding temporal paradoxes, extraneous subplots, and other complex narrative structures.
Types of Criticism
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Descriptive Criticism: Focuses on accurately describing the performance elements and actions to convey what is occurring in a theatrical production.
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Prescriptive Criticism: Provides guidelines and suggestions for theatrical practices, indicating how performances should be executed.
Influence of Classical Thinkers
- Neoclassicists sought to establish rules based on the works of Aristotle and Horace, emphasizing the importance of imitating ancient Greek and Roman theatrical traditions.
Neoclassicism Overview
- This movement represents a revival of classical styles across various artistic domains such as literature, architecture, and music, approached with modern perspectives and motivations.
Opera's Purpose
- The invention of Opera aimed to revive the Greek tragic style, merging musical performance with dramatic storytelling.
Moral and Didactic Considerations
- Didacticism versus "Art for Art's Sake": The debate centers on whether plays should instruct and uplift morally. One perspective advocates for drama as a reflective mirror of society, while another supports the combination of entertainment with moral instruction as the most effective form of drama, as suggested by Horace.
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Description
Explore key figures and concepts from Chapter 5 on Neoclassical Ideals through these flashcards. Test your knowledge on important dramatic critics like Julius Scaliger and Ludovico Castelvetro, and their contributions to literary criticism. Perfect for students of literature looking to reinforce their understanding.