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What is the primary function of literary criticism?
What do different schools of literary criticism provide?
What is one of the ways literary criticism enhances our reading experience?
What is literature criticism concerned with?
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What does literary criticism help us understand about a text?
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What is the relationship between authors, readers, and texts that literary criticism helps us understand?
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What is the primary form in which Plato expounds his philosophy?
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What is the main criticism Plato levels against poetry?
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What is Plato's theory of Forms, according to the text?
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How does Plato view the physical world in relation to the ideal world?
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In which book of the Republic does Plato metaphorically express his theory of Forms?
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What is the name of the dialogue in which Plato expresses his views on art?
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What is the significance of poetry in ancient Greece?
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Where did the first recorded instances of literary criticism occur?
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Who is credited with laying the foundations of Western philosophy?
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What is the significance of Aristophanes' play The Frogs?
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What is the relationship between Plato and Socrates?
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Who are the two major Greek philosophers and critics to be studied in this course?
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What is the main purpose of Plato's allegory of the cave?
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What does the fire in the cave allegory represent?
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According to Plato, what is the relationship between the objects in the physical world and the Forms?
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Why does Plato consider poetry to be an unreliable source of truth?
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What is the ultimate goal of the soul's journey, according to Plato?
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What is the role of the puppeteers in the cave allegory?
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What aspect of the human psyche does poetry appeal to, according to Plato?
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Why does Plato believe that poets should not present the gods as deceitful?
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According to Plato, what is the source of inspiration for poets and rhapsodes?
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What does Plato compare poetry to?
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What type of poetry does Plato allow in his ideal society?
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What is the effect of poetry on character, according to Plato?
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Study Notes
Plato and Literary Criticism
- Plato is considered the initial formulater of the most fundamental questions of literary criticism.
- Most of Plato's philosophy is presented in dialogue form, with Socrates as the main speaker.
Accusations Against Poetry
- Plato levels four accusations against poetry:
- A. The falsity of the claims and representations of poetry regarding both gods and men.
- B. Poetry appeals to the weaker, inferior side of our mind/soul (or psyche).
- C. Poetry has a corruptive effect on character.
- D. Poetry is a kind of madness or contagion.
The Falsity of Poetry
- In the Republic, Plato views poetry as a falsifying rhetorical activity and a danger to his ideal city.
- According to Plato, the physical world is not independent or real, but is dependent on the realm of pure Forms or ideas.
- Any object in the physical world is derived from the ideal Forms.
- Plato metaphorically expresses his theory of Forms in the "myth of the cave".
The Myth of the Cave
- The myth of the cave is an allegory where people are imprisoned in a cave, unable to turn their heads, and can only see shadows of reality cast by a fire.
- The cave represents the physical world, and the journey towards the light is the "soul's ascension" to the world of Forms.
- Everything in our world is a pale copy of the perfect, unchanging originals (Forms) that dwell above in the unseen world.
Poetry as Imitation
- When a poet describes a chair or writes a poem about love, he is not imitating the Form of the chair or of love, but the earthly imitation of this ideal.
- Poetry, therefore, is twice removed from reality (the Forms) because it imitates what is already an imitation.
- Thus, it is an unreliable source of truth and can only lead astray those who study it.
Literary Criticism
- Literary criticism is the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of literature.
- It includes the classification by genre, analysis of structure, and judgement of value.
- Literary criticism helps us to understand what is important about the text: its structure, its context, what is written, and how the text manipulates the reader.
Classical Literary Criticism
- The story of Western literary criticism begins in ancient Greece with the great tragedies and comedies.
- Poets, philosophers, rhetoricians, grammarians, and critics laid down many of the basic terms, concepts, and questions that were to shape the future of literary criticism.
- The first recorded instances of criticism go back to dramatic festivals in ancient Athens.
- A particularly striking literary critical discussion occurs in Aristophanes' play The Frogs, first performed in 405 BC.
Poetry and the Psyche
- Plato attacks poetry for being fanciful, engaging the irrational part of the soul that is both illogical and unreliable.
- This irrational part of the soul is disorderly, unstable, and induces us to partake in public displays of emotion.
Poetry and Character
- In the Republic, Socrates stresses that poets must not present the gods as deceitful, and only hymns to the gods and praises of state heroes will be allowed.
- All other forms of poetry must be censored.
Poetry and Madness
- Plato asserts that poets do not write nor rhapsodes speak by art or skill, but by "divine possession".
- The Muse inspires the poet, who in turn passes on this inspiration to the rhapsode, who produces an inspired emotional effect on the audience.
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Description
This quiz covers the basics of literary criticism, its definition, and its application to classical literature, with a focus on Plato's contributions.
