BBL 3103 LITERARY THEORY FROM PLATO TO T. S. ELIOT

1. BBL 3103 LITERARY THEORY FROM PLATO TO T. S. ELIOT DR. IDA BAIZURA BAHAR

2. The Renaissance01 The Dark/Middle Ages or the Medieval Era medieval scholar making precise measurements in a 14th-century manuscript illustration

3. The Dark/Middle Ages or the Medieval Era • i. About • The break up of the Roman empire (ca. 5th century) brought about the Dark Ages • The rise of barbarian hordes • Surge of nationalism • Literary/cultural activity, specifically Graeco-Roman culture was neglected • Culture of war • Fusion of church and state in full swing • Rise of Christianity • > Graeco-Roman culture was seen as pagan • Literary criticism activity focused on biblical exegesis (interpretation) • Dante: • > ushered in the resurrection of Graeco-Roman culture by including its mythology in his Divine Comedy • > ushered in the use of vernacular (Florentian Italian instead of Latin)

4. 02 The Renaissance • i. About • With the fall of Constantinople (1453), the Renaissance was ushered in • Greek scholars moved and settled further West (esp. Italy) bringing with them texts of antiquity • Translations of Aristotle and Horace • Invention of the printing press • > social effect: culture for the masses • > it was considered desirable once again to be a man of learning • Revival of Graeco-Roman culture • > More importantly, revival of Graeco-Roman modes of thought (inquiry, appreciation of beauty) • The translation of Graeco-Roman texts into vernacular languages • Italy became a cultural hub, dominated the Renaissance outlook

5. 02 The Renaissance • ii. Chief Concerns of the Age • Literary genres (Aristotle, Plato) • Decorum and rules (Horace, Aristotle) • Classic vs English metres • Imaginative literature vs classical literature or vs moralists

6. 02 The Renaissance • iii. The 4 stages, Italian influence • 1. The Rhetorical Phase • Form and style of literature were studied • Paradoxically, the rhetorical trend was inspired by the Italians, although they were the pioneers of the Romantic trend • 2. Classification of poetic forms • Classical systems of prose and verse forms were classified systematically • Classical metre introduced into England (from Italy), and then into English poetry • 3. Philosophical and apologetic criticism • Sir Philip Sidney’s Defence of Poetry • English poetry attacked by: • > Moralists, who felt that poetry was immoral • > Classicists, who disliked English verse forms • Study of ancient verse, to grasp the fundamental principles of the art • 4. Classicism • Ben Jonson • More emphasis on rules and dogma, with relation to the creative process

7. 03 Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586)

8. i. Defence of Poetry • Written in reply to Stephen Gosson’sSchool of Abuse • Gosson said: • > poets are mere ‘jesters’ and enemies of virtue • > music is debilitating and undermines virtue • > drama is an incitement to popular debauchery (def. indulgence in wild sensual pleasures) • > Plato himself banished poets from his ideal state • > tragedy was filled with acts of cruelty and comedy with vulgar love affairs

9. ii. The reply • The Defence of Poetry has 5 main counterarguments: • 1. The antiquity and universality of poetry • Poetry precedes all other branches of learning • Philosophers and historians arise out of poets • 2. Kinds of poetry, its nature and its usefulness • Religious: to sing the praises of god • Philosophical: imparts knowledge • True: the actual ‘makers’; epic poets; inspires men to action

10. ii. The reply • 3. The author’s reply to his critics • ‘Poetry is useless and a waste of time’ • > poetry is conducive to virtue • > poetry is therefore superior to history and philosophy • ‘Poets are liars' • > the poet doesn’t make any claims for truth, thus he never lies • > instead he represents an imaginative reality, what should be instead of what is • ‘Poetry inclines one towards contemplation, and disinclines one from action’ • > All knowledge is contemplative, and with this rationale, all books should be banned • > Poetry has inspired men for ages, especially in times of war • ‘Plato himself banished poets from his ideal state’ • > Plato, according to Sidney, was more concerned with the abuse of poetry • > Plato, a poet himself, regarded the true poet as being divinely inspired

11. ii. The reply • 4. The state of contemporary English drama • Sidney felt that contemporary English drama was lacking • > an era of peace in England, therefore poets had become sluggish • > an absence of true geniuses • > ignorance of the poetic art (antiquity) • Doggedly emphasised the three unities (time, place, action) • Sidney did not approve of tragicomedy as a genre; the mingling of two separate elements caused a rupture in unity • Disapproved of the evil and vulgar being presented in comedy • Contemporary love-poetry was degenerate; its ornate style was not suited to its content

12. ii. The reply • 5. Remarks on style, diction and versification • Sidney believed that English was a far superior language to other continental languages • Disapproved of flamboyant displays of wordplay; ‘true art lies in concealing art’ • A proponent of the introduction of classical metre into English verse