Literary Criticism

          Penelope Murray begins her book, Classical Literary Criticism with a quote by T.S. Eliot, reading, "Our criticism from age to age will reflect the things that the age demands." Eliot magnificently envelops the concept of literature being an ever-changing element that is reestablished by newly discovered questions and answers. In agreement to Eliot, Murray responds, "Literature itself is not a stable or self-evident category." Such accessibility and flexibility have allowed literary critics throughout the ages to return again and again with greater, complex arguments and possible answers to prehistoric arguments as well. Educational classes that hone in on understanding the critical theory behind literature exist today due to the same cause and will assuredly exist for the future generations to come.
          Although the criticism and the questions regarding the nature and function of literature will constantly alter, four historical names have been mentioned when aligned with criticism, and will remain as those who have made an influence on the art of criticism: Plato, Aristotle, Horace and Longinus. Murray successfully creates a stable bridge between each thinker to better understand the historical movement of critical literature and explores the background from which they emerged, allowing students, such as myself, to explore the realm of questions, assumptions, arguments, and answers.