Plato: The Nature of Literature and Its Justification

      Plato, a greek philosopher of around 400 B.C., embarked the first questions regarding poetry that still exist today: What is poetry? How does poetry operate? Indeed an art, but how does it justify itself as an art? Murray explores the depth of the paradox that Plato engaged in as one of the most poetical thinkers who "banished poetry from his ideal state." Plato strikes the modern reader as his desire is not to censor, alter, or edit the concept of poetry, but to completely expel its existence from history. Regarding such hostility, Murray asks a thundering question: "Why is Plato so afraid of poetry that he has to abolish even its greatest masterworks?" In response, history has recorded a list of questions that were asked by Plato that stir the minds of modern thinkers today:
          * What is and should be the function of imaginative literature in society? 
          * Is it dangerous in that it encourages emotions and feelings which ought to be kept in check, or is it therapeutic in that it allows us to give vent to our emotions in a harmless way? 
          * Should there be censorship? 
          * Is literature a form of escapism or does it deepen our insight into the nature of people and the world around us? 
Murray edits literature as an inclusion of modern television and film which automatically relates to "popular entertainment and the mass media." This changes everything. This makes sense of the confusion in attempting to understand why Plato was devotedly against poetry.
          Do popular television shows airing today (e.g. Jersey Shore, Teen Mom, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Jerry Springer, Family Guy, etc.) encourage "emotions and feelings which ought to be kept in check, or is it therapeutic in that it allows us to give vent to our emotions in a harmless way?" Like poetry, media is categorized as an art that has both critical and praising viewpoints that conduct the same actions and responses that existed during Plato's time. Does watching the life of Kim Kardashian and her relationship with Reggie Bush really benefit your life in any way? Through modern day media and entertainment, perhaps there will be a greater understanding of Plato and his thoughts.  

          

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.