CLASSICAL AND
MAJOR CRITICS
HORACE 65 – 8 BC
• Roman lyric poet
• Considered to be one of the greatest Latin poets.
• Advocated moderation and practical wisdom.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
• Augustus Caesar’s reign was the golden age of Roman poetry and
criticism.
• Height of Roman empire; wealth and political strength.
• It was an age of peace- men turned to literature to achieve
distinction.
• Poetasters corrupted and degraded public taste and there was an
increased critical activity against this.
WORKS
• Satire, epistles, Ars Poetica – written in hexameter.
• Epodes, Odes, Carmen secular (the secular hymn about Augustus
Caesar’s Rome)
• Principles of his work were decorum, moderation, friendship, and
self control.
• Associated with phrases like carpe diem (seize the day) and dulce et
decorum est pro patria mori (it is sweet and appropriate to die for
one’s country).
Ars Poetica (The art of Poetry)
• Carved a new tradition in literary criticism and was highly influential
during renaissance.
• Modelled on Aristotelian theory and speaks with vigour and
directness, establishing a personal relation with the reader.
Poesis (Subject matter of
poetry)
• A poem must have organic unity
• Poetry is not an imitation but a creative adaptation.
• Imagination should be exercised with discretion and moderation.
• A genre should stick to its metre.
• Language of poetry should be higher than common language.
Poema (form of poetry)
Plot
Should be based on familiar stories, mobility should be created through
skilful treatment.
Into the middle of things or events (medias res)
Comic themes should not be treated in the vein of tragedy or vice versa
Incidents should have a logical connection.
Characterisation
True to life and consistent.
Quality of character must suit their respective ages.
Dramatist must have a clear picture of what to represent on stage and what
to report to the audience.
Only five acts; three characters in a scene.
denouement should be a natural outcome.
Chorus is a compulsory element.
Poeta (The Poet)
• Incessant hard work.
• Keen observer of men and manners.
• Teach and delight.
• Poetry should be dulce et utile (sweet and useful).
• Faults may be forgiven
• Poetic inspiration/ madness is absurd
• Ut pictura poesis (Poetry is like a painting)
• Mocking himself, Horace acknowledges that he was not the most original
or inspired of poet.
Longinus
Introduction
• In literary criticism the name longinus is mostly associated with the
first century AD manuscript named “peri hypsous” or on the sublime.
• Even though there is no authentic information regarding the time of
origin and author of the manuscript this book is widely accepted,
highly regarded and has influenced 18th century critics.
• It is regarded as a classic work on aesthetics and the effects of good
writing.
• This paved the way for Romanticism.
• It is inspired by Plato.
• First English translation was done by John Hall in1652
• Sublime is associated with strong emotion and natural magnificence.
Sublime
• Sublimity is defined as a certain distinction and excellence in
expression which flashes at the right moment, scatters everything like
a thunderbolt and displays the power of orator in all its plenitude.
Effects of the sublime
• Sublime does not create persuasion but transports to ecstasy.
• In a way Longinus supports Plato’s argument that poetry is created by
maddening frenzied emotion.
• Deeper intellectual contemplation.
• Alienation leading to identification with the creative process of the
artist.
Sublime – Constituent elements
• Natural
• Ability to conceive great or elevated thoughts (Grandeur)
• Evocation of strong emotion (Pathos)
• Products of art or skill
• Figures of thought and speech (schemata)
• Elevated diction (phrasis)
• Noble arrangement of elevated words (Composition)
• Natural elements are more important.
• Only when natural elements exist is true sublime created.
• Elevated thought can be generated by emulating noble authors for
inspiration.
Phantasia
• Ability to visualise something in great details and present to the
reader ideas in the form of vivid images.
Other ideas
• The poet has two aspects – genius and acquired art
• The poem has two sides – sublimity and technique.
• Pleasure is the immediate end of art.
Causes of lacking sublime
• Lack of transcendent nature in people.
• Tendency to avarice.
• Later many philosophers and aestheticians have deliberated on the
sublime.
• 18th century philosophers like Edmund Burke and Immanuel Kant
talked about the distinction between beautiful and the sublime.
JOHN DRYDEN (1631-1700)
• John Dryden was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and
Playwright who was appointed England’s first Poet laureate in 1668.
• Restoration England came to be known in literary circles as the age of
Dryden
• Romantic writer Sir Walter Scott called him ‘Glorious John’
• Founder of modern prose style.
• Dr Johnson called him father of English criticism and the first self
conscious critic
Literary context
• Rise of neoclassicism
• Revolt against the excesses of meta physicals
• Importance word order, balance, sanity and decorum.
• Rise of scientific spirit and new philosophy.
• Rationalism, clarity and simplicity in thought and expression.
Dryden’s works on criticism
• Essay on dramatic poesy
• Prefaces, epilogues.
• Essay on Satire.
• Essay on Heroic tragedy.
• Essay on Fables.
Essay on dramatic poesy (1668)
• Context – Sorbiere, a French man visited England and wrote
unfavourably on English are and stage.
• In th form of dialogues between characters.
• For symbolic figures represent the popular ideas of the time.
• Free give and take of views.
• Crites (stands for ancients )
• Eugenius (represents the moderns)
• Lisideius (superiority of French plays)
• Neander (Dryden who advocate superiority of English over French
and the ancients.)
Demonstrates the superiority of :
• The modern over the ancient.
• English dramatists over the last generation and other European dramatists.
• Rhyme over blank verse for dramatic purpose.
• Conclusion is left to readers.
• Symbolic Characters.
• Tridents liberal neo-classical ideas.
• No slavish adherence to rules
• Defended tragicomedy as compassion and mirth are found together in
nature.
• Primary aim of poetry is delight; instruction is secondary.
Other popular ideas
• Prefers irregular (not adhering to Aristotelian unities) English plays to
the regular French (French plots lack variety).
• Aim of satire is the ‘correction of manners’.
• Aim of heroic tragedy is to arouse admiration not pity and fear.
• Considered Chaucer as a rough diamond that should be refined and
polished
• Defended rhyme saying natural words in natural order makes poetry
sweet.
• Only rhymed verse is suitable for tragedy
• Long speeches of French plays do not suit English audiences.
• ‘I admire him (Ben Johnson); but I love Shakespeare ’
Poetry as imitation
• Dryden interpreted mimesis in social rather than philosophical term
• The objective of imitation is the presentation of an image of human
nature.
