Literary Criticism:Plato's point of view

Literary Criticism:Plato

What is the nature of literature or what is literary criticism?,these are the general and basic question which aroused when people heard or read about the art.Philosophy of life and art is the basic fundamental foundation developed by Greeks of 5th B.C which is served as basic theoretical and practical criticism.These were the 5th century Athenians who pondered upon the purpose of literature and the question of writing and reading itself.From that time a debate on function and nature of literature started.They started formal literary criticism of literature.Many critics developed their principles according to literary criticism.Plato is a critic about whom it is said that who laid the foundation of the central issues of both literature and philosophy,relation of society and people,ontology,epistemology,concept of beauty and morality etc.Many western philosophers contributed to criticism but about Plato,it is said by Alfred North Whitehead,a modern British philosopher:

"All of western philosophy is but a footnote to literature".

A contemporary of Plato,Aristophanes,a comic dramatist showed little bit practical criticism but Plato systematically begins the study of criticism and literary theory.Plato says that spirituality is reality.Every material thing is a shadowy replica of that thing which is present in its ideal form in the spiritual realm.He gives an example of a chair that if a chair exists in this material world then that chair is not real,this chair is the shadowy replica of that chair which is present in an ideal world and if there is no chair in that ideal world then a chair in this material world can not exist.

Before Plato and his Academy,Greeks developed their world through poetry and narratives to find or discover the truth.They made their own theories of goodness and others.

After the invention of Plato and his Academy,philosophical terms and abstract things got the position of narratives.

Plato wrote above the door of his school,

''Let no one enter here who is not a geometer''.

If material world is nothing but only a shadowy replica of real world then poets are not writing real things.They just copy the things which they see in this world as real and according to Plato,they are just creating copies of copies of real things.

Plato says that a poet's craft has no value because a copy is a copy and copy of copy is nothing and worthless.

Plato says that these people are imitators of reality and that who makes copy of anything can not be trusted.

Plato condemns all the poets to extreme level that he wants all the poets to be banished.

After realizing the needs of poets in the society,He says that only good poets and who are honorable in the state can be tolerated.By compiling literature and politics,a new debate started concerning the nature,value and worth of art and literature which is also a complex theory of literary criticism.