LITERATURE QUESTIONS
LITERARY THEORY AND CRITICISM
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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Art presents only part of the world
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Art describes only what appears and not what is real
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Art tells lies about the world
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Art is an exaggeration of the world
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Detailed explanation-1: -Plato believes that the world we are living in, the material world, is only a shadow of the ideal world. For example, an apple we see in this world is an imperfect reflection of the perfect apple that resides in the ideal world. Plato calls these perfect or ideal things their Forms, hence his theory of Forms.
Detailed explanation-2: -According to Plato, art is false knowledge of reality. An artist’s imitation can deceive common people, not the philosopher, who knows the essence of reality or the real being of things.
Detailed explanation-3: -In the Republic, Plato says that art imitates the objects and events of ordinary life. In other words, a work of art is a copy of a copy of a Form. It is even more of an illusion than is ordinary experience. On this theory, works of art are at best entertainment, and at worst a dangerous delusion.
Detailed explanation-4: -Plato says that art being the imitation of the actual is removed from the Truth. It only gives the likeness of a thing in concrete, and the likeness is always less than real. But Plato fails to explain that art also gives something more which is absent in the actual.