ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -According to Plato’s theory of mimesis (imitation) the arts deal with illusion and they are imitation of an imitation. Thus, they are twice removed from reality. As a moralist, Plato disapproves of poetry because it is immoral, as a philosopher he disapproves of it because it is based in falsehood.

Detailed explanation-2: -To state it in contemporary terms: Plato believes both in literary truth-i.e., that fiction can contain truth-and in literary value as truth-value-i.e., that the value of a piece of literature depends, at least in large part, on whether its content is true.

Detailed explanation-3: -Aristotle replied to the charges made by his Guru Plato against poetry in particular and art in general. He replied to them one by one in his defence of poetry. Plato says that art being the imitation of the actual is removed from the Truth.

Detailed explanation-4: -Plato and Aristotle spoke of mimesis as the re-presentation of nature. According to Plato, all artistic creation is a form of imitation: that which really exists (in the “world of ideas”) is a type created by God; the concrete things man perceives in his existence are shadowy representations of this ideal type.

Detailed explanation-5: -world in poetry, he takes inspiration from the outward appearance of the world. The poets’ world is a copy of the world in which he lives. It is thus a replica, blind imitation, a copy of a copy. Thus, Plato declared poetry to be unreal, twice or thrice removed from reality.