Evaluation and criticism Aristotelian and platonic Relativistic and absolutist Theoretical and practical What kind of play is it supposed to be?

Criticism It is the term we use to designate the description, analysis, and judgment of literary works of art. It covers all of the activities with which we have been concerned, however, our attention is now mores specifically directed toward total evaluation

Aristotelian and Platonic These are two basic kinds of criticism. We associate Aristotle with formal, logical analysis of works of art: the standards are severe and exceptions to rules are not treated lightly Platonic criticism, on contrast, suggests a utilitarian attitude toward works of art

Aristotelian and Platonic In platonic criticism, a play’s value is the practical good it brings to people; art, in this perspective, is less formal, but morally stimulating; the value of the play is seen more in the effect it has on the audience than in its artistic value. The basic dichotomy between Aristotelian and Platonic criticism is that one is inner- directed and the other is outer-directed.

Relativistic and Absolutist The relativistic critic feels strongly that any and all standards of evaluation may logically be applied to a play as a work of art; the goal of understanding is placed significantly above the formality of the means

Relativistic and Absolutist The absolutist critic, in contradiction, holds to one system of analysis with dogmatic rigidity. The absolutist feels equally strongly that there is only one established critical procedure to works of art and he adheres to that procedure with admirable tenacity

Theoretical and Practical Another useful distinction is that between theoretical criticism and practical criticism. In effect, the former kind of criticism moves from the particular to the general by moving from the individual play to theories about the plays.

Theoretical and Practical Practical criticism moves from the general to the particular by moving from theories about plays in general to the way in which these theories are seen operative in particular plays

The Critic’s purpose Make an evaluation of a play by asking questions: -What kind of play is it supposed to be? It is obvious that our very first question should direct our attention to the intentions of the playwright: how futile and even infantile it would be to interpret a comedy by the systems of analysis we might use in discussing tragedy.