Fantasticfour : The major theories of criticism and analysis of works

 Criticism According to Samuel Johnson :

 Approach towards antiquity. Some people lament that the dead are praised unreasonably. They hold that the criteria of evaluating a writer should be the excellence of his work and not his antiquity. They are generally people, who have nothing to contribute to the universal truth and therefore try to win fame by offering controversial arguments or hope that posterity will be kind and sympathetic and will bestow them with the name that their contemporaries deny. Admittedly, antiquity has its blind votaries who indiscriminately praise everything merely because it dates back to the remote days. It is also true that spotlighting the merits of the ancients and the faults of contemporaries is more congenial to many critics. As long as an author is alive, the tendency is to judge him in the ‘light of his worst work, and after his death the practice is to regard his best work as his most characteristic and judge him from that view point.

Continuation of esteem: a criterion of merit. The criteria for judging works of art cannot be absolute as in case of works based on scientific principles. Johnson says that in the field of literature excellence is not absolute, but gradual and comparative. In weighing works of literature, the only test that can be aptly applied is length of duration and continuation of esteem. It is quite natural that mankind examines and compares works which they have possessed long, and in case they go on praising them, it shows that they have found them to be really valuable. No production of genius can be termed excellent until it has been impartially compared with other such works, just as no one can call a river deep unless he has seen and known several rivers and judges the particular one in comparison with the others. A literary work is primarily tentative and can be estimated only by its proportion to the general and collective of humanity, as this ability has been discovered in a long succession of endeavours. Scientific works can be adjudged perfect because of their objective base, whereas the greatness of Homers poems has not been given any specific explanation except that they have appealed to generation after generation. The reason why the works of antiquity are held in esteem is not blind adulation or superstitious brief in their superior wisdom but the fact that they have stood up to scrutiny of time.

Bright side of the Midsummer Night's Dream :

Shakespeare’s setting

Shakespeare’s plays include references to over fifty different types of flowers, including garden plants, wild flowers, and herbs. A Midsummer Night’s Dream references a whopping twenty-four plants and flowers alone. Compare this to the one plant mentioned in the citified, political Julius Caesar and one can feel how the Bard chooses the words for his metaphors to create a specific mood. Nature, weather, and the power of the seasons reign in this fantastical romp of comic misadventures, mistaken identities, and unrequited love. In the play, everyone runs off to the forest, and in this land of fairies, madness ensues. Theatricum Botanicum is a match made in heaven for this play. Fairies emerge from within an oak grove, while lovers run along dirt paths groaning and sighing. Shakespeare’s common theme of nature versus city-life, and how the former unwinds the soul, is echoed by the mountains our production uses as a backdrop. See if you can count the plant and flower references he litters all over the text as you forget about your own worries enveloped in this outdoor sanctuary away from city-life.”

2. Textual variations

Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Imani Turner as Puck. Photo by Jean Thompson.

“In any Shakespeare play, the cutting of the script is always an extremely important part of the process. Everything from the characters we keep, plot points we adjust, and words we say can, in the end, alter the story we tell to our audience. One interesting aspect of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as is the case with many of Shakespeare’s plays, are the vast differences in the language between printed editions of the script. We can look at the First Quarto edition, printed during Shakespeare’s lifetime, and see a lot of differences in the word choice, line assignments, and characters involved in a scene in comparison to the First Folio edition, printed almost 8 years after Shakespeare’s death. In cutting the script for Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s 2018 production of Midsummer, I became very interested in this Quarto text. In a back-and-forth exchange between Lysander and Hermia during the first scene of the play, Lysander remarks that ‘the course of true love never did run smooth: but either it was different in blood…’ Generally, Hermia’s response to this line is, as we see in modern editions, ‘O Cross! too high to be enthralled to low.’ However, I like the line as it’s printed in earlier editions, including the Quarto and First and Second Folios: ‘too high to be enthralled to love.’ With just the single change in word choice, different images are evoked in the mind of the listener. For my money, I’m much more interested in the irony of Hermia characterizing the cross she’s bearing as being too high and afar to acknowledge love, while forgetting about the highest cross that bore the love and salvation for all humanity. The Quarto is filled with a plethora of little gems like that, which don’t translate as well in the Folio, such as Helena being present during the shaming of Hermia in the first scene, Quince having lines that are many times assigned to Puck, and Egeus exiting afterTheseus’ forgiveness and not returning for the play within the play. I’m super happy to have been given the chance to work through the play from the perspective of the First Quarto. In the heightened language of Shakespeare, much of the meaning lies in the diction, rhyme, meter, and various metaphorical devices of that language. It is so important and refreshing to really grasp onto that language and let it lead you to action and storytelling.

           

3. Worlds collide: how do the fairies and humans interact ?

“One of the most interesting aspects I found in the Atlanta Shakespeare Company’s ongoing production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream was director Tony Brown’s decision to draw the audience’s attention to the fairies through blocking and music. Tony highlights Oberon and Puck’s involvement in the fates of the four Athenian lovers through blocking; Oberon is almost omnipresent in the scenes, and Puck is consistently darting in and about the lovers. For me, the blocking encourages me to question when Puck is motivated by a desire to cause mischief and confusion and when he is trying to rectify his earlier mistake of putting the love potion of the eyes of Lysander instead of Demetrius. Tony has also composed new music for all of the fairies to sing between the two acts of our production.  The music contributes to the magical feel of the production and reinforces the importance of the fairies within the world of the play.

4. The surefire play-within-a-play

“Shakespeare’s penchant for putting a play-within-the-play is fully realized in Midsummer. While the excesses of the Nine Worthies in Love’s Labor’s Lost are trickier to carry off, the wonderful royal wedding entertainment at the end of Midsummer almost always delights. Bottom’s turn as Pyramus—with whatever struggling, beardless Thisbe he has been given as fabulous foil to his bountiful ego—gives the actor immense license to carry on. Such a ‘tedious brief scene,’ stuck at the end of the rollicking chase play, lets an audience pause and savor that delicious balance between the absurdity of the recounting of this classic tale and the enjoyment the actor so often gives and gets while chewing the scenery. One of my favorites was the charming performance by the irrepressible David Marks in our 2006 Folger production. Watching from a perch in the balcony during the last night of the run, I saw just what Shakespeare must have appreciated when his Bottom—probably Will Kempe—was let loose. In his final moments as the valiant Pyramus, Marks extended his exit by many, many extra miles! All in the house were on the edge of their seats, waiting for one more eruption from him.  Also, the simultaneous play between the ridiculous and the poignant was there too; the wound in the ‘pap where heart does hop’ was felt. This Mechanical scene almost always does its work—capping the complete pleasure of being in an audience, watching an audience, watching an actor so clearly enjoying acting.

—Janet Alexander Griffin, Director of Public Programs and Artistic Producer at the Folger Shakespeare Library. You can catch another Shakespearean play-within-a-play in Love’s Labor’s Lost, onstage.

Hermia and Helena 

Oberon and Puck conspire in San Francisco Shakespeare Festival’s 2018 Free Shakespeare in the Park production of "A Midsummer Night’s Dream."

The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival’s 2018 Free Shakespeare in the Park production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” runs through September 23. Stephen  (Oberon) and James Lewis (Puck). Photos: John Western

“I am always fascinated by the connection between Helena and Hermia. In a play about love and relationships, I think that the friendship and sisterhood between Hermia and Helena is often overlooked. Textually, their relationship quickly evolves from that of two close childhood friends to bitter enemies. How the actors and the director chose to portray this relationship and rationalize why it so quickly falls apart can be incredibly exciting and interesting. In the midst of the lovers’ fight in act 3, scene 2, Helena talks directly to Hermia and recalls their childhood days. She talks about how they grew up together, ‘Like to a double cherry, seeming parted, / But yet an union in partition, / Two lovely berries molded on one stem; / So with two seeming bodies but one heart…’

But they also say some cruel and terrible words to each other in the forest. They turn on each other so quickly and abruptly. Is some part of that because of the magic of the forest? How do the actors and the director rationalize the degradation of a relationship between two long-time childhood friends?

What happens after that night? How do they reconcile? Do they reconcile at all? In our production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hermia and Helena are played by two wonderful actresses who chose to create two close, childhood friends who frequently share their romantic relationship difficulties with each other. By the end of the play they choose to reconcile, while also recognizing and acknowledging the turmoil of the night before.”

6. The transformation from Bottom to ass

“I’m always curious to see how a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream will take on the task of changing Bottom into an ‘ass.’ For starters, the crucial moment itself (as so often happens with Shakespeare) takes place off stage. Despite this, many directors devise elaborate and imaginative on-stage transformations, which can be quite fun when done well! Second, the practical aspect of a (potentially) lavish piece of makeup can pose a significant challenge. Looking at how a production tackles this provides a keyhole onto how they’ve approached other technically difficult tasks. Lastly, and most importantly, while Bottom the ass is one of Shakespeare’s most famously goofy set pieces, it’s also thematically central to the play. The metamorphosis of man into beast, and the consequences of that transformation, encapsulate many basic concerns of Dream. These include: innocence and desire, sexual awakening, and rebirth through exposure to the natural world. How much thought was put into the ‘ass’

Fault of A Midsummer Night's Dream

Forced Marriage and Rape: Theseus the Pillager Duke

Hippolyta  and Theseus are both characters taken from Greek mythology. Hippolyta is an Amazonian warrior queen and confirmed half-god, while Theseus is a warrior hero and possible half-god. Accounts of their lives and deeds vary. In at least one narrative, Theseus wages war on the Amazons, captures Hippolyta, and marries her. This is the version Shakespeare builds on in A Midsummer Night's Dream, so it seems that Hippolyta marries Theseus against her will, possibly as a mere war trophy.

While arguing with Titania, Oberon references Theseus' previous rape of Perigenia, daughter of Sinis. Both in Greek legend and in the play, this appears to be excusable because Perigenia's father is a torturer and murderer.

Theseus is also known in both sources as a prolific womanizer. Oberon says that Titania seduced Theseus and made him unfaithful to Aegles (a nymph), Ariadne (a goddess), and Antiopa (another Amazonian queen). However, Greek lore says that Theseus was quite willing to kidnap, abandon, and rape women of his own accord.

Infidelity

As we've mentioned, Oberon accuses Titania of infidelity with Theseus, and the duke's misogynistic reputation makes this all the more shameful. However, Titania also accuses Oberon of infidelity with Hippolyta, 'the bouncing Amazon, Your buskin'd mistress, and your warrior love.' Although the romantic problems between the human lovers in the play seem to be resolved by its end, there is no resolution for the serious marital problems between the fairy couple.

Drugs: Tools of Marital Manipulation

Partly because he's jealous of her, and partly because she wants the changeling child she's stolen for herself, Oberon uses a magical drug to sexually manipulate his wife. He causes her to fall in love with a common laborer whom Puck has given a donkey's head. Although there are no explicit sexual acts between her and Bottom referenced in the play, it's a twisted and demeaning thing to do to anyone, much less one's wife. Titania doesn't benefit from the relative benevolence with which the same potion is ultimately used on the human lovers.

Misogyny: Women as Victims of Patriarchal Law

Most of the disturbing elements in the play happen to non-humans, whether fairies or Greek mythological figures, and occur in the past tense. It's unclear whether this is intended to 'soften' perceptions of the dark undertones in the play. However, Hermia's current plight as a human victim of patriarchal law is apparent from the play's opening. In Elizabethan society, women were not only considered inferior to men, but were also the property of men. Men as fathers and heads of households made decisions for their daughters and other family members. That's why Egeus says Hermia has to obey him and marry Demetrius in another example of would-be forced marriage in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Further, if Hermia doesn't obey, she will either be executed by court order or sentenced to life as a nun, as Theseus explains. In fact, Egeus actually demands that Theseus guarantee the worst punishment legally possible for Hermia. Hermia doesn't dare defy her father or Theseus in public, but flees to the forest with Lysander at night so they can elope. In the end, Theseus overrides Egeus and allows the couple to marry for love. However, this too is proof of how Hermia's life and death hang on the whims of a man in power.

2. Criticism According to Matthew Arnold :

Matthew Arnold’s other essay, “The Function of Criticism at Present Time,” written thirteen years after the preface, is an essay in which Arnold dwells on a critic’s responsibility to the reading public. His work goes beyond a narrow interpretation of the judgment of works of art and embraces a more extensive range.

The first argument he makes is about objectivity,

“The endeavor in all branches of knowledge, theology, philosophy, history art, and science, to see the object as in itself it is.”

One controversial idea he introduces here is that “the critical power is of a lower rank than the creative.” Here he agrees with Wordsworth that the critical faculty is lower than the inventive.

Developing this idea, he states that for incredible creation, “the power of the man and the power of the moment, and the man is not enough the without moment; the creative power has, for its happy exercise, appointed elements and those elements are not in its control.” The fountains head of creative activity will open up only when there is the encouraging, nourishing, and maturing social, cultural milieu.

 #General point of The Canterbury tales :

The Canterbury Tales perfectly captures the emergence of the Middle Class. Many great works of literature perfectly capture a particular time period. When Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales, the Middle Ages was giving birth to another “middle”—the middle class. Society was no longer divided into simply lord and peasant; professions were springing into existence, and all of a sudden skilled craftsmen were making enough money to afford things like a pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral. This rocked society. But why read about this phenomenon as a paragraph in a history textbook when it virtually leaps off the page in The Canterbury Tales? In “The General Prologue” Chaucer introduces his list of twenty-nine pilgrims, describing their ranks in society and also lampooning them in the process. When I asked my student to pick their favorite section of The Canterbury Tales, I expected them to choose from the various tales the pilgrims told. Yet many of them picked the General Prologue itself: They enjoyed reading the descriptions of the medieval professions and Chaucer’s opinions of them.

The Canterbury Tales celebrates the art of storytelling. Chaucer understood that who is telling the story matter. Each narrator’s personality makes its way into the story he or she chooses to tell. Likewise, the stories we choose to tell and how we tell them speaks volumes about us. 

The purpose of the prologue is to give readers a general overview of the characters that are present, why they are present there, and what they will be doing. The narrator begins by telling us how it is the season in which people are getting ready to make a pilgrimage to Canterbury. He happens to be at a tavern where there are many other pilgrims going to his same destination. We get narration that describes the appearance and behavior of those pilgrims as well as the Host. The Host admits that the group present seems to be quite a happy group, so he proposes a story telling competition that will happen on the way to Canterbury and on the way back. The pilgrims agree to this, go to bed, and the story telling begins the next day. Essentially, the prologue gives readers a plausible scenario in which all of these people would be in a location together and telling stories to each other.

The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales acts as an explanation and an introduction to the Tales, and it allows Geoffrey Chaucer to arrange and establish the hierarchy of the pilgrims.

Chaucer uses the Prologue also to include what is called "estate satire." This is a satire of the abuses that occur within the three traditional estates, especially the clergy. One member of the Church that Chaucer ridicules is the Friar, the "finest beggar of his house." He begs from the wealthiest people in his town and makes a good sum of money; however, instead of giving the money to the poor or to the Church, the friar keeps it for himself. Chaucer remarks satirically, "This was surely a shining pearl/Of a friar!".

    In addition to satirizing the vanity and greed of the clergy, Chaucer includes the intellectuals and the middle class as well as parodying himself with a pilgrim named "Geffrey," who is a weak storyteller. Thus, he establishes a playful tone as well as a social one as the pilgrims agree to share tales on the long pilgrimage.

#Fault in the Canterbury Tales :

In The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, the author takes a humorous approach on serious issues plaguing the mediaeval times. The mediaeval times, also known as the dark ages, was a unique time in history seen in the contrasting pieces of writing. Some pieces were made to properly capture the time, while others are more of a hope for what the times could be. One issue he approaches is the ecclesiastical system. In Chaucer’s opinion, the ecclesiastical system is corrupt, broken, and made up of unreligious people. Some figures in the ecclesiastical system don’t know their responsibility, whiles others ignore the responsibilities and take advantage of the power. One of the reasons the ecclesiastical system.

      This contrast is Chaucer’s way to offer a solution to the problems he points out as he wants them to be fixed. The Parson was a rich man who was “rich in holy thoughts and work.” (Chaucer 16). This is a stark contrast to the Prioress who is an overweight woman who does not do her job, which is holy work. This is especially important because the Parson is a man who does religious work because he has a true understanding of Christianity and kindness in his heart. His real job is to work as a clerk, which consumes a large part of his time, yet he finds time for charity. The Prioress is a woman whose job is to help people, and still he cannot understand and find time to do it. The Parson, despite be lower societally, should serve as a role model to people in the ecclesiastical system as he is “an unequivocally ideal portrait. He serves as a role model to his flock.” 

 The Parson in put into the story in order to show that there is hope for England. By adding in a positive character, those reading can model the behavior of the Parson. This is significant because The Canterbury Tales was made for the ‘common people’ and the Parson is also a common person. Chaucer wants to point out the flaws in the ecclesiastical system through characters like the Prioress, in order to fix the issues, which he models through the get Access.

The Canterbury Tales is more than an amusing assortment of stories; it is an illustration of the society in which Geoffrey Chaucer lived. It portrays the culture and class system of the mediaeval ages in microcosm. Every strata of human life at the time were represented by the many characters whose tales are told. Each character’s basic human nature also plays a role in their stories, and each one has within them the strengths and weaknesses that make up all of humanity. Each character exemplifies

Pmselves in something bigger and broader than themselves. A second-rate artist, by contrast, has to assert their individuality because they need to keep reminding us of the minor details which make their work slightly distinctive, and distinct from their contemporaries. Like a socially insecure person trying to impress people, the second-rate artist cannot afford to surrender the floor to other people in their group; someone who is more secure in their talents and more at ease with their art is like a generous conversationalist, listening, involving others, drawing on others’ conversation to aid and improve their own.

3. Criticism According to T.S. Eliot

If someone holds this view of art – and Eliot does – then the same is true of literary (or art) criticism. Criticism should be ‘autotelic’: that is, it is agreed that, unlike art, criticism needs to have an end or goal, a reason for its existence. Art can exist just for us to enjoy it, to prompt us to think about life, the world, or the human condition; but criticism exists to explain works of art and to correct public taste.

Eliot then takes up a view put forward by another critic, John Middleton Murry, who made a distinction between Classicism in literature – characterised by a writer’s belief in something outside of themselves, or higher than themselves, which might be called an Outside Authority – and what might be called the Romantic view, which involves trusting the Inner Voice found within the writer’s own mind.

Eliot proposes to call this Inner Voice ‘Whiggery’, after the old Whig party in English politics (a political party which opposed the authority of an absolute monarch). The problem with the ‘Inner Voice’ approach to criticism is that, Eliot argues, you don’t need to have principles which you hold to when appraising works of art: all you have to do is listen to, and trust, your Inner Voice.

By contrast, there are those who trust in tradition and ‘the accumulated wisdom of time’. Eliot argues that much of the work of the creative artist is, in fact, critical labour: sifting, rewriting, expunging, correcting, testing, and so on. The ‘whiggery tendency’ in criticism tends to ignore just how much critical work an artist has to perform upon their own work of art before they can finish it.

The chief quality required from a good critic, Eliot concludes, is a ‘highly developed sense of fact’. The best function that criticism can perform is to present facts to a reader which will help them to understand or appreciate a work of art.

POSITIVE ASPECTS of The Westland:

     

 Undoubtedly, The Waste Land is an epoch-making poem, a landmark in twentieth-century literature which sums up the trivialities and barrenness of modern civilization. It expresses the frustration and disillusionment of a generation - a generation which otherwise took pride in the advancement of science and provision of material comforts. It may be called the epic of the modern age. It truly reflects the spirit of the modern civilization. The following are the chief merits of this poem:

  (i) Symbolism: 

Its strength has a clever use of symbols taken from Nature, the past and the present, world religions and religious folklore. A good deal about this aspect of Eliot's work will be found on page 194 of this book.

 (ii)Myths:

 Eliot has borrowed a number of vegetation and fertility myths from ancient literature. A full account of the various myths is given on page 188 of the book.

 

  (iii) Universality: 

The tragedy of post-war generation is not peculiar to the twentieth century. Every age has its strong and weak points. The weakness referred to by Eliot - loss of high values, sexual perversion, business mentality, are not peculiar only to the twentieth century. These things arise out of man's basic weaknesses. It is the source of the tragedy at the heart of life in all ages. Eliot brings out the universality of man's facilities by comparing of situations in the past and the present. Sexual perversions were common in ancient Carthage, in ancient India, in the Biblical wasteland and in the Elizabethan age. Likewise, the remedy for these diseases is also the same transformation through suffering and practice of moral values in life. The message of thunder is the only way to man's salvation.

(iv) New structure: 

The greatness of the poem lies in its novel structure. We need not bother regarding the pattern-whether it is progressive, spiral or circular. It digs, as it proceeds deeper into the maladies of the modern age. It is like a symphony of five movements. I. A. Richards calls it "music of ideas." There is, no doubt, that it has a central core based on the law of nature: birth-death-rebirth.

  (v) New style: 

The poet's artistic use of allusions, quotations, contrasts and parallelism is remarkable. Some call it "poetic short-hand." Its brevity and concentration and the use of touch-and-go method make it a rather difficult poem which has to be read a number of times in order to derive its full significance. I. A. Richards observes: "The Waste Land is the equivalent in content to an epic. Without this device, twelve books would have been needed." A full note on the style of the poem will be found on page 200 of the book.

(vi) Its vitality: 

The situation mentioned in The Waste Land, is relevant to the world of the seventies. The moral degeneration, the political chaos, the global tension among power blocks, the stock-piling of nuclear weapons, the mutual distrust and hatred among nations, the conflict between the white and the black, the apartheid, the conflict within the communist countries, the growth of fascism and the trigger - happy politicians bodes evil for the present generation. So long as there is no going back to the fundamentals of religions and morality and the practice of two-three basic values - "Give, Sympathise, Control" mentioned by Eliot, the human dilemma will not be solved.

NEGATIVE ASPECTS of The Westland:

      To the post-war generation which had gone through the holocaust of war, the poem appeared most shocking and wholly negative in spirit. It only stressed the dark side of modern civilization. The barrenness and corruption were prevalent among all classes - the aristocratic, the middle class and the workers. Their commercial spirits and lust were over-emphasized. The positive side - scientific advancement, control over disease, schemes of the welfare society, aid to poor people and poor nations, the comforts of urban life, quick and cheap travel, and growing literacy was totally neglected by T.S. Eliot. The old myths from the Bible, the symbols from Egyptian, Christian, and Buddhist literature were borrowed to heighten the contrast between the past and the present. It was this negative spirit which made the readers, shy away from the poem. Undoubtedly, there is a positive side - the Christian impulse, the message of the Upanishads but it has a comparatively minor part in the Poem.

 

 (i) Pessimistic theme:

 The poem deals with the spiritual distemper and sexual perversity of urban life which makes it so uninviting and depressing. The theme is the spiritual paralysis of the civilized man. The theme is life-in-death, the decay and death of the modern waste landers. Religion and love which were and are the sources of man's good life and spiritual development have been corrupted. Sexual degeneration and Vulgarisation of sex is the order of the day. The poem also expresses the neurosis and boredom of the modern town-dwellers. Mechanical routine has made his life barren and meaningless. The depressing nature of the theme makes it rather negative in its impact and value.

(ii) Obscurity: 

One of the main obstacles to the understanding of Eliot's poetry is obscurity and scholarly use of technical Poetic devices. Those who are ned in European literature and art find him extremely delightful and satisfying. But for the lay-man, it may be difficult even to appreciate the short-poems. The longer poems are more difficult than the shorter ones. A full note on the obscurity in Eliot's poetry will be found in the analysis of this poem.

Criticism According to Herbert Read 

The nature of criticism is an essay which talks about the inclusion of scientific or psychological elements for emotional appreciation. There are many tools or weapons which are used to criticism or evaluate a work of art. It was a perhaps only Coleridge who tried to give literary criticism a scientific approach by relating it truly the technical process of philosophy. To evaluate literature scientifically the hard work from every corner is necessary any science covers a large variety of every field and it evaluates literature from that point of view to analysis literature aesthetically you have to considered all their implication which are social or ethical in nature. So there is a need for definitely one literature from another one.

            The discipline is psychology it is only concerned with the process of mental activity was as literary criticism takes into consideration the product. According to psychologist art is an expression of mentality and does not take into consideration the literary values. Whereas psychoanalysis involves reeducation of the symbols to its proper origin. In art, there are many symbols and according to Alfred Alder '' the attractive on a work of art cries from its synthesis''. This was the general limitations of psychological criticism that it is more concern with literature then criticism.

Concept of Inspiration / Role of Inspiration :-

            The concept of Inspiration is beautifully illustrated by Plato. Who says that a poet creates poetry not by Art but by inspiration and possession. Though this read wants to suggest that poetry, planning and sculpture can not be merely developed by skill, but it requires a lot of inspiration which is very spiritual in nature. It also believes that inspiration has not been religious at all. It has become an aesthetic term.

            The classical and the romantic writers were totally different in their attitude but the romantic writer always had to be subjective and which requires psycho-analysis to be done.

            We can ask a question to modern psychologist that what is inspiration? Herbert Read...

· Id - The identify unconscious ( pleasure principle)

· Ego - The self subconscious ( Rational reality principle)

· Superego - Refer to moral sensibility conscious ( morality principle)

                        Sigmund Freud made some observation in his book new Introductory Lectures (1933) and in this book, he gave the concept of three levels of consciousness Id, Ego and Superego.

1) Id 

            Id occupies larger part. It remains mostly hidden. It is difficult to access we know little about it only. Through the study of dreams, we can learn something about Id. It has negative characters. Id is chaotic states of mind. It is instinctive. It is filled with energy but there is no reason and it dares to do anything. So it does not no fear. It believes in the pleasure principle. It does not consider any moral values. So you can call it devilish. Actually this the first stage to the instinct. Children have power full feeling Id is away from the reality principle.

2) Ego 

            Another level of consciousness is the ego. It occupies smaller part compare to Id and Superego Freud calls it reality principle. It is a link between Id and Superego. Id is dark ego is clear. It has a reason and so it has order and value formal organization takes place. A mature or rational human is the indication of ego. It was a social and moral aim. Id can be transformed into ego.

3. Super Ego 

            The third level of consciousness is the superego. It is the perfect condition.It restricts all sort of immoral things. This is the highest sort of order. It can make man a saint or an artist. A human has not complete Id or superego. so they have ego.

Id, Ego and Superego source of Inspiration.

            This shows that each region of mind is related to the work of art.

·       Energy , irrationality and mysterious power come Id. It is a source of Inspiration.

·       Order is given by ego.      

·       And finally it mixes into ideology or spirituality .  That is the work of superego  Out of Id comes out sudden prompting or words sound or images. An artist creates his work from all these things.

·       Plenty of things happens the depth of these layers. The common man is unable to understand or access to them. These things are brought out only by artist. They give shape to them. So we can say that reading of psychology can be helpful in the understanding of poetic process or theory of Inspiration.

Superiority - complex

 

            Herbert Read, in the third part of the essay asks a question that 

Does psycho - analysis modify in any way our conception of the critic's function?

        

    To explain this point he takes example reference to '' the Hamlet Problem ''. Because since two hundred years and extensive body of criticism has accumulated around Shakespeare's cryptic masterpiece. The difficulty for the critics by remaining within the canons of art for Hamlet's hesitancy in seeking to revenge his father's murder. 

         

   Herbert Read takes the reference to the summary given by Dr Earnest Jones. Since it obligation many critics had tried to give their opinions about Hamlet problem. By applying various theories or viewpoints in it. But none is satisfactory.

            Their are two main points of view: One, that of Goethe and Coleridge finds a sufficient explanation of the inconsistencies of the play in the temperament of Hamlet, whom they regard as a noble nature. But one incapable of decisive action of any kind without that energy of the soul. Which constitutes the hero as Goethe expresses it. The second point of view sees a sufficient explanation in the difficulty of the task that Hamlet is called upon to perform both these theories have been decisively refuted.

•There is also criticism against the tragedy of Hamlet that it is in its essence inexplicable incoherent incongruous.· .

•Another thing we can check is Robertson's thesis Read takes as an is that Shakespeare found in the old play an action that to his time discounting sense was one of unexplained delay. There is also criticism against it that ''Hamlet is missing artistic consistency''. So Hamlet is not finally an intelligible drama. As it sens so that the play can not be explained from within.

              All this leaves us curiously dissatisfied. We do not get a further understanding of the play with traditional criticism. So now let's try to read and explain through the spectacle of psycho-analysis.

           

         Dr.Jones has given a psychological explanation in his study of Hamlet. Dr Jones sees in Hamlet vacillation the workings of a typical complex the Oedipus Complex. As it is called by the psycho-analysis; that is to say the mental peculiarities of Hamlet expressed throughout the play with such vividness and actuality, can be explained as the consequences of 'repressed' intention, incestuous wishes stirred into activity by the death of the father and the appearance of a rival Claudius.