Literature theory: arnold, woolf, and eliot - Essay Example

Compare/contrast the rhetorical theories of Arnold and Woolf. Try to identify areas of agreement and disagreement in their discussions of how readersread and/or how poetry affects its audiences. Arnold believes that readers should be able to differentiate good poetry from bad, which means they should learn ‘touchstones’ of poetry. Woolf states that if the novel or the story moves as the reader wants, the story is bad. Here the reader identifies himself with some character in the novel and develops an emotional bond.

He also experiences conflicting emotions within him, which the reader expects the novel to resolve. Unless the story moves as the reader wants, the reader is dissatisfied with the story or the book, according to Woolf.Arnold further says that the judgment of poetry depends upon past experience of reading a good poetry. Arnold’ rhetoric theory is vague because if one can immediately make out that the poetry is good, touchstones are not required. Arnold believes that poetry has a power that can console and sustain human beings while Woolf feels they arouse conflicting emotions in the readers.

Arnold’s theory implies that the greatness of poetry is self-evident which means one need not learn touchstones. He argues that the poem is great, and this greatness is not enhanced by the quality or genius of the poet nor in the reader’s perception or experience. Woolf on the other hand contends that the success of a novel works lies in the work itself specially if it able to reveal the premonition about Nature. Compare/contrast the expressive theories of Eliot and Woolf. Try to identify areas of agreement and disagreement in their discussions of how poets create their works.

Eliot gives importance to the individual who creates the work of art or poem but he stresses that the artists is influenced by the culture and traditions around him. He must possess a historical sense and have a feel of the literature in his country. Woolf’s expressive theory deals with the plight of women and the circumstances that influenced much of their writing. The social barriers to education and the family circumstances actually withered away the talents of women. This implies that both Eliot and Woolf agree that circumstances influence writing, the difference being that Eliot says the writer must posses historical sense while Woolf considers it to be a negative trait.

According to both, these are the forces beyond the artist at work. While Eliot insists that authors must have a feel of literature around them, Woolf stresses that women did not have any exposure to the world at large, so their writing was limited to the limited exposure and experience that they had within their family. Woolf suggests that women must develop a tradition of their own while Eliot says that the creative process builds on the existing tradition. It transforms the existing tradition by adding to it.

Thus we see that in both cases the writers are influenced by the circumstances – one by preference and the other by compulsion. One suggests to develop own tradition while the other believes that writing adds to the existing tradition.