Elizabeth Hardwick's Criticism of Washington Square
Aristotle said that art was one step away from life, and criticism was one step away from that. So what does that make a criticism of a criticism? Carry the one, divide by a and move the decimal point…I don't know, I was never that good at math, but it seems like we may need to drop bread crumbs like Hansel and Gretel to find our way back to the original text.
I enjoy criticism, sometimes for the purpose of learning something new and (factual and) exciting that I originally wasn't aware of in the text. Sometimes it is just fun to see where the critic's academic flight of fancy has taken them. Sometimes, and this is often true, a cigar is just a cigar…
Elizabeth Hardwick's (wasn't that Raleigh's wife's name?) article "On Washington Square" can't seem to decide whether it is fish or fowl; the reader has a hard time distinguishing between plot and character summary, New Historicist, Psychoanalytical, Formalist and all other manner of criticism. Nothing, I think was anything shockingly original or eye-opening, leaving me feeling that it was actually more review than actual literary criticism.
Hardwick dances from discipline to discipline throughout the course of the article, leaving the reader feeling spun every which way, swinging for a piñata that isn't even there. Interdisciplinary criticism is not necessarily a bad thing but, in two and-a half full pages of writing, the reader is given a whirlwind tour of too many subjects. She moves from an historical description of the time and setting of Washington Square to physical and psychological character summaries to a suggestion that the character of Austin Sloper may be James's portrayal of his brother William to a relatively long passage on the perfect balance and the source of the novel. Everything that was said was a complete thought, but there was no meat to the information; it was like gnawing on a soup bone while all you really want is a nice roast.
Actually, Hardwick's article was not at all faulty, just dry and altogether too short for the knowledge that it was trying to impart. It could have been three or four times longer and given ample attention to each point.
Writing a journal from the perspective of a fictional eighteenth century reader, a mother whose daughter is the age of Eliza's friends, will allow me to employ reader-response criticism to help answer these questions and to decipher the possible social influences and/or meanings of the novel. Though reader-response criticism varies from critic to critic, it relies largely on the idea that the reader herself is a valid critic, that her critique is influenced by time and place,...
Both Edgar Allan Poe and H. L. Mencken can write reviews bursting at the seams with sarcasm and humor. These pieces of criticism speak novels about their judgment of these works that don’t “make the cut” of perceived greatness, and of the types of people who would indulge themselves with them. However, Noël Carrol does not speak about the use of humor in arts criticism, for good or for bad. If we are to use Carrol’s definition of arts criticism, then we can’t judge the effectiveness of Poe and Mencken’s use of humor in criticism, or whether it belongs at all. The question, then, is if humor has a place in the world of arts criticism, and how effective it is at conveying the critic’s judgment and evaluation of the work. As Poe and Mencken demonstrate in negative reviews, but less so in their positive reviews, the use of comedy can strengthen their evaluation and analysis of a work of art by allowing the audience to laugh at aspects of the work (and the environment the work is in) that detract from their evaluation, drawing their attention to particularly weak moments. This use merits comedy a place in arts criticism, even if Carrol has left it out of his definition.
The zombie sequence has become extremely popular with the increase of novels and films recently produced. George Romero and Maximillian “Max” Brooks are two popular screenwriters focusing on zombie stories and horror films. George Romero is an American-Canadian film director and producer best known for his horror film Night of the Living Dead (Staff, 2012). Max Brooks is an American horror author and screenwriter best known for his novel and now film World War Z (Staff, 2012). Romero and Brooks are both zombie fanatics who have many similar interest in undead creatures and numerous differences as well. The ideal view preferred in society is fast-moving zombies. Both authors scripts reflect this preference. Romero and Brooks are both talented authors in showing others their beliefs in zombies.
With all the different types of literature we have in our world we also have a similar amount of interpretations of those pieces of literature. Each interpretation is as valid as another. Literature not only allows the writer to create a wonderful world and a story, it allows the reader to fully embrace the story and find meaning out of it. There are also many different types of literary criticisms. These criticisms are vehicles or guidelines for us to use to understand the reading in a very specific matter and really pinpoint the issues and overall theme of the story. This brings us to the Toni Morrison short story “Recitatif”. This short story encourages an African American or ethic criticism style of understanding it. The driving
Guerin, Wilfred L., Earle Labor, Lee Morgan, Jeanne C. Reeseman, and John R. Willingham. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
I found the problem with the argument of the article was there was no set argument that was clearly stated. If there was an argument in the article it was not clearly stated and I personally did not catch onto it. Altogether this was a well written article without a clear argument.
In this essay I will review a critique of James' Washington Square. I found the critique to be dry and rather clinical in its approach to this fine work by Henry James.
Stosny states that “criticism fails because it embodies two of the things that human beings hate the most: it calls for submission, and we hate to submit and it devalues, and we hate to feel devalued” (Stosny). Furthermore, he argues that criticism is used as a form of “ego defense” when we feel devaluated by behavior or attitude as opposed to disagreeing with their behavior or attitude (Stosny). Tony Schwartz, author of the article “There’s No Such Thing as Constructive Criticism” for HarvardBusinessReview.com, says that criticism “challenges our sense of value” and “implies judgement and we all recoil feeling judged” (Schwartz). Schwartz reiterates the point that constructive criticism is a useful tool that isn’t working or doesn’t exist simply because people don’t know how to properly give or receive constructive criticism. To prove this, he lists three reasons why we assume constructive criticism doesn’t work while in reality it actually does. “The first mistake we often make is giving feedback when we are feeling that our own value is at risk. That’s a recipe for disaster, and it happens far more commonly than we think, or are aware” (Schwartz). To summarize this reason he listed, Schwartz states that when we feel like we’re being
As said in the previous discussion regarding the second chapter of Better Off Dead: The Evolution of the Zombie as Post-Human, zombies and their culture are examined and broke down in order to understand their motives for the progression of zombies globally. Through different perspectives from individuals based around the world, the discussion of the zombie culture debates over the idea that zombies have not just evolved within the narratives that have brought them to life, but they have evolved in such a way that ultimately transforms the narrative itself. However, in this specific chapter, “They are not men…they are dead bodies!”: From Cannibal to Zombie and Back Again, Chera Kee breaks down the introduction of zombies into mainstream consciousness,
Bressler, Charles E. Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. 5th ed. New York: Longman, 2011. Print.
A notable seller in the past ten years has been zombie movies and related media. Among zombie movies, eight of the top ten best sellers have been in the last ten years. Why is it that a concept that came into the public eye in the thirties with the release of “White Zombie” only became popular in the last ten years?
The gay and lesbian criticism is an approach to literature that focuses on how homosexuals are represented in literature, how they read literature, and whether sexuality, as well as gender, is culturally constructed or innate
Exercising is usually recreational physical activity carried out with the goal of building health and fitness. Looking forward to exercising and feeling really good with regard to the results of exercise on your body is common. Regular exercise improves mobility, overall flexibility, as well as balance in mature adults. Exercise also boosts the blood flow to the brain improving you mood.
In this paper I will be explaining criticism and how to accept it in the work place. Criticism is something everyone will experience in their life. Criticism is will take place in many different settings and during a variety of circumstances. It will often come in one of two forms positive or negative. How you choose to accept both forms of criticism depends heavily on you but also on the person giving the criticism. Some people are naturally very critical and may be unware of the criticism that they are giving.
Literature is an intricate art form. In order to attempt to understand the meanings and ideas within literary work, there are many forms of criticism that propose different approaches to its interpretation. Each criticism is crucial to the understanding of how individuals interpret literary works. Since each criticism has a different approach to enrich the understanding literary works, the question is raised whether one criticism should be used over others, whether a certain combination of criticisms should be used, or whether all criticisms should be taken into account. This may all be dependent on the reader’s individual preference or opinion, but each criticism presented builds on the others to create a well-rounded and unique understanding