"One of the most remarkable things about the great writers of antiquity is that they appear to be so modern in their outlook. what we really mean is that they are both ancient and modern at the same time. there are certain things in life that time cannot stale. Hamlet has recently been played in modern dress, an experiment that has met with extraordinary success. Why is this? surely it is because great poetry is concerned with those feelings and thoughts which are innate and unchanging in human nature, and continue to resist the assaults of time and he vagaries of fashion."
The Study of Poetry by Paul Landis
Chapter 1: The Nature of Poetry, pg. 13
I found this passage interesting because of what I'd discussed in an earlier post about setting Shakespearean plays in other-than-Elizabethan times. Landis has a point. One of the aspects that constitutes great art (literature, poetry, paintings, etc.) is that there is something about it that transcends the time in which is was created, representing some universal characteristic of humanity. Therefore, as long as the core content is left unchanged, it's possible to alter or remove superficial details (such as clothing in the case of performing plays) without damaging the essence of a particular work.
No comments:
Post a Comment