Poetics #
A Foreword to the Poetics #
foreword · Poetics 01 · 13 pages · PDF · 01-A_Foreward_to_the_Poetics.pdf
Covers: Introduction to the Poetics: what a poet is (maker of likenesses of human life in words vs. maker of verses), the matter/subject of the science, its dependence on experience of literary works, literary history, demonstration from the end of tragedy, and Aristotle’s treatment of species (tragedy and epic) before genus.
No recorded class was matched to this handout.
Shakespeare’s Poetics – Note #
foreword · Shakespeare Note · 2 pages · PDF · 01-Note_to_Shakespeares_Poetics.pdf
Covers: Introductory note explaining the project of gathering Shakespeare’s own scattered remarks on the poet, his art and plays, and ordering them; begins with the play and its purpose (Hamlet’s advice to the players), and outlines upcoming papers on the play, kinds of plays, and individual plays.
No recorded class was matched to this handout.
A Division of the Poetics of Aristotle #
division · Poetics 02-A Division of the Poetics · 6 pages · PDF · 02-A_Division_of_the_Poetics.pdf
Covers: Outline of the whole Poetics: proemium (Ch. 1 to 1447a13), the tractatus on differences of the imitative arts (Ch. 1-3), origin and species of poetry (Ch. 4-5), and a detailed division running through the treatment of tragedy, at least to Ch. 18 (rules for plot construction, tying and untying the knot, avoiding epic plots, use of the chorus).
(The description of what this handout covers was resolved with medium confidence.)
No recorded class was matched to this handout.
Mirror and Dream: Shakespeare’s Understanding of a Play #
paper · Shakespeare 02 · 12 pages · PDF · 02-Mirror_and_Dream.pdf
Covers: Essay on the twofold excellence of Shakespeare’s words (within and beyond the poetic art and dramatic purpose), with examples from Henry IV Pt. I, As You Like It, and Romeo and Juliet; the last page quotes a passage on day-dreaming and romance (apparently Washington Irving).
No recorded class was matched to this handout.
Shakespeare’s Understanding of a Play #
paper · Shakespeare 03 · 26 pages · PDF · 03-Shakespeares_Understanding_of_a_Play.pdf
Covers: Essay on what Shakespeare himself says about the nature of a play and of dramatic art, drawing on his own words in the plays (e.g. Taming of the Shrew, Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet), and on his excellence of style—brevity and simplicity.
Read from in:
- De Anima — 80. ST I q.76 a.4: Is There Another Substantial Form in Man? The Objections (with Digressions on Antonomasia, Synecdoche and Mixture) (from 1:33) · p. 25
- Love & Friendship — 3. Love as an Undergoing: Conformity of the Heart, and Sense Love in Shakespeare (from 35:06) · p. 25
- Prima Pars — 114. Summa I, Q.31, Articles 1–2: Is There a Trinity in God, and Is the Son ‘Other’ (Alius) Than the Father? (from 32:03) · p. 25
- Prima Secundae — 4. Happiness as Activity by Virtue: The General Meaning of Virtue, Moral Virtue and Choice, and Shakespeare on Reason (from 54:06) · p. 25
- Prima Secundae — 70. Aquinas on Love (ST I-II q.26 a.4, q.27 aa.1-2): Love of Friendship vs. Love of Wanting, and the Good, Beauty and Knowledge as Causes of Love (from 9:23) · p. 25
- Prima Secundae — 157. Summa I-II, Q. 66, Arts. 5–6: Wisdom as the Greatest Intellectual Virtue and Charity as the Greatest Theological Virtue (from 1:12) · p. 25
An Excellent Play #
paper · Shakespeare 04 · 48 pages · PDF · 04-An_Excellent_Play.pdf
Covers: Essay on Shakespeare’s Poetics, beginning from Hamlet’s speeches to the players (Act II, Sc. 2 and Act III, Sc. 2) and the phrase ‘an excellent play well digested in the scenes’; ends with quoted critics (Charles Knight on Locrine) and Hamlet’s direction to acquire temperance in the torrent of passion.
Read from in:
- Logic (2016) — 48. Who Is Sylvia? Shakespeare, the Wisdom of Reason, and the Fallacy of Figure of Speech (Seeing Is Not Kicking) (from 10:08) · p. 27
- Wisdom (2006, Colorado) — 6. Metaphysics IX, Lectio 2: Natural vs. Rational Ability, and Nature vs. Will (from 6:59) · p. 18
- Prima Pars — 139. Aquinas on the Trinity: Does the Father Generate the Son by Will or by Nature? Nature, Will, and the Senses of ‘Necessary’ (from 10:20) · p. 18
- Prima Secundae — 7. Aquinas on the Last End (Summa I-II, Q1, Art. 4): One Feast, One House, One Mutual Happiness — Why Ends Cannot Go On Forever (from 6:59) · p. 27
- Prima Secundae — 11. Felicitas as Fruit, Boethius on False Happiness, and Why Happiness Is Not Honor or Glory (ST I-II q.2 aa.1-3) (from 11:36) · p. 24
- Tertia Pars — 45. Aquinas on the Incarnation (ST III q.16, a.5–6): Can Human Things Be Said of the Divine Nature? Was God Made Man? (from 4:48) · p. 11
The Division of Shakespeare’s Plays #
paper · Shakespeare 05 · 36 pages · PDF · 05-Division_of_the_Play.pdf
Covers: An essay on how to divide Shakespeare’s plays into kinds. It starts from the 1623 Folio division into tragedies, histories and comedies and criticizes it as deficient. The last page is a collection of quotations about fortune from several plays and poems.
Read from in:
- Natural Hearing — 82. Wisely and Slow: Friar Lawrence, Shakespeare, and Seven Places Where the Wise Man Proceeds Slowly (from 13:48) · p. 29
- Love & Friendship — 15. Envy, Flattery, Virtue and Self-Love as Tests of Friendship: Shakespeare, the Novelists and Homer (from 59:52) · p. 7
- Prima Secundae — 75. Summa I-II q.29 aa.2-4: Love Stronger Than Hate, and Whether a Man Can Hate Himself (from 25:35) · p. 7
On Dividing Shakespeare’s Plays #
paper · Shakespeare 06 · 18 pages · PDF · 06-On_Dividing_the_Plays.pdf
Covers: Essay on how to divide Shakespeare’s 37 plays into kinds (tragedy, comedy in the strict sense, serious plays that end happily, histories), criticizing the Folio’s tripartite division; ends with discussion of the Henry IV plays and Henry V.
Read from in:
- Introduction to Philosophy & Logic (1999) — 43. Seeing Likeness and Proportion, Then Q&A on Places and Comedy (from 31:03) · p. 3
- Ethics — 5. The Good, the Better and the End of Man: Own Act, Virtue and Proportion (from 45:16) · p. 3
- Wisdom (2006, Colorado) — 15. Act Cannot Be Defined: Induction by Proportion, Descartes and Locke, and the Love of Wisdom (from 29:00) · p. 3
- Prima Secundae — 121. Summa I-II Q50 a3: Habits in the Sensing Powers, with Asides on Imagination, Homer and Euclid, and Memory (from 28:32) · p. 3
- Prima Secundae — 163. Summa I-II Q.68 aa.4–7: How the Seven Gifts Are Distinguished, Their Connection in Charity, Whether They Remain in Heaven, and Their Order of Dignity (from 4:43) · p. 3
- Tertia Pars — 44. Summa III q.16 a.2–4: ‘Man Is God’, the ‘Lordly Man’, and Saying Human Things of God (from 12:34) · p. 3
- Tertia Pars — 111. Christ’s Soul and Body in Death: Still United to the Word, Not a Man During the Three Days, Not Corrupted in the Tomb (Question 50, Articles 3–6) (from 13:58) · p. 3