Antiquity Critique

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w8yWQwHSaI&feature=PlayList&p=328B678F268B9027&index=13

Put Aside the Couch Potato…

The classical literary critics of antiquity, particularly Plato, would roll over in their graves in a state of apoplexy if introduced to the totally immersing, mind, soul, and sense transportation that is the modern movie. In this clip from “The Return of the King,” even if one were to refuse the influence of the soaring music, ignore the bad editing, and overlook Lord Elrond’s scenery-chewing acting, the words and content serve as an effective example of several elements of Longinus’ definition of sublime.

One aspect of the sublime is that a work contains universal elements of grand theme. Longinus wrote: “nothing contributes so decisively to grandeur as noble emotion in the right setting” (122). To be sublime, this idea of grandeur and nobility needs to universally appeal to humans of various ages and walks of life, and not diminish over time. The clip illustrates the grand theme of an imperiled world waiting for the one brave, but humble hero to overcome his self-doubt and rise up, save the world, and claim his destiny.

The scene’s grandeur is conveyed more powerfully and effectively due to the writers’ stylistic choices, pacing, and order—a technique that Longinus refers to as inversion. This scene could have played out in the following way: “Take the damn sword. You have got to man up and become king right now, because all kinds of doomsday crap is coming down. We are cooked, because we are totally outnumbered, and the only way you can get our only option--the icky dead soldiers-- to follow you is to become king already!” The most important point of the interchange is Lord Elrond’s request that Aragorn take the sword and “Put aside the Ranger and become who you were born to be.” But the writer, knowing that was the money line, wisely placed it at the end, thus fulfilling Longinus’ advice: “bring out the long-awaited phrase just where it is most effective, at the very end” (142).





Works Cited


Longinus, Cassius. “On the Sublime.” Classical Literary Criticism. Ed. Penelope Murray,

T.S. Dorsch. London: Penguin, 2004