objective correlative
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In literary criticism, an objective correlative is a group of things or events which systematically represent emotions.


Theory

The theory of the objective correlative as it relates to literature was largely developed through the writings of the poet and literary critic T.S. Eliot, who is associated with the literary group called the New Critics. Helping define the objective correlative, Eliot's essay " Hamlet and His Problems", republished in his book '' The Sacred Wood: Essays on Poetry and Criticism'' discusses his view of
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
's incomplete development of Hamlet's emotions in the play ''
Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
''. Eliot uses Lady Macbeth's state of mind as an example of the successful objective correlative: "The artistic 'inevitability' lies in this complete adequacy of the external to the emotion….", as a contrast to Hamlet. According to Eliot, the feelings of Hamlet are not sufficiently supported by the story and the other characters surrounding him. The objective correlative's purpose is to express the character's emotions by ''showing'' rather than ''describing'' feelings as discussed earlier by
Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
and referred to by Peter Barry in his book ''Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory'' as "...perhaps little more than the ancient distinction (first made by Plato) between mimesis and diegesis…." (28). According to Formalist critics, this action of creating an emotion through external factors and evidence linked together and thus forming an objective correlative should produce an author's detachment from the depicted character and unite the emotion of the literary work. The "occasion" of
Eugenio Montale Eugenio Montale (; 12 October 1896 – 12 September 1981) was an Italian poet, prose writer, editor and translator, and recipient of the 1975 Nobel Prize in Literature. Life and works Early years Montale was born in Genoa. His family were che ...
is a further form of correlative. The works of Eliot were translated into Italian by Montale, who earned the 1975 Nobel Prize in Literature.


Origin of terminology

The term was coined by the American painter and poet Washington Allston (1779-1843), and was introduced by T.S. Eliot, rather casually, into his essay "Hamlet and His Problems" (1919); its subsequent vogue in literary criticism, Eliot said, astonished him. In "Hamlet and His Problems", Eliot used the term exclusively to refer to his claimed artistic mechanism whereby emotion is evoked in the audience: It seems to be in deference to this principle that Eliot famously described the play ''Hamlet'' as "most certainly an artistic failure": Eliot felt that Hamlet's strong emotions "exceeded the facts" of the play, which is to say they were not supported by an "objective correlative". He acknowledged that such a circumstance is "something which every person of sensibility has known," but felt that in trying to represent it dramatically, "Shakespeare tackled a problem which proved too much for him".


Criticisms

One possible criticism of Eliot's theory includes his assumption that an author's intentions concerning expression will be understood in one way only. This point is stated by Balachandra Rajan as quoted in David A. Goldfarb's "New Reference Works in Literary Theory" with these words: "Eliot argues that there is a verbal formula for any given state of emotion which, when found and used, will evoke that state and no other."


Examples

A famous haiku by
Yosa Buson was a Japanese poet and painter of the Edo period. Along with Matsuo Bashō and Kobayashi Issa, Buson is considered among the greatest poets of the Edo Period. He is also known for completing haiga as a style of art, working with haibun pros ...
entitled, ''The Piercing Chill I Feel'' illustrates the use of objective correlative within poetry:
The piercing chill I feel:
my dead wife's comb, in our bedroom,
under my heel...
In the Clint Eastwood movie ''Jersey Boys'', songwriter Bob Gaudio of ''The 4 Seasons'' is asked who the girl is in his song ''Cry For Me''. He makes reference to T.S. Eliot's topic, "the Objective Correlative", as the subject being every girl, or any girl. In adherence to this reference, the author allows himself the literary license to step outside the scope of his personal experience, and to conjecture about the emotions and responses inherent with the situation, and utilize the third party perspective in the first party presentation.{{cite AV media , people=Eastwood, Clint (Director) , date=June 20, 2014 , title=Jersey Boys , medium=Motion picture , access-date=July 1, 2015 , location=United States , publisher= MK Films,
Malpaso Productions Malpaso Productions is Clint Eastwood's production company. It was established in 1967 as The Malpaso Company by Eastwood's financial adviser Irving Leonard for the film '' Hang 'Em High'', using profits from the ''Dollars Trilogy''. Leonard ...


See also

* Affect *
Pathetic fallacy The phrase pathetic fallacy is a literary term for the attribution of human emotion and conduct to things found in nature that are not human. It is a kind of personification that occurs in poetic descriptions, when, for example, clouds seem sullen ...
* Thing theory


Footnotes


References

* Barry, Peter: Beginning Theory. An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. 2nd ed. New York: Manchester University Press, 2002. * Eliot, T. S. "Hamlet and His Problems." 5 April. 2007. http://www.bartleby.com/200/sw9.html. * Goldfarb, David A. "New Reference Works in Literary Theory." Conference: a journal of philosophy and theory, 1995. 9 April 2007. http://www.echonyc.com/~goldfarb/encyc.htm. * Heehler, Tom. The Well-Spoken Thesaurus: The Objective Correlative and Barbara Kingsolver.
Sourcebooks Sourcebooks, Inc., is an independent book publisher located in Naperville, Illinois. The company publishes books, ebooks, and digital products, and is one of the 20 largest publishers in the United States. History The company was founded in 1 ...
, 2011. * Vivas, Eliseo, ''The Objective Correlative of T. S. Eliot,'' reprinted in Critiques and Essays in Criticism, ed. Robert W. Stallman (1949). * Witkoski, Michael. "The bottle that isn't there and the duck that can't be heard: The 'subjective correlative' in commercial messages." Studies in Media & Information Literacy Education. Vol. 3. Toronto: Toronto Press, 2003. 9 April 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20110927010329/http://www.utpjournals.com/simile/issue11/witkoskifulltext.html.


External links


Objective Correlative at Literary Encyclopedia
* http://www.bartleby.com/200/sw9.html * http://www.echonyc.com/~goldfarb/encyc.htm * https://web.archive.org/web/20110927010329/http://www.utpjournals.com/simile/issue11/witkoskifulltext.html Literary theory T. S. Eliot