[Lecture Three] Eight Great Plays as Literature and as Philosophy
by Dr. Leonard Peikoff
Total Time: 1 hour, 56 minutes
Course summary: In this course, Dr. Leonard Peikoff selects eight great plays from Western literature to analyze. He examines the literary and philosophic qualities of each play and indicates how the drama concretizes certain ideas from a variety of philosophies. Peikoff masterfully situates each play in its historical period, both from the world events and philosophic context, as he discusses them. Peikoff builds the whole course around a demonstration of how to arrive at objective esthetic judgments about art. Read more »
In this lecture: This lecture is a discussion of Le Cid by Pierre Corneille.
Q&A Guide
Below is a list of questions from the audience taken from this lecture, along with (approximate) time stamps.
| 1:25:12 | Was Ayn Rand inspired by Corneille as she was by Hugo? |
| 1:27:05 | Do you see any similarity between Night of January 16th and La Cid? |
| 1:28:32 | You made the comment that all the characters, in terms of the time, were good. I question that because there’s no mention in the play of Rodrigo’s father being a quadriplegic, they just mention that he was old. The point is that he could have fought, but he would have lost. What he then does is put his kid in the front line instead of fighting and losing, despite the fact that he knows that his son’s love for Chimène will be irrevocably damaged. So, 1) the father is not a good character in the terms of his time (because he won’t fight) and 2) if that point is conceded, the play can’t proceed from there. |
| 1:32:39 | A point on identifying a philosophy vs. evaluating it from the point of view of Objectivism. |
| 1:37:53 | Shakespeare says that morality is irrelevant to life. Corneille says that morality leads to agonizing conflict and, possibly, tragedy. Can we not then conclude that Shakespeare and Corneille agree philosophically because, after all, if morality leads to conflict and tragedy, who needs it? For life’s purpose is irrelevant. |
| 1:42:34 | Without the package deal of honor, wouldn’t there have to be far less conflict in this story? And, if that’s the case, what does that do to your hypothetical, modern version of the story? |
| 1:45:22 | What’s the philosophical origin of this feudal idea of honor? |
| 1:48:24 | The hero killing the heroine’s father takes place very early in the play, and it is the action that sets up the basic conflict that occurs between the two main characters for the rest of the play. Why do you state the plot theme in terms of that original action which, more or less, just sets up the situation? |
| 1:51:06 | A word on Classicism |