A painting inside a narrative. Words used to describe a picture. Language used to describe physical art.
An example would be in "Antony and Cleopatra" when Enobarbus describes Cleopatra on the barge in Act 2, Scene 2. This freezes the decadence of Egypt.
-Michelle Gonzalez
Gorelik, 1C
1 comment:
Just to clarify, for those who aren't in the same section, Professor Little uses this term to apply to the barge scene in an expansive way. A more typical use of the term ekphrasis would be to apply it to a poem like Elizabeth Bishop's "Poem," which describes a scene in a painting, or Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn"--in other words, literature or writing that specifically describes a work of art. This slows down the action, especially in a longer text (like a Shakespeare play) that focuses on a lot of things besides the work of art (say a novel that takes a moment to look at a painting). Enobarbus's description of the scene is so detailed that it seems like he's describing a painting, and has the effect of capturing the moment, the way a painting does, and freezing the action, the way ekphrasis does. I also think that the way he describes her (for example, by having her suddenly lying down rather than standing) makes it seem more like he's describing a fantasy (and a painting can be considered a kind of pretend scene) that emphasizes Cleopatra's exoticism, beauty, and sexuality, as opposed to describing a real event, further justifying the use of the term ekphrasis.
Holly Plank
Aaron Gorelik, 1C
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