Escapist Theatre
Writing the Essay – Art in the World
New York University
Josh Goldfaden, lecturer
Raquel Ortega
Progression 2, Final Draft
EXPOS_UA 039
4/11/2013
Escape or Escapism?
“Art is not amnesia, and the popular idea of books as escapism, or diversion, misses altogether what art is,” states British essayist Jeanette Winterson in her essay The Semiotics of Sex. In this statement, Winterson presents the idea that art should act as a window into the viewer’s internal conundrum of emotion, instead of as a vehicle to transport an individual’s attention outside himself or herself. Winterson believes art to be “the realisation of complex emotion,” allowing the viewer to come in confrontation with “desires encased in dark walls of what one ought to desire;” these wishes are constituted by any yearning that has been oppressed so an individual could conform to societal niceties. These desires are left unclear in the essay, permitting the reader to fill in the ambiguity with the recognition of their own longings. Winterson believes that art should not act as an escapist vehicle for the viewer and their hidden desires.
Plato’s vision of art differs greatly from Winterson’s. As he stated in The Republic: Book X, “imitators [artists] copy images of virtue and the like, but the truth they never reach.” This presents Plato’s theory that artist’s only create fiction; producing imitations of real life and thus suggesting that the audience’s experience will be escapist as they are indulging in a pretence. Plato’s idea that all art is a form of escapism greatly clashes with Winterson’s belief that art is not aimed to be a diversion. This conflict between principles presents the question of what exactly is escapist art and what is its purpose in society?
To answer this question one must first understand the definition of escapism. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines escapism as a “habitual diversion of the mind to purely imaginative activity or entertainment as an escape from
New York University
Josh Goldfaden, lecturer
Raquel Ortega
Progression 2, Final Draft
EXPOS_UA 039
4/11/2013
Escape or Escapism?
“Art is not amnesia, and the popular idea of books as escapism, or diversion, misses altogether what art is,” states British essayist Jeanette Winterson in her essay The Semiotics of Sex. In this statement, Winterson presents the idea that art should act as a window into the viewer’s internal conundrum of emotion, instead of as a vehicle to transport an individual’s attention outside himself or herself. Winterson believes art to be “the realisation of complex emotion,” allowing the viewer to come in confrontation with “desires encased in dark walls of what one ought to desire;” these wishes are constituted by any yearning that has been oppressed so an individual could conform to societal niceties. These desires are left unclear in the essay, permitting the reader to fill in the ambiguity with the recognition of their own longings. Winterson believes that art should not act as an escapist vehicle for the viewer and their hidden desires.
Plato’s vision of art differs greatly from Winterson’s. As he stated in The Republic: Book X, “imitators [artists] copy images of virtue and the like, but the truth they never reach.” This presents Plato’s theory that artist’s only create fiction; producing imitations of real life and thus suggesting that the audience’s experience will be escapist as they are indulging in a pretence. Plato’s idea that all art is a form of escapism greatly clashes with Winterson’s belief that art is not aimed to be a diversion. This conflict between principles presents the question of what exactly is escapist art and what is its purpose in society?
To answer this question one must first understand the definition of escapism. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines escapism as a “habitual diversion of the mind to purely imaginative activity or entertainment as an escape from