"the truest poetry is the most feigning." Do you agree?

[jayat]

Hi everybody...Well, against the Romantic idea which tells us to be true when writing, there's this Shakespearean line which wisely (in my opinion and two centuries before Romantic period) lights the true path of literature: writing is lying. This is from As you like it , act iii scene 3. Do you agree?

[cafolini]

Hi everybody...Well, against the Romantic idea which tells us to be true when writing, there's this Shakespearean line which wisely (in my opinion and two centuries before Romantic period) lights the true path of literature: writing is lying. This is from As you like it , act iii scene 3. Do you agree?

Well... If you say that writing is lying, you'll find truth. If you say that writing is telling the truth, you'll always find lies. But the former point of view might be well taken because thinking that writing is telling the truth could be far more catastrophic if taken seriously. But what does that incompetent Venetian Shakespeare has to do with this? Many many writers have dealt with this subject without having to be monkeys signifying nothing.