Question

Which critic attacked the Pre-Raphaelites as the “Fleshly School of Poetry”?

• A. John Ruskin
• B. Robert Buchanan
• C. Matthew Arnold
• D. Thomas Carlyle

Answer 1

Answer:

B. Robert Buchanan

Robert Buchanan and the Pre-Raphaelites

• Robert Buchanan, a Scottish poet and novelist, is famously known for his scathing criticism of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and their associated poets.
• In 1871, Buchanan published an essay titled "The Fleshly School of Poetry" in The Contemporary Review.
• This essay launched a vitriolic attack on several prominent poets, most notably Dante Gabriel Rossetti, but also included criticism of Algernon Charles Swinburne.
• Buchanan accused these poets of a decadent, sensuous, and immoral focus in their work, hence the term "Fleshly School."
• The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, founded in 1848, aimed to reform art by returning to the detailed observation and vivid colors of Quattrocento Italian art, rejecting the perceived mechanical approach of the later Renaissance.
• The literary arm of the movement, which Buchanan attacked, often explored themes of beauty, love, and sensuality, sometimes with a medieval or mythical setting.
• Dante Gabriel Rossetti, a central figure in Pre-Raphaelite painting and poetry, was particularly incensed by Buchanan's critique, which he felt misrepresented his artistic and poetic intentions.
• This literary controversy, often referred to as the "Fleshly School" controversy, significantly impacted the public perception and critical reception of Pre-Raphaelite poetry.
• Buchanan's attack is a significant event in the history of Victorian literary criticism, highlighting the tensions between aestheticism and conventional morality of the era.