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Full Idea
The design or intention of the author is neither available nor desirable as a standard for judging the success of a work of literary art.
Gist of Idea
The author's intentions are irrelevant to the judgement of a work's success
Source
W Wimsatt/W Beardsley (The Intentional Fallacy [1946], §I)
Book Ref
'Philosophy Looks at the Arts', ed/tr. Margolis,Joseph [Charles Scribner 1962], p.92
A Reaction
This famous proposal may have been misunderstood. Note that it is a comment about judging the work, not about understanding it. The idea allows for a work being much more successful than the author's humble intentions (e.g. Pepys).
| 20400 | Intentions either succeed or fail, so external evidence for them is always irrelevant [Wimsatt/Beardsley, by Davies,S] |
| 7266 | The author's intentions are irrelevant to the judgement of a work's success [Wimsatt/Beardsley] |
| 7267 | Poetry, unlike messages, can be successful without communicating intentions [Wimsatt/Beardsley] |
| 7268 | The thoughts of a poem should be imputed to the dramatic speaker, and hardly at all to the poet [Wimsatt/Beardsley] |
| 7269 | The intentional fallacy is a romantic one [Wimsatt/Beardsley] |
| 7271 | Biography can reveal meanings and dramatic character, as well as possible intentions [Wimsatt/Beardsley] |