Which interpretation of Keats's "Beauty is truth, truth beauty" best represents the mimetic perspective?
1
The author's arbitrary imposition of order upon the chaotic impressions of reality constitutes the only "truth" in a work of art.
2
The line is an ironic quotation, the equation of "beauty" and "truth" as "all we know on earth" suggests that reality is an illusory concept and that the primary function of art is to construct a world within an aesthetic reality of its own.
3
Those aspects of reality which we perceive to be "beautiful" are the only worthy subject matter of the artist, and it is the artist's job to observe closely and isolate those sublime elements from the flux of the mundane.
4
A work of literature is "beautiful" insofar as it offers an accurate representation of its subject matter, with fully realized characters and vivid description of events.