Plato's Theory of Mimesis:

Plato, in his book Republic, Chapter X, has used the term 'mimesis' or
‘imitation’ for the first time. In it, he makes a difference between useful arts and
'imitative arts'. The useful arts like medicine, agriculture etc. serve our immediate
needs; whereas, imitative arts like painting, dancing or poetry do not have such
utility. They are called the fine arts. Plato was of the view that all the fine arts are imitative. They are a copy, a representation of something. They copy some ideas, appearances of things in the
world outside. Poetry, being a fine art also imitates such ideas. Plato considered
poetry to be 'imitative', a copy of copy, a shadow of shadow. He claimed that poetry
is unreal and is away from reality. It is only a replica, a blind imitation of the ideas.
While expressing such views on poetry, Plato gave the example of 'bed'. When a
carpenter makes a bed out of wood, he works on the basis of the Idea of bed. It is the idea that is real and the bed is an imitation of it. It is a copy of the original idea. Plato
believed that Ideas are made by God, the Creator. When a painter paints the picture
of a bed, he takes the idea from the bed made by carpenter. Thus the painted bed is
the copy of a copy. It is an imitation of an imitation and it is twice removed from
reality.
Plato applied the same theory to poetry (i. e. literature) also. When a poet
presents the world in poetry, he takes inspiration from the outward appearance of the
world. The poets' world is a copy of the world in which he lives. It is thus a replica,
blind imitation, a copy of a copy. Thus, Plato declared poetry to be unreal, twice or
thrice removed from reality. There is nothing creative as such but is imitative.
In this way, the theory of imitation first appeared in Plato's Republic. He
considered imitation to be a photographic replica and a blind imitation. He thought
that there is nothing original and creative in it. In this way, in the course of argument,
Plato turned to be a critic of poetry. He declared poetry to be 'the mother of lies'; he
even denied any place to the poets in his ideal state.
Such was Plato's theory of imitation. He criticized arts and even poetry on
several grounds. At the same time, it must be taken into account that Plato's remarks
were made in a particular context. Plato himself was a man of poetic merits. He was
aware of the role of arts in human life. But he was an idealist and had a dream of
moulding ideal citizens for republic. Hence, he considered poetry to be unsuitable for
his purpose.