In his emphasis on the persuasiveness of fictional texts, Plato's case against poetry inevitably shifts attention from the nature of the texts themselves to the effects that they have on their audience. This chapter follows this shift of focus. Spanish Golden-Age writers and intellectuals held the view that in an important, powerful and inexplicable way a well-wrought fiction commands attention and demands acceptance of what it says; in short, it makes us believe in it. This chapter discusses some ways in which readers respond to works of fiction and suggests that the basis of literary belief lies in the reading process itself. It is out of their understanding of the rapture of reading that writers evolved their practical defence of fiction in the Spanish Golden Age.

Literature and aesthetic belief

When most readers approach a work of fiction they do so in the expectation that they will find it convincing. They expect to find the characters and situations credible and true to life and the narrative compelling. They do not, however, expect literally to believe in what they read; indeed, to do so would not be in the spirit of the game and would deny the author the scope to exercise his skill. Readers expect to be convinced in spite of their rational disbelief and will judge ill any writer who gives cause for that disbelief to intrude on their pleasure.