An Expression of Something is Simply Something Expressed
As Plato would likewise say that an ideal city must not contain art for it perverts the eternal Forms by creating imitations of a replica of the Forms; likewise in Drama, the imitation of expressing something is just something that is expressed, which consequence is the danger in emulating drama to real life. Perhaps Plato is critical of the irrationality art evokes as for him it subsumes our rational impulses — which are responsible for maintaining the good and beautiful. Hence why we find it reasonable for Plato that an ideal, perhaps the perfect city cannot contain art.
If we are to rethink Plato’s position about art, we can safely say that he is reminding us of the danger that we put onto ourselves by mistakenly living a fake life in a real-world setting. For example, in the theater where a character imitates the expression of sorrow, they seem to express sorrow the same way sorrow is being expressed in real life. Plato would argue that this expression expressed is superficial as it does not emulate actual representations (with respect to the Forms; how the features of the Forms represent the object that we immediately see). The pleasure that we get from watching dramas, for Plato, is also superficial because again, it does not parallel the Eternal Forms but only appearances from the sensible world.
Hence, Plato must have probably foreseen the danger that we too, are prone to emulating real life into drama. Where we if parallel our lives likewise to that of a dramatic play, we corrupt and perverts it because we do not subscribe to the real.
While I do understand that Plato heavily situated his position about art on poetry and/or dramatic poetry, I do not fully agree with Plato that art should not be present in an ideal city. For that is self-contradicting: we can have art that reflects our craft — we can make furniture, houses, and bridges that make living convenient. Although I admit this is one that is outside the moral aspect as implied in the musings of Plato.
