Explain the concept of 'Ideals' in Plato's writing

The Theory of Ideals, otherwise known as the Theory of the Forms, is Plato’s explanation of how true knowledge (epistemology) can be acquired through the study of non-physical forms. He describes the forms as perfect ideals; this means that when we see something (e.g. a cat) we are able to remember what it is because the prenatal soul has previously encountered the form of a cat in the numinal world. Plato believed in using reason rather than experience (a priori) to argue for a particular concept and also argues that the world we live in is one of appearances; the real world is the world of the forms. As the forms are perfect ideas of everything, they have no requirement to change and are therefore constant, for they cannot be improved. This is entirely different to the physical world, which is constantly adapting and evolving to cope with human life, thus proving that the forms do not belong to the physical world. In addition, the form of beauty is only an idea, which means that no one can know the real meaning of beauty, as it cannot exist in our world. Plato illustrates his entire principle of the forms through his analogy of the Cave in his book, The Republic. In the analogy, Socrates (Plato’s master) asks Glaucon to imagine a cave where people have been imprisoned, chained up with their necks and legs fixed so that they can only gaze ahead at the cave wall. Puppeteers behind the prisoners project men and other living things onto the cave wall; the prisoners cannot see behind them so they think these ‘shadows’ are of the real world outside the cave. Plato suggests that the shadows constitute reality for the prisoners because they have never experienced anything else. If one of the prisoners were to be freed from the cave and went out into the light, they would initially experience blindness as their eyes adjusted, but would then see the world for what it really was. The free prisoner would think that the real world was superior to the world he had experienced in the cave. Equally, if the prisoner were to return to the cave, the readjustment of eyesight would, again, cause them some minor pain, which in turn would prevent the other prisoners from wanting to go out into the light. Plato is arguing that we often get confused and think that this world is one of reality, when in actuality the world consists of shadows and darkness (opinion rather than fact). Our mind and soul are trapped in our bodies and over time, forget what the real world is (the mind belongs to the ideal world). Plato wanted to suggest that only philosophers can make the journey into the light and, therefore, it should be the philosophers who are in charge over humanity. In conclusion, the analogy of the Cave shows us that our experiences will only provide us with opinions (doxa) rather than true knowledge (episteme), as demonstrated by the prisoners who stare at the shadows on the wall of the cave; true knowledge can only come from knowledge of the forms, which originates from the Form of the Good (source of all knowledge). These forms are perfect ideals, more real to us than physical objects, which do not change. In addition, we can conclude that the best human life is the one in which everyone strives to understand and imitate the ideals.