Mr. McIlvain
Introduction

 Think of a family myth and write it down. Do people
ever have different perspectives about what really
happened? Write the myth from someone else’s
perspective in the family
 Share “The Three Little Pigs” version 1 & 2
 How do we know which version is true?
What is literary or critical
theory?

Any piece of text can be read with a
number of different sets of “glasses,”
meaning you are looking for different
things within the text.
The terms “literary theory” and “critical
theory” are ways of looking at literature
beyond the typical plot-theme charactersetting studies.
What are the Benefits?

There are several benefits:
 One of the views is likely to affirm your perspective
and speak to what you see in the literature you are
studying.
 Studying a view different from yours—not to
disagree with it, but to understand it—helps you
understand those who hold that view.
 Studying a work from more than one view gives you
a deeper understanding of the author’s work and a
better appreciation for the richness of it.
Main Types of Critical
Perspectives

When analyzing literature, the most common ‘theories’
or ‘philosophies’ are:
 Feminist / Gender
 Marxist
 Psychological
 Archetypal or Mythological
 New Historicism
 Formalism
 Deconstructionist
Structuralism/Formalism

A formalist (aka New Criticism) reading of a text
focuses on symbol, metaphor, imagery, and so on.
Formalism ignores the author’s biography and focuses
only on the interaction of literary elements within the
text.
 It’s what you do most often in English literature.
Ask the question: How is the story structured?
It’s form, patterns, absences. (Ex. TLP)
Structuralism/Formalism

Three Little Pigs
 What does the wolf symbolize?
 Notice the consonance of “I’ll huff and I’ll puff…”
 How does the story foreshadow the final fate of the
pigs?
 What does the wolf’s dialogue tell us about his
character?
Feminism / Gender Theory

 Gender criticism analyzes literature through the lens
of socially-constructed gender roles.
 The largest part of gender criticism is feminism,
which critiques and seeks to correct women’s
subordination to men in society.
 In its purist form, feminism is about equality and
power.
Ask the question: What does it mean to be
female in this story? (Ex. Goldilocks)
Feminist

Goldilocks and the Three Bears
As a single, young woman, Goldilocks finds herself
without means or opportunity because she is
unattached to a father or a husband. Perhaps, this is
why she’s alone in the woods.
An independent woman, then, is a threat to the
“normal” nuclear family, represented by the three
bears.
Historical

This critical viewpoint examines a text in relation to its
historical or cultural backdrop.
 You may examine a text’s effect on history or culture.
 A historical/cultural analysis is often very similar to
a biographical analysis, and it’s possible to view
history, culture, and biography in a single essay.
Ask the Question: What is going on in history
that influences the text? (Ex. Crucible)
Historical

The Crucible
 How accurate is Arthur Miller’s account of the Salem
Witch Trials?
 What can The Crucible reveal about colonial New
England and Puritan society?
Psychoanalytical

Psychological critical theory applies the theories of
psychology to a text to better understand its characters
 Based largely on Freud, this theory hinges on the belief
that an examination of people’s (characters’) unconscious
desires.
 Drives governing human behavior
 Id – the animal nature that says, “Do what feels good.”
 Ego – the reality-based part of your personality that makes
decisions to satisfy the Id and Superego
 Superego – the socialized “conscience” that tells you what’s right
or fair
Psychoanalytical

Oedipus Complex – Every boy has the unconscious desire to
have sex with their mother; consequently, sons are
deeply afraid of their fathers, and fathers are deeply
threatened by their sons.
Elektra Complex – Every daughter has the unconscious
desire to have sex with their father; consequently,
daughters are deeply afraid of their mothers, and
mothers are deeply threatened by their daughters.
Ask the Question: What drives a character?
(Ex. Homer Simpson)
Psychoanalytical

The Simpsons
 Why does Bart behave the way he does?
 What influences the relationships in the family?