Literary Criticism
Schools of Theory
Overview: Imagine a white piece of paper with different dots of color, red, blue, and yellow. If
you were to put a transparent yellow sheet over the paper, which dots would disappear? How
would the red dots appear under the yellow film? Literary theory is a method of applying
different readings, or “lenses,” to a piece of writing. Depending on the lens or theory you select,
different aspects of the story will be foregrounded or backgrounded. These lenses help readers
to better understand different messages an author conveys, or they help us better understand
different aspects of human nature or history.
Qualifications: Literary theory has been around as long as people have told stories. Many
famous writers, in addition to their published poetry, drama, and stories, also published essays
arguing the purpose of fiction and non-fiction. Literary theories are an open-ended process.
They can be combined together, or a mere starting point for the analytical process. For this
assignment, however, you will be considering one approach closely.
Marxism: This reading approach is concerned with the socio-economical class distinctions in
literature. A person using this approach would closely examine who has power and who does
not have power in the text and how this power relates to wealth and social standing. This
approach highlights the ways in which our socioeconomic distinctions influence our life
experiences.
Assumptions
Questions
1. What drives historical
change are the economic
realities of members
rather than the ideologies
of politics or religion.
2. The worker is alienated
from what he produces,
from himself, and people
in general are alienated
from each other.
1. Who is benefited if a
work/effort is believed or
successful?
2. What social classes do
characters represent?
3. How do characters from
different classes interact?
4. What values are
reinforced/subverted by
the power structure?
5. From what social class is
the author? How might the
author’s class be
expressing itself in the
story?
Things to look for:
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Identify the elite, middle
class, lower class, servants,
etc.
Identify the values of each
group.
Identify how those values
compare/contrast and
which are championed
overall.
Identify ways in which the
lower or working classes
are oppressed or
exploited.
*Example of a Marxist approach with The Hunger Games: The annual hunger games are an
example of the wealthy Capitol exploiting the working classes in the other districts. Those
contestants from wealthier districts fare better in this competition due to the subsidization from
wealthy patrons in the Capitol. The Capitol’s control of wealth and material items is used to
manipulate other districts into an oppressed lifestyle. Katniss’s challenging of this authority
incites rebellion because she shows the other districts that without her cooperation within the
society, the Capitol will lose control. Katniss’s rebellion stemming from a refusal to participate
suggests that class structure is only enforced through passive participation.
Feminism: This approach seeks to challenge or reinforce the patriarchy. You will look at ways
women are painted in a story. Women should either conform to traditional gender roles or
challenge them. Read to see what happens to women who conform and women who challenge.
Does fate punish or reward them? When determining if a female character challenges or
conforms to society, it is important to consider the time period as well. For example, Lizzy in
Pride and Prejudice may seem pretty traditional by today’s standards, but she was aggressively
independent for her time period. Sometimes a feminist reading of a text reveals male fears as
portrayed through female characters.
Assumptions
Questions
1. Your interpretation of
literature is influenced by
your own status, gender,
class, race, religion, and
more.
2. Women are oppressed by
patriarchy economically,
politically, socially, and
psychologically;
patriarchal ideology is the
primary means by which
they are kept so.
3. In every domain where
patriarchy reigns, woman
is other: she is
marginalized, defined only
by her difference from
male norms and values.
1. How is the relationship
between men and women
portrayed?
2. How are male/female roles
defined?
3. Do characters take on
traits from opposite
genders? How? How does
this change others’
reactions? Is it good or bad
to be feminine/masculine?
4. How do women interact? If
they “damage the
sisterhood,” is it the result
of the patriarchy?
5. Are teenage girls always
lovesick? Obsessed with
their appearance?
Things to look for:
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Women being
marginalized or
trivialized.
Male characters who act
feminine and what the
result is.
Enforcement of or
challenge to the
patriarchy.
*Example of a Feminism approach with The Hunger Games:: It is interesting to consider the
roles of Peeta and Katniss because Katniss is very much seen as the strong character, reflecting
traditional male qualities, and Peeta is portrayed as more passive and gentle, marking him as a
more feminine character (here the labels of masculine/feminine are based on the assumed
traditional definitions). Despite this yin-yang of feminine qualities, both characters are the only
two who remain at the end of the competition. Peeta—artist, baker, sacrificial character—is the
model 17th century woman. No one is particularly impressed with his survival despite its
reliance on cleverness. Peeta, much as a woman, is viewed only as an extension of Katniss.
Katniss’s success in the games is twisted as well. It is not her proficiency at traditionally
masculine roles (hunting, survival skills, tracking) but rather her relationship with Peeta and
her image as the lovesick girl that earns her patrons in the game, tipping the scale in her favor.
Even though Peeta and Katniss are both the champions of the game, it is Katniss’s conformity to
her traditional feminine status that gains her admirers. By flipping traditional gender roles on
Katniss and Peeta, Suzanne Collins is able to highlight the inconsistencies in our society’s
treatment of men and women.
Historical: This approach links the historical context of the author and the author’s
biographical information with the published work. A story is the reflection of the author’s life
and time. Using this approach requires research into the author’s biography and any
information the author may share regarding his/her story. This reading might also review how
critics and others received the book.
Assumptions
Questions
1. It matters when and where
something was written,
and by whom.
2. This consideration
includes facts about the
author’s life and status,
larger history around the
author and the work,
beliefs/philosophies at
work during the author’s
time.
3. You must be careful to
distinguish literature and
“real” life, but each can
illuminate the other.
1. How can you connect the
author’s life to his or her
writing? Are there
common issues and
events?
2. How can you connect the
literary work to its
historical contest,
including literary context?
3. Is the author part of a
dominant culture, and
how does that status affect
the work?
4. Does the author’s story
align to the philosophical
leanings of his/her time
period, or challenge them?
Things to look for:
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Research the author’s life
and relate that
information, cautiously, to
the work.
Research the historical
time period of the author
and relate it to the work.
Research how people
reasoned during the
author’s lifetime, the
limits and patterns
involved. Relate these
strategies to the work.
*Example of a Historical approach with The Hunger Games: Published at the height of the Iraq
War and the emergence of 24-hour news, The Hunger Games seeks to display the inherent
dangers of a culture desensitized to violence. The televised nature of the competitions reflects
the intermingling of reality television with actual violence, a blend that Suzanne Collins
uncomfortably experienced in her living room while flipping the channels of her TV. Members
of the Capitol eagerly watch the brutalization of children as entertainment, much as an
American audience hungrily watched soldiers rolling into enemy territory. The horrifying
nature of war was somehow scaled down to a 32” screen, safely confined in the realm of “some
other where,” and this lack of compassion and empathy is reflected in characters’ disconnect
with the trauma a 12 year old could experience. Characters like Effie merely view the games as
an exciting adventure, selfishly urging contestants to take enjoyment and fun from their death
parades. In a similar fashion, the fervor and excitement initially surrounding the invasion of
Iraq lacked awareness and concern for the families of soldiers in danger.
Psychoanalytical: This approach believes that author’s write expressions of the repressed
desires, feelings, and wishes of the reader. This approach builds on some theories from several
psychologists like Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. The goal of this is to discover the
psychological motivations driving characters. In essence, you act as if the story were a case
study and you are analyzing the character’s driving forces. Who are they? Why do they behave
as they do?
Assumptions
1. Creative writing, like
dreaming, represents the
disguised fulfillment of a
repressed wish or fear.
2. People are not always
aware or willing to admit
what wishes/fears are
actually driving their
behavior.
Questions
1. What appears to be
motivating the character?
2. What other motivations,
repressed or disguised,
might be at work?
3. Do the actions/statements
of the character match
what is going on in his/her
head?
4. How does your
understanding of the
characters, their
relationships, their actions,
and their motivations in a
literary work help you
better understand the
mental world and
imaginative life, or the
actions and motivations of
the author?
Things to look for:
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Behavior reflecting the Id
(primal desire), Ego (logic,
the balancer of Id and
Super Ego), and Superego
(moral compass).
Look for how metaphors,
imagery, and other devices
might reveal the
psychological motivations
of the character OR
his/her mindset at a given
time.
*Example of a Psychoanalytical approach with The Hunger Games: Many often view the scene
where Katniss covers Rue’s body with flowers as an example of her rebellious nature and the
preservation of her humanity. However, are we to believe that Katniss is merely a thoughtful,
compassionate soul? Past examples of Katniss show she has little concern for how her actions
might startle or intimidate others. For example, she blatantly shoots an arrow at the judges out
of anger. She also shows a lack of empathy for Peeta as she pretends to have romantic feelings
for him, feelings he genuinely holds for her. Katniss’s motivation in holding a funeral for Rue
actually stem from her fear of losing her family; her death means she will no longer spend time
with them. She is terrified of what might happen to her sister following the games and how her
death will impact her family. The purpose of a funeral is to preserve the memory of a dead
person, and Katniss’s action reveals her own desire to preserve the memory of her sister.
Multiple times in the book, Suzanne Collins stresses that Rue reminds Katniss of Primrose both
in stature and age. Katniss’s funeral is not an act of the selfless honoring of an enemy and child,
but rather an instinctually selfish act as she mourns the loss of what she holds dearest: Prim.
Deconstruction: All previous approaches seek to unify a work. How do the elements of the
story work together to create a message? Deconstruction is the opposite approach, and instead
attempts to break apart the unity of the work. Whatever message seems the obvious direction of
the author must be disproven. This approach can occur with many works, but the challenge
will fluctuate depending on how focused an author is. Play the devil’s advocate.
Assumptions
1. Meaning is made through
binary oppositions
(happy/sad, man/woman,
black/white); one item is
favored over the other.
2. This favoring must be
reversed and questioned
through imaginative and
playful reading.
Questions
1. Identify oppositions in the
text and determine which
items are favored.
2. What appears to be central
to the text, and what
appears to be
marginalized?
3. Reverse the favored and
central/marginalized.
What is central to the text
now?
4. What ideology does the
text initially seem to
promote and how does
conflicting evidence reveal
the limitations?
Things to look for:
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You MUST identify what
the author actually
appears to be arguing or
promoting.
Identify ideas that seem to
be unpopular or not
supported by the author.
Look for examples of
characters acting or
behaving in a way that
challenged what the
central theme is.
*Example of a Deconstruction approach with The Hunger Games:: In The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins attempts to show rebellion occurs once one individual is willing to stop
(figuratively and literally) “playing the game.” However, the circumstances surrounding this
catalyst for rebellion are not as plausible as she implies; Katniss’s rebellion is only possible
through serendipity. Let’s set the stage: Katniss threatens to eat the poison berries along with
Peeta, rather than kill him which would be the expectation of the Capitol. The audience is then
supposed to believe the game makers would be concerned with a mutual suicide. Collins
tenuously explains that citizens of Capitol would rebel if they lost the iconic love pair; however
this explanation does not support the earlier characterization of the Capitol’s power, might,
and callousness. The purpose of these games is to cull and weaken the districts, and citizens
view the games as entertainment, and what grips an audience more than a martyr? Even in our
own culture we romanticize the deaths of celebrities, and while hopefully we are not quite as
out of touch with compassion and reality as the Capitol’s citizens, it is much more plausible to
imagine the Capitol’s citizens as deliciously saddened and delighted at Katniss and Peeta’s
tragic end. The whole balance of power is shifted in the next two novels due to this one
miscalculation on the game makers’ part: sparing Katniss and Peeta rather than losing them.
Finally, the unlikeliness that the Capitol would truly allow two contestants to win, removes the
power from the oppressed. There is no hope for rebellion in unjust circumstances because
rebellion only occurs at the mercy of the oppressor. Hence, while Collins creates a successful
scene of rebellion, this, when taken to its logical conclusion, is not realistic since the game
makers and those in the Capitol are merciless.