IB World Lit 1
Theoretical Perspectives: “Critical Lenses”
“The point is to help readers read texts and world more carefully as they become aware of the ideologies
within which both are inscribed” (Appleman 76).
“Literary theories were developed as a means to understand the various ways people read texts. The
proponents of each theory believe their theory is the theory, but most of us interpret texts to the ”rules” of
several different theories at a time. All literary theories are lenses through which we can see texts. There
is nothing to say that one is better than another or that you should read according to any of them, but it is
sometimes fun to “decide” to read a text with one in mind because you often end up with a whole new
perspective on your reading”(Appleman 155).
What follows is a summary of some common schools of literary theory. These are by no means
exhaustive descriptions, but they should be enough for you to get the general ideas and be able
to consciously “shift lenses” in examining a work.
Reader-Response Theory
Reader Response focuses o the individual interaction that occurs between the meanings that a reader
brings to the work, often based on personal experiences, moods, thoughts, etc., and the features of the
work itself – including narrator, plot, characters, style and structure. It is through this interaction that
meaning is made. Therefore, since we vary tremendously as individuals, a work may have a variety of
valid meanings. For example, a white reader might have a very different interpretation to To Kill a
Mockingbird than an African American reader.
There are two challenges to this approach. 1. Sometimes our associations pull us away from the text, so
while our interpretation may be valid, it might be very hard to defend credibly with textual features. 2.
Often we read worthy literature that we have NO personal connections to, and the tendency is to view it
as meaningless if only viewed through this lens.
The following chart can be helpful in using this approach.
Reader
Meaning
(What personal qualities/events
relevant to this particular
work might influence my response)
Text
(what textual features, ie, words, images,
symbols, social or cultural ideas, content,
etc., might influence my response)
Feminist Theory
Feminist literary criticism applies the philosophies and perspectives of feminism to literature. There are
many different types of feminist literary theory. Some focus on the language and symbols and how that
language and use of symbols are “gendered”. Others feel that men and women write differently, and
analyze how the gender of the author affects how literature is written. Many feminist critics look at how
the characters, especially the females, are portrayed and ask us to consider how the portrayal of female
characters “reinforces or undermines” sexual stereotypes. This theory also suggests that the gender of
the reader often affects our response to a text.
This approach to literary theory asks us to look at the relationships between men and women and their
respective roles in society. To what extent to these relationships and roles reflect a patriarchal society?
This approach encourages us to focus on the patterns of thought, behavior, values and power in malefemale relationships.
Consider a feminist lens applied to these works:
Snow White The Great Gatsby
The Scarlet Letter
The Crucible
Political/Marxist Theory
This approach to critical theory focuses on money and power and predominant ideology in works of
literature. By predominant ideology, they mean a defining view of the world and/or a prevailing set of
beliefs. In this view of criticism, the predominant ideology frequently defines or typifies the attitudes of a
particular economic or social class.
Political/Marxist theory pays a lot of attention to the social structures that allocate power to different
groups in society. Who has the money/power? Who does not? What happens as a result?
What do you notice with this critical lens when considering these works?
The Grapes of Wrath
The Pearl
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Great Gatsby
Historical/Biographical Theory
This critical approach involves examining a work as a reflection of the time in which it was written.
Therefore, you must apply specific historical information about this time, such as the social, political,
economic, cultural and/or intellectual climate of the time. For example, To Kill a Mockingbird, published in
1960, reflects the racial tensions of the modern civil rights and the attitudes of respecting the expansion of
the rights of African-Americans. The Crucible reflects the paranoia typical of McCarthyism.
Another angle of this approach is the biographical approach. This suggests that the author’s life and
personality are mirrors to understanding the work, and if a reader knows and understands something of
the author’s biography, they can better understand the meaning of his or her writing. For example,
Harper Lee’s father was an attorney who defended a black man who was unjustly accused of a capitol
offense in a racist environment. Perhaps the fact that one of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ancestors was a
judge in Salem during the Witch Trials and the fact that he himself was a product of Puritanical New
England led him to his obsessions with the moral hypocrisy so evident in The Scarlet Letter.
A caution and limit to this critical lens is that it may very much limit an open minded and careful reading of
a text. For example, just because F. Scott Fitzgerald was a product of the Jazz Age does not mean that
that is the only meaning to be uncovered in The Great Gatsby.
Archetypal Theory
This is one of the most common approaches to literary theory. An archetype is a pattern from which
copies can be made. That is, it is a universal “model” that demonstrates itself differently on an
individual basis. In literary theory, “archetype” signifies narrative designs, character types, or images that
are said to be identifiable in a wide variety of works of literature as well as in myths, dreams, and even
ritualized forms of social behavior. Supposedly, according to Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist, we as
individuals have these archetypal images ingrained in our understanding before we are our born AND
these archetypes can be found all over the world and throughout history. Some common archetypal
themes and character types such as death-rebirth, the journey underground, the heavenly ascent, the
search for the father, the paradise-Hades image, the Promethean rebel-hero, the scapegoat, the earth
goddess, the fatal woman and more.
Archetypal theory focuses heavily on symbolism and symbol systems. It can offer excellent insight into
literature, but it can also reduce a fine piece into a series of equivalencies (this equals that ad nauseum).
It can narrow our scope if overused. A reader must also be cautious to not ignore an author who uses
archetypes in non-traditional ways.