Literary Lenses

Ways to look at stories

(so that you appear to be smarter)

Literary Criticism…is a way to approach what you read beyond reading it on a surface level

lets you get at the underlying meaning of a book so that when you are asked by someone, “What did you think of the book you just read?” you can answer with something better than, “It was good.”

Think of Literary Criticism as a “lens”through which you can view a story

Different Types of Literary Criticism

We are going to study the following theories:

Feminist

Psychoanalytic

New Criticism

Which one is better?It depends on you and what you are reading!

The point isn’t just to “guess” which one is the “right” one

The point is to think critically about what you are reading

Think of Literary Criticism as a “lens” through which you can view a story

You can use each theory to help you understand something new about what you are reading

Theory # 1

Feminism

What is Feminism?

Feminism means:

the advocacy of human rights on the grounds of equality of the sexes

What is Feminist Literary Theory?

It does the following:

Encourages a female tradition of writing

Seeks out previously written (but ignored) texts written by women

Looks at texts in terms of sexual politics (how women are portrayed and who has the power)

Questions to Ask When Using a Feminist Lens…

1. How are the female characters represented?

2. How are they different in dramatic purpose (their role in the story) from the male characters?

3. How are they a reflection of the story’s historical period (either when the author wrote it or when the author choose to set it) or a reflection of the author’s attitude toward women?

Feminist Theory Example: Romeo and Juliet

Juliet…

1. How is Juliet represented in the play?

Young, attractive, desirable to others, an indulged “only child”, traditional (until she meets Romeo)

Willing to die for love (instead of marrying the very worthy Paris and “moving on”)

Becomes emotionally unstable after she enters into a relationship with Romeo

2. What is her dramatic purpose?

Gets “second billing” in the credits

The female romantic lead (hard to have a romantic tragedy with only Romeo)

Serves to bring out the best in Romeo—gives him direction, conviction, maturity, and focus

Contrasts to the other women in the play (the Nurse, Lady Capulet)

3. How is she a reflection of the historical period and/or author’s attitude?

intended as a moral warning to young people to “Always obey your parents”

people did not marry for love, particularly noble or wealthy girls (Juliet was getting off easily with Paris)

Shakespeare sometimes creates strong female characters but more often, they are there to support the men

How about the other women?

Lady Capulet The Nurse

1. How are the female characters represented?

2. How are they different in dramatic purpose (their role in the story) from the male characters?

3. How are they a reflection of the story’s historical period (either when the author wrote it or when the author choose to set it) or a reflection of the author’s attitude toward women?

Theory # 2

Psychoanalytic

Psychoanalytic Literary Criticism

Freudian Jungian

Freud (1856-1939)Human beings all have the following unconscious

aspects to their personalities:

Id (selfish desire for gratification—usually sexual; seeks pleasure and to avoid pain)

Superego (the force that keeps the Id under control and strives to act in a socially appropriate manner= conscience)

Ego (moderates between the two opposing forces; it seeks to please the id’s drive in realistic ways that will benefit in the long term rather than bringing grief)

“Freudian” Questions to Ask:

1. What is the character’s “id” all about?

2. What is the opposing “superego” telling the character to do? Why is this happening?

3. How is the character’s “ego” trying to please the ‘id’ in a socially acceptable way?

Example: Amir’s father from The Kite

Runner

What is Babba’s “id” all about?

He physically desired his loyal servant’s wife and satisfied his “id” by having sex with her thus resulting in Hassan

He preferred (selfish desire)his legitimate son, Amir, and so he denied Hassan as his son

What is the opposing “superego” (conscience) telling Babba to

do?

Treat Hassan kindly

Give him gifts, pay for his facial surgery

Behave honourably for the remainder of his life

Defend other powerless people (eg. the young woman in the truck)

How is Babba’s “ego” trying to please the id’s drive in realistic ways?

He often “favours” Hassan’s efforts over that of his son, thus causing conflict

He chooses Amir’s version of the theft over Hassan’s

He is a harsh and unforgiving father to Amir when he is growing up (emotionally detached)

Feels subconscious guilt for dishonouring his friend, being unfaithful to his own wife, fathering an illegitimate and disfigured child, feeling an affinity to Hassan over Amir, killing his wife through childbirth

Other Psychoanalytic things to consider:

The following elements of a story appeal to the selfish “id”:

1. “Acts of Communion” via meal scenes

2. Vampire-type characters

3. Violence

4. Sexuality

5. Politics

(Numbers 2,3,4 and 5 can also be viewed through a feminist lens)

Acts of Communion viaMeal Scenes

Sometimes, a meal is just a meal. Often though, whenever people eat or drink together, it’s communion = intimacy, connection, fellowship between people.

All over the world, breaking bread together is a sign of sharing and peace – it says “I like you, we form a community together.” (unless you’re eating dinner with a mafia don, or a villain in a James Bond film, that is.)

Not usually religious

An act of sharing and peace

A failed meal carries negative connotations

What are the characters consuming?(Pay special attention to “communion-type meals”)

Is the food nourishing?

Is it comfort food?

Is it visually appealing?

Does it smell good or bad?

Does it make the characters feel better or

worse?

Is it symbolic in any way?

This applies to alcohol and drugs as well

Who is sharing the meal?

Breaking bread should be a sign of fellowship and peace:

• Is the character eating with someone they trust?•Do the characters like each other?•Are the characters getting along?• Is this the Mafia don’s final meal for the man he is

about to kill?

What are the characters talking

about?

What characters talk about can reveal the nature of the experience:

• Is the conversation pleasant or argumentative?•Do all characters participate?•Does the conversation suit the situation?•Does it make the characters feel better or worse?• Is it good for the digestion?

Who is in charge? What does their ‘id’ want?

What does all of this show about the characters and the society in which they

live?

Symbolic Vampires

Sexual implications—a trait of 19th century literature to address sex indirectly

Symbolic Vampirism: selfishness, exploitation, refusal to respect the autonomy of other people, using people to get what we want, placing our desires, particularly ugly ones, above the needs of another

Literal Vampirism: Nasty old man, attractive but evil, violates a young woman, leaves his mark, takes her innocence

When you encounter a “vampire”…

1. Ask yourself how the “vampire” looks (old, but seems to become younger or more attractive)

2. How does he or she act like a “vampire”? -exploiting others to gain gratification

3. What does the vampire’s ‘id’ want?

Violence—two formsCharacter Caused

The classic “person versus person”

eg. bombing, shooting, physical confrontation, poisoning

“Seemingly” Random

• Death & suffering for which the characters are not responsible

• Accidents are not really accidents

but…violence is intentional

When you see violence in a story, ask yourself,

1. What does it mean in relation to the overall theme of the story?

2. Why would the character possibly have to suffer such misfortune?

3. What are we supposed to learn or think about the society or character who performs the violent act? What is their ‘id’?

4. Why that kind of violence and not some other?

Sex

Encoded/Disguised Sex

Couldn’t write about it, so the authors “hid” it

Eg. a kissing scene cutting away to the pounding surf = sex!

Male symbols = Phallic symbols - blades, tall buildings

Female symbols = chalice, Holy Grail, bowls, rolling landscape, empty vessels waiting to be filled, tunnels, images of fertility

Sex...

Explicit

Now sex scenes in books are accepted and almost expected

Vary in their degrees of detail

When authors write directly about sex, they’re writing about something else, such as sacrifice, submission, rebellion, domination, enlightenment, etc.

What to look for in sex scenes…

Encoded:

1. Who has the power? What does their ‘id’ want?

2. How do you know it is sex?

3. Landscapes, objects, weather that reflect the quality of the sex

4. Some sort of moral lesson (usually after)

What to look for in sex scenes…

Explicit:

1. Who has the power? What does their ‘id’ want?

• What does each person’s role in the sexual scene reveal about their character? Do they try to suppress their ‘id’? (superego)

• What does the actual act represent in terms of sacrifice, submission, domination, rebellion, enlightenment etc.?

Politics

Nothing is written in a vacuum. There’s a historical, political and social world in which fiction takes place. Take some time to think about the reality that infuses the story with meaning.

Literature tends to be written by people interested in the problems of the world, so most works have a political element in them. That’s why it helps to get a sense of the social and political world both of the setting of the novel and of the time in which the work was written.

Doesn’t need to be about government or Communist Party Meetings to be political – it needs to engage with the social and political realities and problems of the time.

Politics

Politics is Freudian because the setting or society of the story reveals its own id, superego, and ego.

Look for:

Individual needs versus the needs of society for conformity and stability.

Power structures

Relations among classes

Issues of justice and rights

Interactions between genders, races, ethnicities, faiths, etc.

What are we supposed to learn about the story’s society based on its political structures and how the characters interact within it?

Jung

All humans possess:

a “collective unconsciousness” (but we don’t feel it)

A shared experience which none of us remembers but comes out in our behaviours, interactions with others, and dreams (archetypes = the mythic original upon which the pattern is based)

The ability to make sense of things because we have “seen them before”

Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before?

There is no such thing as a wholly original work of literature—stories grow out of other stories, poems out of other poems.

There is only one story—of humanity and human nature, endlessly repeated

“Intertexuality”—recognizing the connections between one story and another deepens our appreciation and experience, brings multiple layers of meaning to the text, which we may not be conscious of. The more consciously aware we are, the more alive the text becomes to us.

Myth Archetypes(look for patterns that exist in earlier stories)

Myths explain the world in ways that math and science can’t.

Myth is a body of story that matters—the patterns present in mythology run deeply in the human psyche

Why writers echo myth—because there’s only one story

If you were a writer, you might choose to identify certain elements of your story with closely related myths because of the weight or significance those myths add to your own story.

Achilles—a small weakness in a strong man; the need to maintain

one’s dignity

The Underworld—an ultimate challenge, facing the darkest parts of human nature or dealing with death

It’s Greek to Me Daedalus creates wings as a means to escape the labyrinth that is his prison and the minotaur that is his guard. Before he and his son Icarus take off, Daedalus warns the young boy not to fly too close to the sun, as the wax holding the feathers to the wings will melt. Icarus begins by following his father closely, but as the joy of flying overwhelms him he soars upward. The sun melts his wings, and Icarus plunges into the ocean as his father, helpless and devastated, looks on.

It’s Greek to Me You have some great elements here – wisdom of the father ignored, folly and excitement of youth, the myth resonates in many ways. As a result, we see many versions of the story told and retold.

e.g. Stephen Dedalus in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, where to become a writer Stephen must escape the island that is home to him and that expects him to conform to values and ideals he does not hold. He doesn’t fly, of course, but there are many hints that Joyce is pointing to the Icaurs myth (including the author’s name… you’re going to have to pay close attention to names, too!)

Although the myths seem radically different, they both critically view man's mortality and limitations. In the Daedalus myth, Daedalus creates a trap for others which becomes his own prison. His only escape from the corruption that surrounds him is through the air. Only through great genius and the contrivance of artificial wings, will he escape the fate of other prisoners that are sent into the labyrinth to be devoured by the Minotaur. His genius becomes his undoing, as the artificial can never replace the real. The wax melts, the feathers fall, and his son falls into the sea. It is a warning to all who wish to achieve the distinction of being superior to their fellow mortals. Each who dreams of flight, of becoming the leader must in time confront the dangers of Daedalus' flight.

Bible Archetypes

Garden of Eden: women tempting men and causing their fall, the apple as symbolic of an object of temptation, a serpent who tempts men to do evil, and a fall from innocence

David and Goliath—overcoming overwhelming odds

Jonah and the Whale—refusing to face a task and being “eaten” or overwhelmed by it anyway

The Apocalypse—Four Horseman of the Apocalypse usher in the end of the world

Biblical names often draw a connection between literary character and Biblical character:

Mary Cain and Abel

Noah Judas

Bible Archetypes

Yes, She’s a Christ Figure, Too

Characteristics of a Christ Figure:

crucified, wounds in hands, feet, side, and head, often portrayed with arms outstretched

in agony

self-sacrificing

good with children

good with loaves, fishes, water, wine

thirty-three years of age when last seen

employed as a carpenter

known to use humble modes of transportation, feet or donkeys preferred

believed to have walked on water

Yes, She’s a Christ Figure, Too

Characteristics of a Christ Figure:

believed to have had a confrontation with the devil, possibly tempted

last seen in the company of thieves

creator of many aphorisms and parables

buried, but arose on the third day

had disciples, twelve at first, although not all equally devoted

very forgiving

came to redeem an unworthy world

Yes, She’s a Christ Figure, Too

As a reader, put aside belief system.

• Why use Christ figures? Deepens our sense of a character’s sacrifice, thematically has to do with redemption, hope, or miracles.

• If used ironically, makes the character look smaller rather than greater

Hanseldee and Greteldum:using fairy tales and kiddie lit

Nowadays, not everyone knows the Bible…but we all know kids’ stories & fairy tales!

Hansel and Gretel: lost children trying to find their way home

Peter Pan: refusing to grow up, lost boys, a girl-nurturer

Little Red Riding Hood: See Vampires

Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz: entering a world that doesn’t work rationally or operates under different rules, the Red Queen, the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, the Wicked Witch of the West, the Wizard, who is a fraud

Cinderella: orphaned girl abused by adopted family saved through supernatural intervention and by marrying a prince

Snow White: Evil woman who brings death to an innocent—again, saved by heroic/princely character

Quests

A quester– person who goes on a quest, whether or not he knows it’s a quest (in fact, usually he doesn’t know)

A place to go

A stated reason to go there - someone tells the protagonist (who need not look very heroic) to go somewhere and do something – e.g. go to the store to buy some bread…The real reason for the quest doesn’t involve the stated reason.

The real reason to go—always self-knowledge

• Challenges and trials

Dreams

Since your subconscious is busy all day responding to what your consciousness encounters, your dreams are a way for the two sides to contact each other.

When you encounter a dream in a story, ask yourself…

1. What is the content of the dream?

2. What does the dream mean symbolically?

3. How does the dream reveal the character’s inner conflict or desires?

Theory # 3

New Criticism

New Criticism

Looks at a story as a piece of art that has nothing to do with the author’s background or you as a reader (and it’s not really ``new`` anymore)

Each person who studies the story will be able to discover the same things about it

Weather:It was a Dark and Stormy Night

What kind of story do you expect to follow?

What do darkness and storms connote?

“Why would a writer want the wind howling and the rain bucketing down, want the manor house or the cottage or the weary traveler lashed and battered?” (75).

It’s more than just rain or snow

Rain

fertility and life

Noah and the flood

Drowning—one of our deepest fears

Why?

Rain works as a plot device: it can bring characters together in an intimate setting (shelter) that one would otherwise have avoided.

Rain can create atmosphere: “rain can be more mysterious, murkier, more isolating than most other weather conditions” (76).

Rain adds the “misery factor:” It can challenge characters and make them seem pathetic.

Rain is democratic: it falls on the just and unjust alike – e.g. “condemned man and hangman are thrown into a bond of sorts because rain has forced each of them to seek shelter.

It’s more than just rain or snow(con’t)

rain is clean—a form of purification, baptism, removing sin or a stain

Symbolically:

rain is restorative—can bring a dying earth back to life

rain is destructive as well—causes pneumonia, colds, etc.; hurricanes, etc.

It’s more than just rain or snow(con’t)

Rainbow—God’s promise never to destroy the world again; hope; a promise of peace between heaven and earth

fog—almost always signals some sort of confusion; mental, ethical, physical “fog”; people can’t see clearly

Negatively—cold, stark, inhospitable, inhuman, nothingness, death

Snow:

Positively—clean, pure, playful

Is That a Symbol?Yes. But figuring out what is tricky. Can only discuss possible meanings and interpretations

There is no one definite meaning. It’s not a formula, like river = freedom – think of the rivers you remember in your own reading (Twain’s Mississippi in Huckleberry Finn or Eliot’s Thames in The Wasteland – freedom & danger vs. decay and death…

Actions, as well as objects and images, can be symbolic. i.e. “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost

How to figure it out? Symbols are built on associations readers have, but also on emotional reactions. Pay attention to how you feel about a text.

How can you tell if something is a symbol?

It is described extensively.

Its appearance or function resembles the abstract concept that it represents.

It may be subtle, so the more you read, the more you will recognize universal symbols

Landscape and Geography

What represents home, family, love, security?

What represents wilderness, danger, confusion? i.e. tunnels, labyrinths, jungles

Geography can represent the human psyche (Heart of Darkness)

Low places: swamps, crowds, fog, darkness, fields, heat, unpleasantness, people, life, death

High places: snow, ice, purity, thin air, clear views, isolation, life, death

The SeasonsSpring, Summer, Fall, Winter=youth, adulthood, middle age, old age/death.

Spring=fertility, life, happiness, growth, resurrection (Easter)

Fall=harvest, reaping what we sow, both rewards and punishments

Winter=hibernation, lack of growth, death, punishment

Christmas=childhood, birth, hope, family

Irony trumps all: “April is the cruelest month” from The Wasteland

Flights of FancyPeople can’t fly. So when they do, in literature, it means something. Take the Daedalus and Icarus myth.

A lot of the time, flight is freedom. But it can kill you.

Interrupted flight is generally a bad thing

Usually not literal flying, but might use images of flying, birds, etc.

Flying signifies escape: so when you see imagery or symbols of flying, or flight itself, ask yourself: what is the character trying to escape? Of what does the character’s “labyrinth” (prison) consist? What’s tying the character down? How can the character escape without dying? Is escape possible?

If She Comes Up, It’s Baptism

Baptism is symbolic death and rebirth as a new individual

Drowning is symbolic baptism, IF the character comes back up, symbolically reborn. But drowning on purpose can also represent a form of rebirth, a choosing to enter a new, different life, leaving an old one behind.

Traveling on water—rivers, oceans—can symbolically represent baptism. i.e. young man sails away from a known world, dies out of one existence, and comes back a new person, hence reborn.

If She Comes Up, It’s Baptism (con’t)

Rain can by symbolic baptism as well—cleanses, washes

Sometimes the water is symbolic too—the prairie has been compared to an ocean, walking in a blizzard across snow like walking on water, crossing a river from one existence to another

There’s also rebirth/baptism implied when a character is renamed.

Markings and Differences

Take notice of characters or landscapes that are:

1.Marked for Greatness

2.Marked with Illness

3.Marked with an Affliction

Marked for Greatness

Physical marks or imperfections symbolically mirror moral, emotional, or psychological scars or imperfections in the individual and in the culture that causes the damage

Landscapes can be marked as well—think of Taliban era Kabul in The Kite Runner

The “difference” can separate the character for “great things”

Marked with an Illness

Not all illnesses are created equal. Tuberculosis occurs frequently; cholera does not because of the reasons below:

It should be picturesque

It should be mysterious in origin

sIt should have strong symbolic or metaphorical possibilities

Marked with an IllnessTuberculosis—a wasting disease

Plague: divine wrath; the puniness of humanity in the face of an indifferent natural world

Malaria: means literally “bad air” with the attendant metaphorical possibilities.

Venereal disease: reflects immorality OR innocence, when the innocent suffer because of another’s immorality; passed on to a spouse or baby, men’s exploitation of women

AIDS: the modern plague. Tendency to lie dormant for years, victims unknowing carriers of death, disproportionately hits young people, poor, etc. An opportunity to show courage and resilience and compassion (or lack of); political and religious angles

Heart disease=bad love, loneliness, cruelty, disloyalty, cowardice, lack of determination - Socially, something on a larger scale or something seriously amiss at the heart of things

Marked with an Affliction: Blindness

Physical blindness mirrors psychological, moral, intellectual (etc.) blindness

Sometimes ironic; the blind see and sighted are blind

Many times blindness is metaphorical, a failure to see—reality, love, truth, etc.

darkness=blindness; light=sight

Marked with an Affliction: Paralysis

Physical paralysis can mirror moral, social, spiritual, intellectual, political paralysis

Something to keep in mind…OK, so there’s a lot to know. And no one can know all of it.

So you need to trust yourself and your intelligence as a reader. You bring a lot to the table – for example, you all know what to expect when a writer writes:

THE END