Archetypal Criticism

• Literary theories were developed to understand how people read texts.
• Most people interpret texts using a combination of different literary theories.

Archetypal Criticism

• Archetype originates from the Greek words "archē" (beginning) and "typos" (imprint).
• "Archetype" denotes narrative designs, character types, or images identifiable across literature, myths, dreams, and social behavior.

Common Character Archetypes

• The Lover is a romantic lead guided by their heart, like Romeo and Juliet or Belle from Beauty and the Beast.
• The Hero is a protagonist who overcomes challenges, such as Achilles, Luke Skywalker, or Harry Potter.
• The Magician is a powerful figure harnessing the universe's ways, such as Prospero, Gandalf, or Darth Vader.
• The Outlaw is a rebel who defies societal norms, like Han Solo, Dean Moriarty, or Batman.
• The Explorer seeks to push boundaries, like Odysseus, Sal Paradise, or Sherlock Holmes.
• The Sage is a wise figure offering knowledge, like Athena, Obi-Wan Kenobi, or Hannibal Lecter.
• The Innocent is morally pure, often a child with good intentions, such as Tiny Tim, Lennie Small, or Buddy the Elf.
• The Creator is a visionary who creates art, such as Zeus, Dr. Emmett Brown, or Dr. Victor Frankenstein.
• The Ruler has legal or emotional power over others, like Creon, King Lear, or Tony Soprano.
• The Everyman is relatable and ordinary, like Bilbo Baggins, Leopold Bloom, or Leslie Knope.
• The Caregiver supports and sacrifices for others, such as Dolly Oblonsky, Calpurnia, or Mary Poppins.
• The Jester provides comic relief and speaks truths, like Sir John Falstaff, King Lear's Fool, or R2D2.

Feminist Criticism

• A feminist critic examines cultural and economic disadvantages in a patriarchal society that hinder women's creative potential and cultural identity.
• Feminist critics share assumptions and concepts.
• "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" exemplifies male dominance over women, physically and psychologically.

Marxist Criticism

• It is grounded in the economic and cultural theory of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
• A Marxist critic determines the class of characters (Aristocracy, Bourgeoisie, Proletariat) and how class affects them.
• A Marxist critic looks at disparities between economic classes.
• A Marxist critic examines the operation and existence of oppressive social systems.
• A Marxist critic identifies the class identity of characters and analyze how it affects their actions, beliefs, hopes, and fears.

New Criticism

• New Criticism opposes focusing on authors' lives, psychology, social background, and literary history.
• The principles of New Criticism are verbal.
• Literature is a distinct language form systematically opposed to scientific and logical discourse.
• Key concepts include the meanings of words, figures of speech, and symbols.
• The distinction between literary genres is not essential.

Psychological and Psychoanalytic Criticism

• Psychological criticism views literature as an expression of the author's personality, state of mind, feelings, and desires.
• Psychoanalytic critics assume a correlation between a literary work and the author's mental traits.
• This requires investigating the psychology of a character or author to understand a text, but may also be biographical criticism.

Reader-Response Criticism

• It focuses on the reader's activity of reading literature, shifting from the traditional view of a work's meaning.
• A literary work becomes an activity in the reader's mind, and the connection between the reader's experience and the text becomes important.
• Readers bring their own thoughts, moods, and experiences to the text.

Deconstruction

• It states literature means nothing because language itself means nothing.
• The meaning of a story cannot be definitively known.
• Stories without clear endings do not allow assumptions about what happened.

Historical Criticism

• Historical information from the author's time period is applied to a text.
• History includes the social, political, economic, cultural, and intellectual climate.
• William Faulkner's post-World War II works reflect feelings of darkness, defeat, and struggle.

Structuralism

• Structuralism concentrates on the text itself, depending on linguistic theory.
• On a basic level, structuralism looks at the patterns built up and broken down within a text to interpret it.