Literary Theory

Literary theory is a set of ideas and methods that help a reader or researcher to understand the literature better. These ideas provide guidance for researchers during the practical process of interpretation. Most people think that literary theory is all about the meaning of the literature. But it isn’t a full-truth. Literary theory does not just refer to the interpretation of the text; it is all about ‘What should be the meaning of the text?’ Methods and ideas that are described in literary theory act as principals for critics. They use them as criteria about art, literature and even culture. These various criteria allow critics to consider works of art on the basis of certain assumptions within the school of theory. They also help critics to maintain their focus on particular objects of a work that is considered important by them.