Theory Before Theory
•When do you think English was first
taught as a degree subject in
England?: was it 1428, 1528, 1628,
1728, 1828, or 1928?
• At which institution was English first taught
as a degree subject in England?: was it
Oxford University, Cambridge University,
London University, Southampton University,
or none of these?
•Until the nineteenth century you
had to be a member of the Anglican
Church and male to take a degree in
England. True or false?
•Until the nineteenth century
lecturers in degree courses in
England were only unmarried
members of Church of England.
True or false?
•Until the nineteenth century
women were not allowed to take
degrees in England. True or false?
•In the early twentieth century
women could take degree courses
in England, but were not allowed to
receive degrees. True or false?
• As far as higher education was concerned, then,
you could say that right up to the 1820s, the
organisation of higher education had not
changed since the Middle Ages
•The breakthough came in 1826
when a University College was
founded in London with a charter to
award degrees to men and women
of all religions or none
• From 1828 English was offered as a subject for
study, and they appointed the first English
Professor of English in 1829.
• However, it was not really English as we know it.
• It was mainly the study of English language,
merely using literature as a source of linguistic
examples
•English literature as such was first taught
at King's College, London (another
college of what later became London
University) beginning in 1831
•In 1840 F. D. Maurice was appointed
Professor at King's
• He introduced the study of set books, and his
inaugural lecture lays down some of the
principles of liberal humanism
Purpose of Literature
• 'to emancipate us ... from the notions and habits
which are peculiar to our own age', connecting
us instead with 'what is fixed and enduring'
• Maurice regarded literature as the peculiar property
of the middle class and the expression of their values.
For him the middle class represents the essence of
Englishness
•the aristocracy are part of an
international elite, and the poor
need to give all their attention to
ensuring mere survival
•learning English will give people a stake
in maintaining the political status quo
without any redistribution of wealth
• People so educated would feel that they
belonged to England, that they had a
country
•Literature as a substitute to religion
Origins of Literary Theory
• Literary theory was not formally recognized in English studies until the
1970s.
• Early English degree courses followed a traditional "Wulf-to-Woolf"
approach, focusing on literature from Beowulf to Virginia Woolf.
• Structuralism and semiotics gained attention in the 1970s through
figures like Roland Barthes, Umberto Eco, and Julia Kristeva
Development of English Studies
• Before the 19th century, English was not a formal academic subject;
Oxford and Cambridge focused on classics, theology, and
mathematics.
• The first English literature courses were introduced in the early 19th
century at University College London and King’s College London.
• English was seen as a moral and cultural tool to instill middle-class
values and maintain social order.
• Oxford resisted the inclusion of English until 1894, and Cambridge
until 1911
•I. A. Richards, William Empson, and F. R.
Leavis.
• I. A. Richards was the founder of a method of studying
English which is still the norm today.
• Firstly, it made a decisive break between language and
literature. Richards pioneered the technique called
Practical Criticism
• This made a close study of literature possible by
isolating the text from history and context. Instead of
having to study, say, the Renaissance period as a
distinct historical moment, with its characteristic
outlook, social formations, and so on, students could
learn the techniques of practical criticism and simply
analyse 'the words on the page'.
• Attention to the Text
Liberal Humanism and Its Tenets
• A literary text’s meaning is inherent and does not require historical or
political context.
• Close reading, focusing on the "words on the page," is the primary
method of interpretation.
• Literature enhances life and promotes humane values without being
overtly political.
• Literary form and content must be organically unified.
• Literature should "show" rather than "tell," valuing enactment over
exposition.
Key Figures in Early Literary
Theory/Criticism
• Plato (c. 427–347 BCE)
• The Republic and Ion, where he critiques the role of
poetry and art in society.
• One of the earliest thinkers to engage in literary
criticism
• Mimesis (Imitation Theory)
• Moral and Political Concerns
• The Role of the Poet in Ion
• The Function of Art
• Plato’s skepticism about literature laid the foundation
for later literary criticism, influencing figures like
Aristotle, who responded to his ideas in Poetics
Key Figures in Early Literary
Theory/Criticism
Aristotle (384–322 BCE)
• Defined tragedy, character, and
catharsis in Poetics. His ideas laid the
foundation for literary criticism,
emphasizing plot structure and
emotional impact on the audience.
• Aristotle’s defense of literature as intellectually and morally valuable
directly countered Plato’s skepticism, establishing a foundational
framework for later critical traditions.
• Theory of tragedy, identifying key elements such as plot (mythos),
character (ethos), and thought (dianoia) as essential components of
a well-constructed narrative. He emphasized catharsis, the emotional
purification or release experienced by the audience through fear and
pity, as a crucial function of tragedy. His preference for complex plots,
recognition (anagnorisis), and reversal (peripeteia) shaped later
dramatic theory, influencing classical, Renaissance, and modern
literary criticism.
Sir Philip Sidney (1554–1586)
• Defended poetry as a means of teaching through pleasure.
• An Apology for Poetry (also known as The Defence of Poesy,
1580)
• Sidney argued that literature serves a moral and educational
purpose by combining delight and instruction (docere et
delectare)
• Poetry as the highest form of knowledge--it presents
idealized truths rather than mere facts
• He categorized literature into three types: divine poetry
(religious), philosophical poetry (moral teachings), and right
poetry (fiction that both pleases and instructs).
• He championed the unities of time, place, and action,
advocating for structured, coherent storytelling.
• His work laid the foundation for neoclassical and
Renaissance literary criticism, influencing later theorists like
John Dryden and Alexander Pope.
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)
• Lives of the Poets (1779–1781)
• Preface to Shakespeare (1765)
• Pragmatic and moral approach to literature, emphasizing its ability to
reflect human nature and instruct readers
• Johnson valued verisimilitude (realism) in literature, arguing that
poetry and drama should be relatable and morally instructive
• Johnson’s approach blended practical criticism with moral judgment,
and his emphasis on the moral responsibility of the writer influenced
later critics like Matthew Arnold and F. R. Leavis
William Wordsworth (1770–1850)
• Preface to Lyrical Ballads (1800)--A manifesto for Romantic aesthetics
• Wordsworth argued that poetry should reflect the language of
ordinary people and be rooted in everyday experiences and
emotions
• He rejected the artificial diction and elevated style of earlier poetry,
emphasizing instead "emotion recollected in tranquility", where
genuine feelings are shaped into artistic expression.
• His ideas on nature, imagination, and individualism influenced later
literary movements, including Modernism and Romantic criticism
S. T. Coleridge (1772-1850)
• Biographia Literaria (1817)
• Coleridge focused on the imagination as the defining characteristic of
great poetry
• His theory of the organic form suggested that a poem’s structure should
develop naturally from its subject matter rather than follow rigid external
rules
• Coleridge also redefined mimesis, arguing that poetry does not merely
imitate nature but actively shapes and reinterprets it.
• His work profoundly influenced later literary theorists, including the New
Critics, who adopted his emphasis on close reading and textual unity.
T.S. Eliot (1888–1965)
• Tradition and the Individual Talent (1919) and The Metaphysical Poets
(1921)
• Introduced key ideas like "dissociation of sensibility,"
"impersonality," and "objective correlative.“
• Eliot’s emphasis on close reading, textual autonomy, and the unity of
form and content strongly influenced the New Criticism movement in
mid-20th-century literary studies.
• His insistence on tradition, intellectual discipline, and impersonality
continues to shape literary debate
F. R. Leavis (1895–1978)
• The Great Tradition (1948) and New Bearings in English Poetry (1932)
• Rigorous evaluation of literature based on its ability to enrich human
experience
• The Great Tradition and Canon Formation-- Jane Austen, George
Eliot, Henry James, and Joseph Conrad.
• Close Reading and Practical Criticism
• Rejected historical and biographical approaches
• Leavis opposed abstract literary theory, arguing that criticism should
remain practical, judgmental, and grounded in lived experience
I. A. Richards (1893–1979)
• development of Practical Criticism and New Criticism
• Pioneered close reading and textual analysis.
• Principles of Literary Criticism (1924) and Practical Criticism (1929)
• Studying texts in isolation
• Richards viewed literature as a psychological experience,
emphasizing the reader’s response and interpretation
• His ideas foreshadowed reader-response criticism and cognitive
literary studies, which later explored how readers construct meaning.
Structure of Traditional English
Literature Courses
• Before the rise of literary theory in the late 20th century,
English degree programs typically followed a chronological
survey of major literary texts and movements, covering:
• Old English Literature (Beowulf, Anglo-Saxon poetry).
• Middle English Literature (Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales,
medieval romances).
• Renaissance and Early Modern Literature (Shakespeare,
Spenser, Marlowe, Milton).
• Neoclassical and Augustan Literature (Pope, Swift,
Dryden).
• Romanticism (Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Keats).
• Victorian Literature (Dickens, the Brontës, Tennyson).
• Early 20th-Century Modernism (Virginia Woolf, T. S.
Eliot, James Joyce).