Chapter 2: Traditional Approaches

A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature

A Note on Traditional Approaches

--the “old” historicism--New Criticism--New historicism and related approaches

Textual Scholarship Textual critics research and edit a work in

order to establish an accurate, authentic text for the reader: “what the writer intended”

These critics prepare a reliable text for multiple methods of literary dissection and provide information about the genesis of a text

Question: What is a “text”? Example: Hamlet Example: “To His Coy Mistress”

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Matters of Genre

Aristotle’s Poetics Frye, Hirsch, Scholes Genre Characteristics in Practice Plot Elements:

Opening SituationGenerating Circumstance (e.g., something happens)Rising ActionClimaxDénouement

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Source Study

How did earlier writings, other works of art influence the text?

The art of allusion

Example: Influences on “To His Coy Mistress”

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Historical-Biographical Approaches

Focus is on the life, times, and environment of the author and/or the literary characters

Nearly all literature is open to this approach

Examines how these external factors affect the literary work

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Moral-Philosophical Approaches

Examines the moral or philosophical issues within the literary text

Approach goes back to Plato, Horace, Samuel Johnson, but has stayed relevant to modern readers

Focuses on what is being taught7

Application of Traditional Approaches

Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress”

The Text of the PoemThe textual critic examines the meaning of

the words and their variations

The Genre of the PoemCritics determine the literary type or genre

of a work to define its technical features and characteristics

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Historical-Biographical Considerations

The historical-biographical critic examines the life and times of Marvell in order to help understand the context of the poem.

Moral-Philosophical Considerations

The moral-philosophical critic explores what is being taught in the poem. The theme of carpe diem (seize the day) is prominent.

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