Literature emerges as an assemblage of external influence, literary form, readership, and authorial intent (Tyson 136). New Criticism asserts that only the analysis of literary form, being concrete and specific examples that exist within the text (135), can accurately assess a literary work. New Criticism discounts authorial agency and cultural force that informs the construction of a given text. New Critics believe that these sources of external evidence produce intentional fallacy, the flawed acceptance of the author’s intention as the text’s true meaning, and affective fallacy, the confusion of the text with the emotions it produces (136-37). Author’s intent, emotions provoked, and external influences of culture are indicated by New Criticism to result in chaos if used to assess literature (137). However, in Carol Ann Duffy’s “Little Red Cap”, such factors excluded by New Criticism aim to reinforce and embody complexity and wholeness unachieved by New Criticism’s limited assessment of “formal elements” (137). Due to New Criticism’s focus on objective form and its exclusion of all outside influences like authorship, readership, and culture, New Criticism fails to accurately assess Duffy’s “Little Red Cap”, thus showing the critique’s limitations as a universally applicable lens.
New Criticism’s requirement of removing subjectivity of the author’s hand in their own work demonstrates purposeful ignorance towards the sole reason for the literary work’s creation: the author. Consideration of biographical nature of “Little Red Cap” provides the reader with the ability to analyze the poem on a level that surpasses basic symbolism by injecting authenticity into the text. Duffy asserts that the poem is biographical, stating, “Little Rep...
... middle of paper ...
...ion of external influence, “Little Red Cap” provides rich, symbolic and relatable significance that can thusly projected onto other literature or one’s one experience. Carol Ann Duffy’s poem “Little Red Cap” works effectively to illustrate the limitations of New Criticism and helps suggest that critical literary lenses may not be universally applicable.
Works Cited
Duffy, Carol Ann. "Little Red Cap." The Poets' Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales. Eds. Jeanne Marie Beaumont and Claudia Carlson. Ashland, OR: Story Line Press, 2003. 121. Print.
Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Routledge, 2006. 135-167. Print.
Duffy, Carol Ann. Interview by Barry Wood. "Carol Ann Duffy: The World's Wife." Sheer Poetry. 2005. Web. 4 Feb 2014. http://www.sheerpoetry.co.uk/advanced/interviews/carol-ann-duffy-the-world-s-wife
Ryan reminds us of the suggestive power of poetry–how it elicits and rewards the reader’s intellect, imagination, and emotions. I like to think that Ryan’s magnificently compressed poetry – along with the emergence of other new masters of the short poem like Timothy Murphy and H.L. Hix and the veteran maestri like Ted Kooser and Dick Davis – signals a return to concision and intensity.
At first glance the characters Connie from “Where are you going? Where have you been?” and Little Red Riding Hood from the classic fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood” may seem to have nothing in common. However, from the start one can compare how much they actually have in common. Though these two characters are very different they are the same in many ways. Their story, from beginning to end, is similar. It is easy to see how alike and different they are with the description of Connie and Little Red Riding Hood’s lives, the relationship with their wolves, and their tragic endings.
...ll 2004): 47-62. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Vol. 111. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Web. 3 May 2014. .
Heberle, Mark. "Contemporary Literary Criticism." O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Vol. 74. New York, 2001. 312.
Parker, Robert Dale. How to Interpret Literature: Critical Theory for Literary and Cultural Studies. New York: Oxford, 2011. Print.
On the surface the poem seems to be a meditation on past events and actions, a contemplative reflection about what has gone on before. Research into the poem informs us that the poem is written with a sense of irony
The fairytale Little Red Riding Hood by Charles Perrault is a story that recounts the adventure of the protagonist Little Red Riding Hood as she fulfills her mother’s wishes to bring a package to her ill grandmother. Perrault’s short story conveys influential life themes on the idea of male predation on adolescent women who fall victim to male deception. Perrault successfully portrays these themes through his use of rhetorical devices such as personifying the actions of the antagonist Wolf predator as he preys on the protagonist Little Red. Perrault illuminates the central theme of upholding sexual purity and being aware of eminent threats in society in his work. Roald Dahl’s poem, Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, is an adaptation to
Guerin, Wilfred L., et.al. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Guerin, Wilfred L., Earle Labor, Lee Morgan, Jeanne C. Reesman, and John R. Willingham. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. 125-156.
New Criticism attracts many readers to its methodologies by enticing them with clearly laid out steps to follow in order to criticize any work of literature. It dismisses the use of all outside sources, asserting that the only way to truly analyze a poem efficiently is to focus purely on the words in the poem. For this interpretation I followed all the steps necessary in order to properly analyze the poem. I came to a consensus on both the tension, and the resolving of it.
The World Wife anthology written by Carol Ann Duffy, challenges the established exemplification of prevailing characteristics found in both genders, in a patriarchal society. Duffy manipulates some of these characteristics in the poem through the mythological allusion of medusa. The innocence of womanhood is overshadowed by the protagonists’ related violent imageries; instead, she is seen to be redoubtable and menacing, attributes associated with men. Society’s categories for what is masculine and feminine are portrayed to be unrealistic, and undermining. The main character is, however, still capable of possessing more ‘females based’ strengths and weaknesses, such as her strong emotions, which show a juxtaposition of love and hatred. Women, therefore, possess the disposition of both femininity and masculinity, creating a superior appearance.
“Little Red Cap” quickly became a household tale among children and adults, due to the imperative lessons that it directs to children and their parents'. Behind the initial story lies a message which, ”Cautions young girls to mind their mothers and not stray from the path to wander in the forbidden woods” (Rholetter). The forest represents any unfamiliar place that children can easily become lost within, while the path to grandmother’s house can represent a place the child is accustomed to. As soon as Little Red Cap begins her journey, she is confronted by a wolf. When they first meet, the wolf acts as a polite gentleman would towards any young lady which earns Little Red Cap’s trust instantly, "Little Red Cap, just where does your grandmother live? said the Wolf. Little Red Cap eagerly replied, Her house is a good quarter hour from here in the woods, under the three large oak trees. There's a hedge of hazel bushes there. You must know the place”(Grimm). This portrays children being subjected to the danger of strangers acting as friends to others for their own personal gains. The Brothers Grimm version of “
Parker, Robert Dale. Critical Theory: A Reader for Literary and Cultural Studies. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012 . Print.
In their essay, ‘The Intentional Fallacy’ (1946), William K. Wimsatt Jr. and Monroe C. Beardsley, two of the most eminent figures of the New Criticism school of thought of Literary Criticism, argue that the ‘intention’ of the author is not a necessary factor in the reading of a text.
Literary criticism is used as a guideline to help analyze, deconstruct, interpret, or even evaluate literary works. Each type of criticism offers its own methods that help the reader to delve deeper into the text, revealing all of its innermost features. New Criticism portrays how a work is unified, Reader-Response Criticism establishes how the reader reacts to a work, Deconstructive Criticism demonstrates how a work falls apart, Historical Criticism illustrates how the history of the author and the author’s time period influence a text, and last of all, Psychological Criticism expresses how unconscious motivations drive the author in the creation of their work as well as how the reader’s motivations influence their own interpretation of the text (Lynn 139, 191). This creates a deep level of understanding of literature that simply cannot be gained through surface level reading. If not one criticism is beneficial to the reader, then taking all criticisms or a mixture of specific criticisms into consideration might be the best way to approach literary