The Complete Idiot's Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism

Literary theory covers a wide field, and this guide maps it for readers who want a working grasp of how critics approach books and films. It starts with a section on the foundations, then moves through the field by theme. The range runs from Plato and Freud to ecocriticism.

Each chapter takes one theory, critic or issue and explains it step by step in a conversational voice. Concrete examples show how to apply the concepts, and suggestions for related reading let the reader try them on actual texts. Some of the perspectives are notoriously complex, and the explanations aim to keep them clear.

The chapters are built to stand alone, yet cross-references link them. The idea is that readers move from basic topics and arguments to more specialized ones by seeing how the examples interact. Theorists disagree with one another, and the book reflects those traditions, influences, agreements and squabbles.

Hundreds of references and quotations are drawn from novels, stories, plays, poems, movies and other media. Online resources may add video and music clips and examples of visual art mentioned in the text. Selected titles, Frankenstein among them, recur from chapter to chapter, so the reader can watch different theories read a single work in different ways.