Literary Criticism.

Historical context
Before the XXth century, literary criticism was of two kinds. First one was
impressionistic, meaning the critic expressed his impression, without giving any
rational explanation for it. Second one was historical. For example, this means that
when you were dealing with Shakespeare’s work, you, the critic, would look into
the Elizabethan Age, the historical period. You’d try to discover through
Shakespeare’s work the aspects of that age and get a compete view of the time
period.

The modernist spirit in the first half of the Twentieth Century Ideas which
shaped the Modern Mind.
The first half of the 20th century appeared lots of ideas and theories about the
individual’s place in the universe. A direct consequence of the general tendency to
reject commonplace and manifest the spirit of innovation and originality which
could lead to expression of the individual’s personality.
The modern writers opposed the principles of the Victorian Age, these referring to
the belief in the power of explaining and understanding all around and inside us.
The modern writers wanted to explore deeper in the psychological and spiritual
level of the human being. Thus, we see the focus on the inside and the soul. Many
poets succeeded: T.S. Eliot, James Joyce etc. Their work has some common
features: subjectivity, relativism, fragmentation (this refers to humans
perceiving reality in fragments and only from their point of view, without seeing
the whole picture).
Einstein is a great representative of the critical spirit of the modern age. He
theorized the concept of relativity, a notion which says that things look
differently to different observers at different places and times. Also, the truth is
a relative notion, depending on the point of view of the speaker, there being no
absolute truth, only relative.
Because of this, the moderns believe that things have to be viewed in relation to
other things to guarantee the validity of their perception. Which is why they try to
grasp the deep links between objects, scenes, motifs, characters and symbols.
The human being is no longer considered a fully integrated personality. Its
impressions and feelings are uncertain, its responses unpredictable, its condition is
fragile or precarious.

Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung.