Literary Theories:

Lesson
Formalist, Moralist, Marxist

WHAT I NEED TO KNOW

Literary theory refers to the sets of concepts and intellectual assumptions that are
used to explain or interpret literary texts. It formulates the relationship between
author and work and develops the significance of race, class, and gender for literary study, both from
the standpoint of the biography of the author and an analysis of their thematic presence within texts.
After this lesson, you are expected to:
1. Explain the formalist, moralist, and Marxist literary theories
2. Critique a literary selection using the literary theories discussed

WHAT IS IT
Literary theory refers to any principles derived from internal analysis of literary texts
or from knowledge external to the text that can be applied in multiple interpretive
situations. Below are the three literary theories used in interpreting literary texts.

1. Formalism
This is an interpretive approach that emphasizes literary form and the study of literary devices
within the text. Formalists placed great importance on the literariness of texts, or those qualities that
distinguished the literary from other kinds of writing. It does not, therefore, concern itself with
biographical information about the author, historical events outside of the story, or literary allusions,
mythological patterns, or psychoanalytical traits of the characters.
When critiquing a short story, for example, the formalist analyzes the elements that make up
a short story such as the characters, the settings, the tone, the point of view, the diction, and all
others that make the short story a single text. On the other hand, when critiquing a poem, the formalist
analyzes the poem’s imagery and symbolism, rhyme and rhythm, figures of speech, and other
elements. After analyzing each part, the critic then describes how these elements work together to
give meaning to the text.
Below is a sample review using the formalist approach:

Formalist Criticism of “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost

This poem consists of four stanzas, each five lines in length (a quintet), with a mix of iambic
and anapestic tetrameter, producing a steady rhythmical four beat first-person narrative. Most
common speech is a combination of iambs and anapests, so Frost chose his lines to reflect this:
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
This simple looking poem, mostly monosyllabic, has a traditional rhyme scheme of ABAAB
which helps keep the lines tight, whilst the use of enjambment (where one line runs into the next
with no punctuation) keeps the sense flowing.
The whole poem is an extended metaphor; the road is life, and it diverges, that is, splits
apart–forks. There is a decision to be made and a life will be changed. Perhaps forever.

Excerpt from https://owlcation.com/humanities/Analysis-of-Poem-The-Road-Not-Taken-by-Robert-Frost

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2. Moral Criticism
This approach uses literary criticism to judge literary works according to moral rather than
formal principles. In other words, the moralist critic is concerned with whether a literary work conveys
a lesson or message and whether it can help readers lead better lives and improve their
understanding of the world.
Below is a sample review using the moralist view.

Moralist Criticism of “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost

The third stanza shows us that the character is truly being honest with himself, as he makes
the crucial decision of which road to take. His honesty is a reality check as well as a means of making
a final decision. He notices that both choices lay equally in front of him and none of these choices
have been “trodden black”.
Sometimes in life, when we reach a fork, we are able to make quick decisions based on what
we learned from other people’s experiences. These experiences then leave marks in the choices that
we have; these marks then form our bias towards or against that path.
After making his decision, he exclaims that he will leave the first choice for another day, then
he honestly tells himself that if he lets this road go now, there is no coming back. There are many
defining decisions in a person’s life that shape their future. When we select an option in these
moments, we change the course of our life and there is no turning back. That is where the regret of
not exploring our other options disturbs us.

Excerpt from https://poemanalysis.com/robert-frost/the-road-not-taken/

3. Marxist Criticism
As a strongly politically oriented criticism, this literary theory in anchored on the fact language
is influenced by social class and economics; hence, the Marxist critic examines the relationship of a
literary product to the actual economic and social reality of its time and place, specifically on the
following claims:
- The evolving history of humanity, of its social groupings and relations, of its institutions,
and of its ways of thinking is largely determined by the overall economic organization.
- The fundamental mode of material production effects shifts in the class structure of a
society.
- Human consciousness is constituted by an ideology—that is, the beliefs, values, and
ways of thinking and feeling through which human beings perceive and explain what they
take to be reality.

Below is a sample review using Marxist view.

Marxist Criticism of “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner

William Faulkner’s short story “Barn Burning” demonstrates the political and economic power
disparities between the bourgeoisie, represented by the justice system and aristocratic landowners, and
the proletariat, represented by the Snopes family. Taking place within living memory of the Civil War,
the story is a critique of the southern sharecropping system and captures the immorality, greed, and lack
of caring by the South’s affluent classes. Yet the story also suggests that “barn-burning” nihilism is not
the answer to class conflict. As young Sarty’s flight suggests at story’s end, for a true Marxist revolution,
false consciousness, violence, and self-interest must be erased from people’s actions.

Excerpt from “Silence, Violence, and Southern Agrarian Class Conflict in William Faulkner’s ‘Barn Burning’” by Liberty Kohn

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 WHAT’S MORE
When critiquing a literary work using the formalist, moralist, and Marxist
approaches, the following guide questions may be considered.

1. Formalistic Approach
This approach focuses on form. The analysis stresses items like symbols, images, and
structure and how one part of the work relates to other parts and to the whole. Below are guide
questions when doing a formalistic criticism.
- How do various elements of the work reinforce its meaning?
- What recurring patterns (repeated or related words, images, etc.) can you find? What is
the effect of these patterns or motifs?
- How does the writer’s diction reveal or reflect the work’s meaning?
- What is the effect of the plot, and what parts specifically produce that effect?
- What figures of speech are used?
- Is there a relationship between the beginning and the end of the story?
- What tone and mood are created at various parts of the work?
- What is the relationship of each part of the work to the work as a whole? How are the
parts related to one another?
- Who is narrating or telling what happens in the work?
- Who are the major and minor characters, what do they represent, and how do they relate
to one another?
- What is its setting? How is the setting related to what we know of the characters and their
actions? To what extent is the setting symbolic?

2. Moralistic Approach
This approach focuses on themes, view of the world, moral statements, author’s philosophy,
and values. Below are guide questions when doing a moralistic criticism.
- What view of life does the story present? Which character best articulates this viewpoint?
- According to this work’s view of life, what is mankind’s relationship to God? To the
universe?
- What moral statement, if any, does this story make? Is it explicit or implicit?
- What is the author’s attitude toward his world? Toward fate? Toward God?
- What is the author’s conception of good and evil?
- What does the work say about the nature of good or evil?
- What does the work say about human nature?

3. Marxist Approach
This approach focuses on man’s issues with power and money in society, politics, religion,
and business. Below are guide questions when doing a Marxist criticism.
- What role does class in society play in the literary work?
- What is the author's analysis of class relations?
- How do characters overcome oppression?
- In what ways does the work serve as propaganda for the status quo; or does it try to
undermine it?
- What does the literary work say about oppression; or are social conflicts ignored or
blamed elsewhere?
- Does the literary work propose some form of utopian vision as a solution to the problems
encountered?
- What is the relationship between the characters and their society?
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 - Does the story address societal issues such as race, gender, and class?
- How do social forces shape the power relationships between classes of people in the
story? Who has the power and who doesn’t? Why?
- How does the story reflect urban, rural, or suburban values?
- What does the work say about economic or social power? Who has it and who doesn’t?
- Does the story address issues of economic exploitation? What role does money play?
- How do economic conditions determine the direction of the characters’ lives?
- Does the work challenge or affirm the social order it depicts?
- Is the protagonist’s struggle seen as symbolic of a larger class struggle?
- How does the small world of the story reflect the large world of the society in which it was
composed?
- Do any of the characters correspond to types of government such as a dictatorship,
democracy, communism, socialism, fascism, etc.? What attitudes toward these political
structures or systems are expressed in the work?

Now that you have learned the different factors to be considered in critiquing a literary work, read the
poem below, then answer the questions that follow. Do this on another sheet of paper.

“Richard Cory”
by Edwin Arlington Robinson

Whenever Richard Cory went downtown,

We people on the pavement1 looked at him;
He was a gentleman from sole2 to crown,3
Clean favored, and imperially4 slim

And he was always quietly arrayed,5

And he was always human6 when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
“Good-morning," and he glittered7 when he walked.

And he was rich—yes, richer than a king—

And admirably schooled in every grace;
In fine,8 we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place

So on we worked, and waited for the light, 9

And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head

Notes:
1...pavement: Sidewalk.
2...sole: Bottom of a shoe; also, soul
3...crown: This word has a double meaning: (1) top of the head; (2) crown worn by a king.
4...imperially: In the manner of a ruler, such as an emperor or king
5...quietly arrayed: Dressed in fine but conservative attire.
6...human: Down to earth; not condescending.
7...glittered: Reflected light from his jewelry, shiny buttons, etc.
8...In fine: In summary, in short.
9...light: better day, better life
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DO THIS Activity

1. Formalistic Approach
- What figures of speech are evident in the poem? Explain how they could affect the message
of the poem.
- Explain the connotation of the word “downtown” in Stanza 1. Can you give other words from
the poem that have connotative meanings? How does the author’s choice of words highlight
the overall meaning of the poem?
- What is the tone of Stanzas 1-3? Cite lines to support your answer.

2. Moralistic Approach
- Why do you think Richard Cory killed himself?
- Why do you think the poem ended so abruptly with Richard Cory's death?
- What distinctions does the poem make between our interior and exterior lives?
- What does the poem tell us about being rich or being poor?

3. Marxist Approach
- What does the author’s use of “pavement” instead of “sidewalk” tell us about how society
groups people?
- What groups of people do the words “meat” and “bread” represent? Why do you say so?
- Who do you think is encompassed in the poem's use of "we"? What's the effect of this
collective voice?
- What's up with all of the kingly metaphors in the poem? Why does the voice of the poem
focus so much on Richard Cory's regal nature?

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Answers:

Formalistic approach:
1. The figures of speech that has an effect on the message of the poem are Allusion and Irony. For the
allusion, the line “And went without the meat, and cursed the bread.” shows the poverty of the people.
In the case of irony, the subject of the poem is ironic as the person seems a happy man having all the
pleasures of life, yet he commits suicide at the end.
2. Downtown in connotative terms mean the poorer parts of the city or town Richard resides in. Other
than 'downtown', words such as 'crown', 'glittered', and 'grace'. The word 'crown' suggests that the
author wanted to signify that Richard was similar to a wealthy and rich king, Meanwhile 'glittered'
means the jewelry Richard wore while he walked. Finally, 'grace' suggests that Richard had the good
mannerisms of a king.
3. Its tone resembles reverence and/or admiration coming from the lower class on how they perceive
Richard Cory similarly to a king, shown in the following lines: “He was a gentleman from sole to crown.
Clean favored, and imperially slim.”
Moralistic Approach:
1. Wealth and stature did not have the same meaning to Richard Cory as wealth meant to the working
class. Richard Cory found that he did not see the beauty of life and was not happy, so he committed
suicide.
2. The poem ends abruptly with Richard Cory's death to imply that some people commit suicide with
no warning, to show that some look happy outside but are struggling with internal demons.
3. There are a lot of differences with our exterior and interior lives. Like Richard Cory, a person might
seem rich outside but feel unaccomplished and sad, or someone might seem poor but they are rather
happy with their current state in their life.
4. Riches and high social status do not ensure happiness
Marxist Approach
1. The author places people on the “pavement,” which is lower than the sidewalk where Richard Cory
most likely walks. Robinson positions the characters to show the differences in their financial status.
2. The "meat" in this line means expensive and satisfying food. It is contrasted with "the bread," which
is cheap but quickly leaves one feeling empty. This is why those who eat only the bread because they
can afford nothing better also curse it. Meat, therefore, is something the poor regard as a necessity for
a fulfilling life but that is a luxury for them because it is out of their reach.
3. The poem is spoken in the voice of "we people on the pavement." This "we" encompasses the
people who live "down town." Now, we can interpret this "we" in two ways:
First, we can see the speaker—the "we"—as kind of a Greek chorus, or a whole bunch of people
joining together and speaking as one voice.
4. It flaunts his material wealth and that's what makes him seem regal in nature. It focuses on Richard
Cory's supposedly lavish image which hides what he truly felt.