VIEWING LITERATURE
THROUGH A CRITICAL LENS
Building to the Comparison of Antigone and Dead Poets Society
Mrs. Reichert
English 10 Honors
AFTER WE READ ANTIGONE AND
WATCH DEAD POETS SOCIETY
 You will work with a group to develop a thesis statement and give
a presentation defending it, viewing the play and film through a
particular critical lens of your choosing.
 Objectives:
• Students will develop their own criticisms of literature.
• Students will learn to create thesis statements based upon their own
observations.
• Students will use textual evidence to support their interpretation of
the text.
CRITICAL LENS
 “Critical”: Examining and searching for meanings in something.
 “Lens”: A point-of-view through which you examine something.
 In literary theory, readers interpret what they read through several
different “critical lenses,” based on their personal experiences, as well as
their focus and their experience with the text.
 We’ll look at two theories: Feminist and Marxist
FEMINIST CRITICISM
 Looks at literature through the eyes of a feminist.
 Examines the way the literature reflects how society perceives
women and girls.
 For this, you will want to focus specifically on how the women in
the play behave and how they are treated.
 Focus on the women in the play and the film.
FEMINIST CRITICISM: QUESTIONS
How is a character’s experience different based on
his/ her gender?
Who has the power?
Is there anything offensive, unjust, or oppressive
happening to women?
FEMINIST CRITICISM: QUESTIONS
 Does the social context connect to the treatment of women in this
text?
 How are women characterized or perceived by other characters?
What does this mean about the way women are seen here?
 Are the impressions of women the author’s or the character’s?
MARXIST CRITICISM
Examines a piece of literature as a struggle
between the individual and the establishment.
Establishment: A place with rigid rules, ideas
about right and wrong, and ideas about how to
shape members
MARXIST CRITICISM: QUESTIONS
 Who is the individual? Who represents the establishment?
 Who are the powerful and the powerless in this story? Why are
they powerful?
 How are the individual and the establishment in conflict?
 What is oppressed in the individual?
 Who triumphs? How?
OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER
 Determine thematic subjects as you see them in Antigone and Dead Poets
Society.
 Focus your criticism on a theme.
 In using your critical lens, how do Sophocles and DPS Director Peter
Weir demonstrate this theme?
 What lines and evidence specifically deal with your critical lens? In
other words, what stands out to you regarding either a feminist or a
Marxist lens?