Reception Theory

Eagleton gave quite an articulate and thorough explanation of the reception theory of literature. Of all of the literary theories that we have studied, I find myself attracted to this one the most because it parallels, in many ways, to human psychology. The example he used from the first two sentences of John Updike's The Couple, was extremely enlightening. There are many assumptions and questions that arise from simply reading the first two sentences, which we can only speculate about unless we proceed further into the novel. Nevertheless, although the first two sentences might appear intriguing to the casual reader, the prospect of venturing further may intimidate him or her from proceeding deeper into the story. As a result, only a superficial understanding of the text occurs. Just like when we meet other people, many opinions are created based on our first encounter. Unfortunately, most people are often under the false impression that they are able to rely solely on this first encounter to gain a full understanding of another person. Human beings are quite an impatient creature because we often do not take the time to understand the depth of the person before us. Meeting other people is very much like reading a novel because one must take courage to delve past the superficial exterior in order to fully understand what lies beneath the facade.