The Significance of Theory

The difficulty of theory, as elaborated by Eagleton, was not extensively discussed in class and I would like to shed light on that idea which I find appealing to me. Eagleton states that theory is difficult, not only because of its sophistication and discourse, but mainly because of “its demand that we return to childhood by rejecting what seems natural and refusing to be fobbed off with shifty answers from well-meaning elders.” (Eagleton 35) ‘Natural’ in the previous quotation refers to “ our routine social practices” as he explains on page 34 and since theory is “a social practice” (p 24) the first quotations implies rejecting the theory itself because they are not familiar with the social practices of the elders. I find that the major source of difficulty in Theory is that it stands alone as a subject away from literature. In other words the subject of literature “fades out” and self-reflexivity becomes more important than the subject of literature itself. The function of theory is mainly to develop a systematic sense of appreciation and understanding to literature, but when it become more important than literature itself, I prefer to be a child rejecting the practices of the elders.