On Interpretation, Intention, and Teaching

And novelists on whether symbolism was intentional by Mental Floss. (The answer is no).

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One of the biggest problems teachers and professors in the humanities face is that the intent of the author or artist doesn't account for the reach of what they have insinuated or what has been interpreted by their works. We can all agree that many 19th-century writers were racist or misogynistic according to our standards, but that was part of the cultural milieu, not their intention.

In any case, it's not easy in the humanities to take something at face value--face value undercuts what a single work might have meant to many readers and viewers.

Everything a novelist or artist does is likely for a reason, whether it be a sign of something or a whim, but even whims have an undercurrent. If I took the time to create something really big, I would want every part of it to play into the whole. This is not always the case, but in creating such a work, the author/artist’s psyche has a role in the matter, whether he/she is aware or not.