It was not until university that I came to consciously understand Literature as a means of instruction and of warning. I don't necessarily think that when Wordsworth and Coleridge said that poetry should be for the common man that they meant it, because they were certainly aiming to function on a metaphysical level that common men don't function on or are not likely to grasp. The point is taken though, in terms of Literature, specifically poetry within the quote, that Literature serves as instructional to the common man and all of mankind, though the two of the great six dead Romantic poets surely never meant for any common man to write instructionally, but for great instructors to do so. Though children don't realize it there is a moral or lesson to probably all childhood stories, though I'm sure there are those who read just to please.

Eagleton's discussion of liberal humanism discusses his idea of Literature as a device for teaching. He writes "To encourage our children to explore the creative richness of language." He says that language is power, conflict, and struggle- weapon as much as medium, poison as well as cure, the bars of the prison-house as well as possibly a way out.

Jason P. Bernabei